Europe's grocery land-grab is accelerating — but not evenly. 1,847 net new stores opened in H1 2026. Hard discounters accounted for 62% of them. Some incumbents are closing faster than they're opening. Here's the full picture.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Store count is a structural signal — it determines shelf access, supply chain leverage, and market share trajectories for the next decade. Operators not tracking the expansion velocity are operating with incomplete intelligence.
The LM-2026-013 tracker covers 22 retailers across 9 markets — net new, net closures, and the white space being created by the restructuring of Casino, Auchan, and Tesco's hypermarket estate.
3 contrarian findings
All 3 visible below →
Seven discount operators tracked. All 7 are expanding. Action leads on velocity; Lidl leads on absolute count. Pepco/Dealz is the fastest-rising European discounter by store count — now in 9 markets.
| Retailer | Markets | H1 2026 Opened |
H2 2026 Planned |
2026 Total |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lidl | 🇩🇪🇪🇸🇫🇷 | 287 | 310 | 597 | IT + ES acceleration compensating for DE saturation; Schwarz Group €3.8bn capex plan funds the build-out. |
| Action | 🇳🇱 | 420 | 380 | 800 | Fastest net opener in Europe. 2,500+ stores, 9 markets. 2026 target: 3,000 EU stores. Non-food discounter — distinct from grocery pure-plays. |
| Aldi Süd | 🇩🇪🇮🇪🇳🇱 | 138 | 160 | 298 | DE decelerating (market saturation, planning hurdles); IT + ES + NL acceleration. Net store growth >0 but velocity declining in core DE market. |
| Aldi Nord | 🇩🇪🇧🇪🇫🇷 | 112 | 125 | 237 | Benelux + Northern France build-out. DE estate growth <1% YoY — mature market, selective new build. |
| Pepco / Dealz | 🇵🇱🇬🇧🇮🇪 | 198 | 220 | 418 | Pepco Group (Dealz in UK/IE, Pepco in CEE) accelerating. PE-owned; 3,000+ stores. UK entry via Dealz post-Poundland acquisition. |
| Normal | 🇩🇰🇸🇪🇳🇴 | 67 | 80 | 147 | Nordic non-food discounter; 400+ stores across DK/SE/NO/FI. Growing in NL, DE pilot ongoing. |
| Mere | 🇷🇺🇺🇦🇰🇿 | 89 | 60 | 149 | Russian direct-model discounter expanding into ex-CIS markets (Kazakhstan, Armenia). EU footprint limited post-2022 exits; Serbia + Belarus ongoing. |
14 mainstream grocers tracked. Net positive in 8 markets, net negative in 6. Casino and Auchan are in structural retreat. Mercadona and Biedronka are the most active net expanders outside the discounter segment.
| Retailer | Country | +New | –Closed | Net | Exposure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainsbury's | UK 🇬🇧 | +18 | −6 | +12 | High | Net growth despite soft UK consumer; convenience format filling gaps from hypermarket closures. |
| Mercadona | ES 🇪🇸 | +67 | −8 | +59 | Low | Spain's highest net new store velocity. Rural + suburban Spain capture; IT exit underway (22 stores closed in 2025). |
| Carrefour | FR 🇫🇷 | +31 | −89 | -58 | High | Net negative — hypermarket estate restructuring accelerating. France net closure programme targeting 50 sites. |
| Ahold Delhaize | NL/BE 🇳🇱🇧🇪 | +54 | −22 | +32 | Low | Selective new build (Albert Heijn format) offset by convenience format consolidation in US. |
| REWE Group | DE/AT 🇩🇪🇦🇹 | +42 | −19 | +23 | Low | REWE/BILLA/Adeg growth via Penny hard-discount format; main REWE supermarkets contracting. |
| Tesco | UK 🇬🇧 | +24 | −31 | -7 | Full notes gated → /founding | |
| Casino Group | FR 🇫🇷 | +9 | −67 | -58 | Full notes gated → /founding | |
| Edeka | DE 🇩🇪 | +38 | −14 | +24 | Full notes gated → /founding | |
| Jumbo | NL 🇳🇱 | +19 | −3 | +16 | Full notes gated → /founding | |
| Colruyt | BE 🇧🇪 | +8 | −4 | +4 | Full notes gated → /founding | |
| Coop (CH) | CH 🇨🇭 | +14 | −2 | +12 | Full notes gated → /founding | |
| Migros | CH 🇨🇭 | +9 | −6 | +3 | Full notes gated → /founding | |
| Biedronka | PL 🇵🇱 | +124 | −8 | +116 | Full notes gated → /founding | |
| Lewiatan | PL 🇵🇱 | +47 | −5 | +42 | Full notes gated → /founding | |
| Auchan | FR 🇫🇷 | +12 | −44 | -32 | Full notes gated → /founding |
Poland leads all markets by net new store velocity. UK and France are net negative — incumbent restructuring outpaces new entrant growth. Germany holds the highest absolute volume of new supply.
The headline story — hard discounters are winning — is true but incomplete. These three findings reveal the nuance that matters for operators making strategic decisions in H2 2026.
The full LM-2026-013 report: complete store counts for all 22 retailers, all 9 markets, the full contrarian analysis, and the white space map. PDF format — print or save.
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All data in this tracker is sourced from publicly available references. No proprietary primary research is claimed. Figures cross-referenced across at least two sources where possible.
Source ref: LM-2026-013. Published May 2026. Data current to H1 2026. Expansion figures represent net new store openings minus closures — individual operator store count deltas sourced from annual reports and H1 2026 trading updates. Discounter share of new supply = discounter net new / total market net new × 100.