Friday, September 27, 2019

[LOOK!] Lidl Looking to Land Littler Store in Roswell

Albeit slower than before, German grocer Lidl is again plotting an Atlanta expansion, this time in Roswell.   The discount grocer would open in place of an existing shopping center at 690 Holcomb Bridge Road.  The center, The Crossings at Roswell, is set on roughly four acres at the intersection of Holcomb Bridge and Old Roswell Roads, and was built in 1984 according to real estate site LoopNet.  Plans call for a complete demolition of the roughly 40,000 square foot center and for the new Lidl to be about 29,000 square feet, according to documents submitted to the City of  Roswell. 

The Crossings at Roswell shopping center currently has several vacancies, but is home to such eateries as My Friend's Place and Hola Taqueria & Bar, and Kassa's, a package store, among other tenants.  Hola, which occupies the center's lone outparcel, opened in 2014 in place of what was previously a Wolf Camera.  A preliminary site plan for the project suggests that the roughly 5,100 square foot Hola building, which occupies about .65 acres, will be replaced by a new outparcel as part of the redevelopment.  

As presented, the new Lidl reflects a more muted, simplified [economical] design that differs from the earlier stores that featured pitched roof lines and more modern design elements.  The project, which would include keeping existing vehicular access points on both Holcomb Bridge and Old Roswell Roads, is set to go before Roswell’s Design Review Board October 1. 

The proposed Lidl is a stone's throw from Roswell Village, where a former Publix Supermarket that had sat vacant since 2005 was divided and leased to Ross Dress For Less and Marshalls, which opened earlier this year.  The center, Roswell Village, was perhaps in worse shape than The Crossings at Roswell, but new owners who purchased the center in late 2014 have pumped millions into a complete overhaul that attracted not only Marshalls and Ross, but Crunch Fitness, Phenix Salons, Gold Fish Swim School, Starbucks and Sara Donuts, among others.  

Earlier this year, Lidl opened stores in Snellville,  Marietta/Austell and Mableton, which joined the grocer's original Georgia store in Augusta which opened in 2017.  The grocer said in 2015 that it planned to have 50 stores open in Georgia by 2018.  After a slower than expected start however, the company significantly reduced their pipeline, delaying some stores indefinitely and cancelling others entirely.   

The Snellville Lidl shortly after opening 

ToNeTo Atlanta reported August 7 that previously tabled stores at 3530 Sugarloaf Parkway in Lawrenceville in Gwinnett County and 2985 Peachtree Parkway in Suwanee in Forsyth County are now moving forward, according to local filings.  That said, they are moving forward smaller than originally proposed with both expected to be about 29,000 square feet, down from the originally proposed 36,000 square feet, the size of other existing stores in Georgia.  Plans for others, including those proposed in Sandy Springs (2) and Rome, have been cancelled altogether. 

In July, the Marietta City Council approved a new Lidl at 670 Whitlock Avenue in Marietta.  The new store, which would replace a vacant onetime A&P store, would also be 29,000 square feet and could open in 2020. 

A Lidl store could also come to Duluth as part of Watkins Real Estate Group's planned Marketplace Village project along Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, adjacent to where Fuqua Development built their Sprouts Farmers Market-anchored Sugarloaf Marketplace in 2016.  The size and status of the potential Lidl at the Watkins project is unclear and attempts to get updates from the developer and grocer were unsuccessful.  

Have you been to one of the Atlanta area Lidl stores?  Do you prefer Lidl, or its rival Aldi?  Are you excited for the possible opening of a Lidl in Roswell?  

Please share your thoughts below  

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

What do you mean by it being smaller? Are there any examples of this specific design? In other words, is it going to be different than the Lidls that already exist nearby?

Anonymous said...

Thanks Eli. What about the grocer space at Chamblee Plaza? The neighborhood is looking forward to a scrape and rebuild of that section to make room for ... well anything other than the hotel furniture place.

Alex said...

Anon @ 3:45 PM, did you not read the story. Your answers are all there.

Unknown said...

Lidl is small,less options. Their options make for good savings and best bakery for pastry in this area (Austell). Very clean and welcoming staff make this store easy to look forward to coming back. Better than Sprouts and Aldi for smaller market shopping A+++

Unknown said...

Our 2 Lidl stores are former forest land with an abandoned house and corner gas station off busy connector in Cobb Co.
No matter where they build it is worth the short trip there after grand opening crowds die down. This is not Publix or Kroger so dont look for that level of shopping.

BK said...

Pretty sure that HOLA was originally a D'Lites the short lived healthier fast food chain in the mid 80's that Herschel Walker was an investor in. The parking lot side of the building still has some of the old greenhouse elements of the D'Lites, though covered in roofing now. I used to work in that area and a LIDL there would've been really convenient for me. The corner is in a little bit of a hole, but the typical Lidl look would work pretty well there. Be interesting to see how much of the development behind would be visible. I always liked browsing through City Antiques back there, but its not much more than a tarted up metal building.

Anonymous said...

Been to the Lidl in Mableton and was mostly impressed. The bakery section is amazing and not like any other competitor. That alone is worth the trip. The rest of the place was pretty good but there was room to compress the floorplan, so I think the smaller locations will work fine. And maybe a smaller store will fit into the old Whole Foods site at La Vista and Briarcliff. One can only desperately hope. One thing I really loved about Lidl Mableton was the exterior look of the store. It reminds me of the old Marina Safeway design and it's just such a breath of fresh air from the generic storefront everybody else is using.

Anonymous said...

Lidl not only has the best bakery but also a huge very affordable fresh organic produce and meat section. Noone (not even Costco) beats their prices. Their stores are superclean, the personnel seems selected for friendly service behavior and their prices are great. Yes, the selection is smaller, but who needs 16 kinds of black beans or 12 types of salt? If you like to shop faster , cheaper, organic and you love fresh baked bread, croissants and pretzels all day long, Lidl is the place for you! I used to drive to Greenville, SC (2.5 hours) to buy enough bread, meat and packaged goods for 4 months. Now I drive 35 miles/45 minutes to Snellville. A Roswell store would be awesome!

Unknown said...

Abe I dont understand how the city of Roswell is letting a german store on holcome bridge when is another one less then a mile on crosville rd killing family own bussiness like The thai place Flama pizz. The hair salon my friends place and the liquor store and the insuranse co.when a humongous building on hway 9 is going to be empty the Andrettis are moving to Beaufort

Anonymous said...

Great, just what Roswell needs is another grocery store and to do w/o Hola for any time is not acceptable! While this shopping center could use a lift we don't need another grocery store there, what about putting it in the new Southern Comfort location? It would be more attractive in that location and more easily accessed for residents who aren't as close to other grocery stores.

Anonymous said...

I for one am delighted the Lidl is coming to Roswell. The Andretti place is too big and I am sure something else on a similar line to their business will go in there. Yay for Lidl!!!

Moxie'44 said...

So!!!! ????? When is the new store on Holcomb Bridge in Roswell opening? It must be soon, parking lot and outside of the store are ready to go, shopping carts are lined up.... and I cannot wait!

Anonymous said...

Why does it say the Lidl store is open if its not ��

Unknown said...

When is the Lidl on kelly ML rd opening?

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