Lidl chief Holland departs over division on strategy

Secretive discount supermarket chain Lidl’s chief executive has left suddenly with the group citing “unbridgeable” differences about future strategy that it declined to disclose.

Karl-Heinz Holland, Lidl's chief since 2008, drove the expansion of the "hard cost-cutter" during the continent's economic crisis and established it as one of the largest food retailers in Europe.

Lidl, based in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, is owned by a foundation belonging to German billionaire Dieter Schwarz, whose fortune was last year estimated by the Manager magazine at €13bn.

"[Mr Holland] has made a significant contribution to the development of Lidl as the European market leader in the discount segment," Schwarz Group said in a statement.

Dawid Jaschok, head of buying and marketing, is also to leave.

The group declined to elaborate on the reasons for the departure of the two executives.

Lidl started out by offering a no-frills approach, selling goods directly out of boxes and luring customers with weekly offers. More recently it has begun retailing a range of luxury products that the squeezed middle class can point to that they snapped up for a bargain.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2014