Giant supermarket chain takes big steps towards Australian shores

A new supermarket chain could soon be coming to Australia.

German grocery giant Kaufland is reported to be looking for land and staff in Australia.

According to the new Australian addition to their website Kaufland is looking for big lots of land of up to 20,000 square metres, similar in size as Masters stores were before they collapsed.

It was first reported in November last year that Kaufland had an interest in Australia, but that has taken a step forward with news they are now looking for a property developer, an architectural planner, a letting manager and an administrator/assistant, all based in Melbourne, according to the  website. 

The same site says Kaufland has an “ambitious Australian investment and development programme”.

Kaufland describes itself as a “grocery chain focused on our customers”. 

German customers have compared it to Big W or Kmart in Australia, saying it is popular because it is a “one-stop shop with decent prices on both supermarket products, but also things such as bikes and car maintenance supplies.” 

According to its website, Kaufland operates more than 1230 stores in Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovakia, with more than 150,000 employees across Europe.

Kaufland is part of the giant retail conglomerate Schwarz Group, which is led by German billionaire Dieter Schwarz and is one of the world’s biggest retailers with $US94.5 billion ($126 billion) in sales in the 2015 financial year.

The group also owns discount supermarket chain Lidl, the arch-rival of Aldi, which has operated in Australia since the turn of the century. 

Would you be happy to see more supermarkets opening in your area?