Monday, January 6, 2020

[UPDATE] Lidl Cancels Bartow Plan, Opts for Covington Instead

German discount grocery chain Lidl will build a regional distribution center in Covington in Newton County, rather than in Cartersville in Bartow County, as was originally announced.   The Covington deal, announced Friday, represents the same $100 million investment but seems to have a few more full-time jobs attached: 270, compared to the previously announced 250.  

The Cartersville project, announced June 26, 2017, had been stalled for years before this past Friday's announcement.  No reason was given for the switch and no mention of the Cartersville center was made in Friday's announcement.  

Then-Governor Nathan Deal made the Bartow announcement in partnership with Brendan Proctor, then CEO of Lidl US.  Both men are no longer in their roles with Proctor resigning in 2018 and Brian Kemp elected Georgia's Governor in 2019.

Roman Heini, an 18 year veteran of Lidl's German rival Aldi, was appointed U.S. Chairman of Lidl this past February.  Heini said the company valued the Newton County location in part because of its proximity to I-20. Covington is about 35 miles east of Atlanta.  

The 925,000 square-foot facility will be Lidl's fourth U.S. regional distribution center, joining existing centers in Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia.    

Lidl first established its U.S. headquarters in Virginia in June 2015 and operates more than 70 stores across nine East Coast states. After a slower than anticipated start, Lidl eventually entered the Atlanta market in January 2019 and last year began ramping up its new store development in metro Atlanta, with more than a dozen locations in the pipeline, some of which could open by this summer.  

Lidl has adopted its market penetration strategy and become more willing to take on inline and second generation spaces in an effort to gain marketshare.  

Lidl currently has four stores open in Georgia: Snellville, Marietta/Austell, Mableton and Augusta. 

ToNeTo Atlanta exclusively reported last year that the company has leased former The Fresh Market stores in East Cobb and Brookhaven as well as a former Earth Fare store in Peachtree Corners, a former Sprouts Farmers Market store in Dunwoody and a former Marshalls in Sandy Springs for new locations.  

In addition to the backfill deals, the grocer also has ground-up stores slated for Lawrenceville, Suwanee, Jonesboro, Marietta, Kirkwood, Roswell and Woodstock (2).  

Have you been to one of the Atlanta area Lidl stores?  Where do you do the majority of your shopping?  Where would you like for Lidl to open next?  

Please share your thoughts below. 

1 comment:

scgirl said...

We went to one in Germany last year. Hope the prices are a low as they are in that country. They have lots of junk in the middle like Aldi -maybe more than Aldi has. Hope the fresh produce is really good.

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