[UPDATE] New Lidl Grocery Store in Norcross Finally Moving Forward After Five Year Hiatus

Nearly five years after our report in June 2021 that grocery store Lidl was planning to open a new store in Norcross, the store is back from the dead!  The new store, to be located at 4990 Jimmy Carter Boulevard, will be built on the site of what was once the Horizon Events Center.  

Lidl at The Interlock in Atlanta

According to documents reviewed by ToNeTo Atlanta, the grocer is seeking bids on its construction plans through February 18, so an opening by late 2026 is possible but not terribly likely.  

Lidl - rhymes with needle - is a German-based discount grocer similar to Aldi.  The company opened its first Georgia store in late 2017 in Augusta and entered the Atlanta market in early 2019.  In the years since, the grocer has grown to 18 stores in the state.  The company previously closed locations in Dunwoody (February 2023) and Sandy Springs (July 2022), and cancelled several that were planned around metro Atlanta, including those in Decatur, Old Fourth Ward, downtown, and Woodstock, among others.  

Amazingly, the company purchased land in Woodstock, built a store there, but then never opened it, and as ToNeTo Atlanta exclusively reported this past October, it will instead open as a new Tractor Supply Co. store.  

The company has cycled through six CEOs in its U.S. division.  Marco Giudici, former CEO of Lidl Romania, was in January named CEO of Lidl US on an "interim" basis. (Joel Rampoldt had been the company's CEO since 2023 but stepped down in January and is now serving as an advisor to the grocer.)  

This frequent change at the top has led to several stops, starts, and new directions for the company, and created challenges for the grocer as it seeks to capture a greater share of the U.S. grocery market.  

The company's plans to finally build the long-delayed and thought to have been abandoned Norcross store is reportedly a reflection of the grocer's intention to return to growth in the market after previously "killing" several deals around the state.  In some cases, as in Norcross, the grocer purchased the property and is therefore in a better position to change its mind.  Sources suggest that the grocer still owns several parcels around the state, including property in Douglasville and Conyers.  

A store at 4325 Bethelview Road in Cumming that sat completed but idle for more than a year finally opened  in September 2024.  

The company this past October opened a new store at phase two of The Interlock near Georgia Tech.  The space that Lidl occupies was originally to be a Publix, but the Florida-based grocer ultimately walked away from the project.   

Are you pleased to hear that Lidl is coming to Norcross? Where else would you like to see Lidl open in metro Atlanta?  What is your favorite grocer?    

Please share your thoughts below.