Monday, July 20, 2020

[EXCLUSIVE] Lidl to Make Dunwoody Debut in August

German grocer Lidl is slated to continue their Atlanta expansion with plans to open their new Dunwoody store Wednesday, August 26 at 2480 Mount Vernon Road in Mount Vernon shopping center.  The store, which ToNeTo Atlanta exclusively reported was coming last year, opens in place of Sprouts Farmers Market, which shuttered its store in late 2018.    
The approximately 33,000 square foot store was completely renovated to accommodate the new grocer, and is slightly larger than other stores the company has opened in recent months.  Lidl's opening at the center makes it the third grocery store to anchor the shopping center in recent memory.  

In the late 90s and into the early 2000s the center was anchored by Harris-Teeter.  Kroger, which purchased several former Harris-Teeter stores in metro Atlanta, continued to control the Dunwoody store's lease despite not operating a store.  Ace Hardware operated from the space for several years after attempts by Goodwill to open a thrift store were unsuccessful.     Kroger finally relinquished control of the space paving the way for the 2014 opening of Sprouts Farmers Market.  

Enter Lidl, a growing off-price grocer which has its eyes on capturing a significant share of the American grocery market.  The store, like its German rival Aldi, features primarily private label products at prices lower than than name brand alternatives.  Unlike Aldi, all Lidl stores also feature on premise bakeries, which feature, among other things, their popular pretzel offerings.  Our personal favorite has been their 10 ounce Lidl brand hummus which at $1.95 seems just as good, if not a tad better than, category leader Sabra.  
      
Lidl started 2020 by opening a new store in Peachtree Corners on May 13, and in the weeks since, has added additional new locations in Suwanee (its 100th overall store in America), Lawrenceville, and most recently in Brookhaven.  Sources say a new-build store in Jonesboro should also open in August or early September.   Several other stores, including those planned for East Cobb, Sandy Springs, Marietta and Woodstock(2), among others, are slated to open later in 2020 and into 2021.    

In the months and years to come, Lidl also has additional stores in the works in Duluth, Roswell and Atlanta on Memorial Drive in Kirkwood, among others.       

To support their Atlanta and regional expansion, Lidl announced plans in January to invest $100 million in opening what will be their fourth American distribution center.  The center, announced in 2017 to be located in Cartersville in Bartow County, is instead coming to Covington in Newton County.    

Have you been to a Lidl?  Have your shopping habits changed as a result of COVID-19?  What one grocery item will you travel to a specific store for?    

Please share your thoughts below.  

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lidl is expanding too fast in all the wrong places. They need to open in food deserts, not affluent neighborhoods.

Greenwave said...

I've been to the Lidl at North Druid Hills every single week since they have been open. I wish they had more products but they did what they could with the space. I love their rewards program and how cheap stuff is compared to Publix & Kroger. Plus their cinnamon rolls are amazing.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE that their eggs are .47 a dozen EVERY week!!

Anonymous said...

We went opening weekend and it was packed. I was very surprised at the variety and size. It seems bigger than Fresh Market (I know it isnt!). It should do very well in that area.

vespajet said...

Their store in Jonesboro is slated to open on Wednesday August 5th. It's located not too far from a Kroger (A 30-something year old location that hasn't been renovated in years.) and an Aldi (Which has been there for close to 20 years, and was among the first ones that opened in Atlanta.). That area has been lacking a quality grocery store since Publix shuttered their store in the area a decade or so ago. The Kroger has had a bad reputation for quite a few years because it's been poorly run and with no real competitors in the area, they've not renovated it as often as other stores (It still retains the "greenhouse" style front that stores they built in the mid-80s and in the early 90s had.). Adli takes better care of their store and it doesn't look and feel run down like the Kroger does.

bofdem said...

Germans ain’t opening in the gheto hole. Maybe if people didn’t torch Wendy’s or shoot 8 year olds, and didn’t use EBT, and...

Common Sense said...

Why would they open stores in areas where other larger companies can't keep a store open, per Anonymous above?

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