The Aldi and Lidl examples are interesting ones – one would have to speculate whether or not they have a strategic alliance or some form of cartel/collusion going on. Both stores stock items depending on the regions and what you can’t get in one, you can get in the other. It’s interesting and if you think about it, they are so on top of their game in terms of sourcing goods and pricing strategy not to mention the fact of economies of scale – irish retailors couldn’t possibly compete or keep up with them and that’s down to the fact that Germans by their very nature are incredibly systematic and efficient people (wars etc)

Niche markets are the way forward in my opinion, the difficulty with them (in Ireland) is if the market is new or unheard of – anticipating demand etc can be difficult. Another potential issue is judging the size of the niche and whether it is worth attacking or not.