We recently talked about a church in Lyon that was going to be converted into a climbing gym, and this time it’s a supermarket that is moving into the walls of a former temple of the automobile. LIDL is stepping up its expansion strategy with the opening of this new store, which is unique in France in terms of both size and symbolic location. Gone are the days of supermarkets in industrial zones; here, the store is opening with great fanfare in the heart of Lyon.
LIDL “steps on the gas” in the former Citroën garage
It is the largest in Lyon and, at the same time, one of the largest in France. This new LIDL store opened its doors on Thursday, February 26, and is likely to be the talk of the town. And with good reason! Going to buy a liter of milk or a kilo of tomatoes where hundreds of 2CVs were once sold is quite extraordinary! But we promise, when you step inside, you won’t find exhaust pipes next to the pasta aisle… In fact, in a well-orchestrated nod to the past, a magnificent, almost century-old Citroën looks down on us at the store entrance, looking much more impressive than our ugly shopping carts…
The store is sparkling clean and makes you want to dive right in. Lighting, layout, customer traffic: everything seems to run like a well-oiled machine. This means that ultra-strict specifications had to be followed (no changes to the checkered floor or ceiling) , requiring no less than 10 months of work. You seem to enter this supermarket out of curiosity, just as you would enter Les Halles Paul Bocuse: you come without even knowing what you want to buy, just to see what’s going on.
“The largest gas station in the world”
While the 2,300 m² of floor space on the ground floor is already enough to make our heads spin, it’s important to remember that the entire building has 20 times more usable space, or 40,000 m²—at the time, it was simply considered the largest gas station in the world!
In the early 1930s, the Citroën company was running at full speed and, to give itself the means to achieve its ambitions, 40 garages were built throughout France and abroad. The one in Lyon was the most impressive. But why Lyon? Because although the capital of Gaul is known for being the birthplace of silk and weaving, its influence in the automotive sector is unique. Just one figure to remember: no fewer than 150 car brands have been created in the Lyon area since the 19th century.
Returning to our urban behemoth, its proportions are monstrous. A 130-meter facade over five floors: it’s as if you had five soccer fields stacked on top of each other. Today, even though the chevron logo has definitively left the premises, the Citroën name remains, immutable, like a witness to another time…