Tuesday, February 2, 2016

EXCLUSIVE: LIDL US Expansion Starting in the South

European grocer entering U.S. from the southeast.

German grocer LIDL, which earlier this year opened its U.S. division's headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and simultaneously announced plans to enter the United States, now has a number of sites in the works. While Lidl intends to open at least 50 locations in Georgia by 2018, the stores I've found plans for thus far are all in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.  

Of the planned 20 locations, the closest to Georgia will be in North Augusta, South Carolina, just across the border from Augusta, Georgia.  Each store measures roughly 36,000 square feet with the majority of them being freestanding stores.  

1800 East Fire Tower Road Greenville, NC 27858


723 South Van Buren Road - Eden, NC 27288

109 Randolph Street - Thomasville, NC 27360

940 North Wesleyan Boulevard - Rocky Mount, NC 27804

160 Dabney Road - Henderson, NC 27537

1104 Main Street - Wake Forest, NC 27587

1265 Fairview Drive - Lexington, NC 27292

1005 East Dixon Boulevard - Shelby, NC 28152

705 U.S. 74 Business - Rockingham, NC 28379

8180 Warren H. Abernathy Highway - Spartanburg, SC 29841 

2200 East Main Street - Spartanburg, SC 29407

2510 North Road - Orangeburg, SC 29118

417 East Martintown Road - North Augusta, SC 29841

2047 Wade Hampton Boulevard - Greenville, SC 29615 

9990 Charlotte Highway - Indian Land, SC 29707

1301 Mall Drive Bon Air, VA 23235

11701 Iron Bridge Road  Chester,VA 23831

In the GreenGate project west of Short Pump Town Center.

5110 S Laburnum Avenue Richmond, VA 23231

A 9.2-acre site at southeast corner of Staples Mill Road and Hermitage Road Richmond,VA. 
An artist's rendering of what new Lidl stores are likely to look like 

Pronounced “LEE-dul,” the retailer is reportedly dead set on both the size of its stores at about 36,000 square feet and owning the real estate on which they build.  These requirements are making finding sites in metro Atlanta especially challenging for the budding retailer.  

Personally I see potential for the retailer to enter markets such as Woodstock, Carrollton, Savannah, Rome, Douglaville etc. where they are far more likely to find the real estate they require. 

Lidl recently launched a U.S. website detailing its prospective site criteria as well as its planned entry into the market.  

The new website invites submissions of available properties in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia meeting the following characteristics: 

• Minimum 3.5 acres to accommodate a 36,000-square-foot stand-alone store with a minimum 150 dedicated car parking spaces. 


• Signalized, full access intersection with high visibility preferred. 

• Site positioned in an established retail location. 


• Dense population area within 3 miles. 


• Traffic counts of more than 20,000 vehicles per day. 


• Site zoned for grocery retail use.


Aldi, another German-grocer often compared to Lidl, features stores far smaller in size than Lidl's.  

Aldi's site requirements, according to its website as follow:

 * ±18,000 square feet with a minimum of 85 dedicated parking spaces 

* 2.5 acre pads for purchase and development 


* End-cap or inline space with minimum of 87’ of frontage  Signalized, full access intersection preferred 


* Dense trade area population within 3 miles 


* Sites located in community and regional shopping districts with convenient access to population 


* Sites zoned to allow grocery use 


* Daily traffic count in excess of 20,000 vehicles per day



Lidl  has distribution centers under construction in Fredericksburg, Virginia and Mebane (Alamance County), North Carolina, as well as having an office in metro Atlanta.  

Lidl is one of the biggest grocery operators in Europe, with more than 10,000 stores in two dozen countries. Compared to its competitor Aldi, it offers more brand-name items and a wider assortment of products.

Have you been to a Lidl? If so, what are your thoughts of the retailer? Where would you like to see them open in / around metro Atlanta?  


Please share your thoughts below 

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great story. The building criteria for both Lidl and Aldi I found very interesting. Do you think the two stores roll up to the same parent company?

Anonymous said...

No there are entirely different companies. An interesting side note - Aldi Süd (South) the parent company of Aldi US and Aldi Nord (North) the parent company of Trader Joe's were started by the same family but are now separate companies.

Anonymous said...

There is a Zoning notice near my neighborhood. LIDL US is the name on the sign, & they are trying to get the area rezoned from R-20 to NRC. This location is in West Cobb County.

Atlantan99 said...

@Anon RE: West Cobb,

Thanks for the update...where exactly is the sign? An approximate address?

Thanks in advance!

Anonymous said...

A neighbor used to live in Spain and went to Lydl routinely. They love the store and cannot wait for it to open around here. It is currently under construction and looks like it will open very soon.

Anonymous said...

I go to UK regularly and shop at Lidls. I love the store, so much wonderful healthy cooked food, tastes incredible...Xmas is a joy with the kind of meats and deserts available. Bread is baked on site and tastes great. Prices are incredible in UK, hope it will be the same here. The store is always packed with people.. My sister is elderly and does not cook anymore. She buys ready prepared meals and I must say they taste as good as home cooked food. definately the best grocery store I have shopped in.

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