Are stores like Aldi and Lidl typical of German supermarkets, in terms of format?

Pretty much, yes.

Yes indeed. All pretty much the same and transpantable from location to location. It’s the same here in Holland, but we have a store called Albert Heijn.

Yes – but they used to have Wal-Mart…and it looked a LOT like Wal-Mart in the U.S.—with the exception that the carts were like the carts at LiDL and Aldi (require a Euro coin to get them unchained to push thru the store). Wal-Mart failed in Germany and had to pull-out. Many post-mortems on Wal-Mart’s failure in Germany mention a lack of localization…they didn’t make their store layout or product assortment specific to German consumers..not to mention that Germany has a notoriously competitive (very narrow margins) and well-established grocery business to begin with…

I recently hosted German house guests for a couple of weeks (after having a German exchange student last year). They went grocery shopping in the U.S. with me and were appalled at our produce prices. Apparently fresh veggies and fruits are (subsidized? gov’t price controlled?) FAR less expensive in Germany.
They liked our stores (I took them to a few different kinds of grocery stores—some upscale, some bargain)—but commented that we have way too much variety..to the point that they’d find it hard to make a decision.
They are used to (and perhaps prefer?) having only one or two types of a given product available. So, you have mustard—but it’s only 2 brands, one in a tube, one in a jar. There you go. That’s all you get to choose from. They were surprised at the vast aisle of condiments (for example).

I’d say only 60–70% are Aldi/Lidl like (e.g. Netto, Penny, Norma).

Rewe is somewhat different. Edeka is quite different. And the ones in Kaufhof, Karstadt etc are different too. Real and Kaufland look like Walmart Supercenter grocery stores.

If you don’t like the Aldi format, try Edeka. Better and larger selection. Better service too.

Walmart Germany went bankrupt. Poor American management without the slightest interest in cultural differences.