Dieter Schwarz joined his father’s business, Lidl & Schwarz in 1973 and he opened the company's first discount supermarket inspired by the founders of Aldi. After taking over as CEO, he changed the company name to Lidl and expanded the business outside of Germany. He invested in the development private label goods in categories that range from food and wine to non-foods, housewares and furnishings, while placing an emphasis discount pricing, high quality, gourmet selections. Today there are over Lidl 10,000 stores across Europe and the United States