1st NY Lidl Store Opening on Staten Island
Just weeks after its potentially game-changing acquisition of 27 Best Market stores in New York and New Jersey, Lidl US will open its inaugural store in the Empire State on Staten Island on Wednesday, Dec. 12. Not part of the Best Markets deal, the store will open within the Staten Island Mall at 7:00 a.m., with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony slated for 9 a.m.
“We are very excited to be opening our first store in Staten Island on Dec. 12,” said Store Manager Tom Parsons. “The store is also our first in New York state and in New York City, which is even more exciting. With Lidl coming to the Staten Island Mall, it will be easier than ever for shoppers across the borough to save big with Lidl.”
Store hours will be 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Sunday, and, according to the company, many of the associates will be local residents.
To mark the grand opening of the store, the first 100 customers will be able to pull a gift card worth up to $500 from Santa’s Bulging Bag, and all shoppers can sample various Lidl products and get a free reusable bag while supplies last. Grand-opening activities will continue through the weekend, including games, prizes, special deals and giveaways.
Industry observer Burt Flickinger III, managing director of New York-based Strategic Retail Group, told Progressive Grocer last month that Lidl’s decisive move into the Big Apple and its surrounding areas had positioned the deep discounter to win big in the region, driving prices down and trouncing unwary rivals.
Asked subsequently about the decisive factor in Lidl’s predicted success, Flickinger cited the retailer’s new, more effective leadership – a “dream team” from Europe, headed by President and CEO Johannes Fieber, that’s capable of correcting Lidl's early missteps in the United States to become a formidable competitor in the American grocery sector.
In common with its other U.S. stores, the newly built Staten Island Lidl will feature an easy-to-shop layout and streamlined shopping experience, offering fresh-baked goods strategically placed by the entrance, high-quality private brands, healthy and sustainable product options, organic and gluten-free items, and a changing selection of limited-time nonfoods, among them fitness gear, small kitchen appliances, toys and outdoor furniture.
The company first revealed that it would open a store on Staten Island in May.
With U.S. headquarters in Arlington County, Va., Lidl operates about 10,500 stores in 29 countries, including more than 50 supermarkets in the United States.
