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    Norway is allergic to european supermarkets
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    Norway is allergic to european supermarkets

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    25 Comments

    1. Impressive_Lime_6973 on

      This is the thing that sucks the most about Norway. A trip to the store is just depressing af

    5. quantum_unicorn on

      Afaik, and I could be mistaken, but it’s less of an allergy and more that Rema and Meny have an effective duopoly, pushing anyone else out of the market

    6. Hattkake on

      We have three players who basically have a monopoly. Selection and prices suffer.

    9. Few-Piano-4967 on

      A Swedish guy told me the reason for this. According to him Norwegians need smaller shops with smaller selection close to their homes because they have smaller than average brains and might be confused with a bigger selection of goods. I don’t know if its a joke or true!

    10. NorgesTaff on

      One of the things that took the longest to get used to here when I moved in 1998 was the lack of diversity in supermarkets – even different ones have the same product selection more or less. Lidl tried to get market share and failed iirc and I think there was a Swedish chain that failed too – I forget, so I could be mistaken.

      Having said that, the selection in shops is way better now than it was 25 years ago.

      Edit: as someone with coeliac disease, one of the positives in Norway has always been the selection of gluten free products here and the support in restaurants. The first pizza I ever had was a Peppes gluten free New Orleans pizza back in 1992. In my opinion, the best Peppes pizza ever made. It was discontinued for a while and then brought back before disappearing again for good. :/

    13. bingobot580 on

      we used to have Lidl in Norway, maybe 15 years ago, and at that time it just wasn’t interesting at all. they struggled, customers frowned at the wares they were selling, it all looked too cheap and unfamiliar.

      if Lidl had come back now, I think they would thrive because every grocery store here now is super expensive.

    14. stickypocketlint on

      We have extremely high barrier to entry as well as tarrifs. Your shitty selection grocery store with exuberant prices is WILLED POLICY DECISION.

    15. FantasticDirt4447 on

      As an American immigrant in Norway, I assumed that most northern European countries would have similar prices at the store. Then I went to Amsterdam lol. Why are even bananas twice as expensive, and lower quality, when neighboring countries don’t have that issue? The local grocery stores in my area seriously struggle to have a decent stock of fresh fruits and vegetables, and usually have a lot of it already going bad on the shelf. Don’t get me started on the price and selection of meat >_<

    16. NegativeDeparture on

      Lidel tried out, but didn’t last long. Its not easy going up again the 3 big food “oligarchs” in this country!

    17. Infamous_Campaign687 on

      When Lidl started in Norway, their locations were awful. At least around where I live. AFAIK one of the big issues with the Norwegian super market chains is they’ve built out so many locations just to monopolise them, leaving no decent locations available to foreign chains.

    18. NoInteraction3525 on

      Lidl only entered Finland a few years ago as well. We basically had two monopolies (S-group and K-group) primarily

    23. nutitoo on

      Damn I’ve never seen maxima or metro in Poland.

      Also Tesco ran away for some reason so you won’t find it anymore

    24. aintwhatyoudo on

      Also to sports retailers that are not overpriced (where’s my Decathlon, please?)

    25. Ivara-Ara-Fail on

      Norway truly has shot itself in the foot with how bad the selection, prices and quality on things are nowadays.

      I truly loved the time when lidl was here, sadly it didnt last long.