Lidl to Open 50 New Stores, Create 2,000 Jobs by End of 2021
Lidl US has taken the wraps off plans to open 50 new stores by the end of 2021. The stores will be located in Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia, bringing the grocer’s total number of U.S. stores to more than 150.
The $500 million-plus investment in the new stores is anticipated to create about 2,000 new jobs across these communities, according to Lidl, which offers such benefits as health care insurance for all full- and part-time employees.
As part of the deep discounter’s continuing strategy to prioritize its most convenient locations, it will close two stores in Havelock and Shelby, North Carolina. All employees at those locations will have the opportunity to relocate to another store within Lidl’s store network.
The specific locations for the planned new stores are Astoria, East Northport, Franklin Square, Lake Grove, Massapequa and Oakdale, New York; Bayonne, Brick, Egg Harbor Township, Garwood, Glassboro, Gloucester Township, Lawrenceville, Park Ridge, Weehawken and Woodbridge, New Jersey; Clifton Heights, Lancaster, Philadelphia and Warminster, Pennsylvania; Bear, Delaware; Annapolis, Brooklyn Park, Columbia, Glen Burnie, Frederick, Montgomery Village, Oxon Hill, Takoma Park, Timonium, and Wheaton, Maryland; Alexandria, Burke, Chantilly, Charlottesville, Falls Church, Manassas and Sterling, Virginia; Apex, Burlington, Charlotte (two stores) and Wilmington, North Carolina; North Charleston, South Carolina; and Duluth, Dunwoody, East Cobb, Marietta, Sandy Springs and Woodstock, Georgia. Grand opening dates of the individual stores will be revealed over the coming months.
Lidl has touted its current U.S. success after an admittedly rocky start in this country. A recent UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School study commissioned by Lidl US showed the retailer’s prices to be up to 45% lower than those of nearby national grocers, making it an attractive proposition for bargain-hunting shoppers, while the National Retail Federation has identified Lidl as the top retailer in its Hot 100 Retailers ranking of fastest-growing companies.
Additionally, to help support its growth, Lidl opened its third regional headquarters and distribution center, in Cecil County, Maryland, earlier this year, and has disclosed plans to open its fourth distribution center, in Covington, Georgia, over the next two years.
Neckarsulm, Germany-based Lidl operates more than 11,000 stores in 32 countries, employing about 287,000 employees worldwide. In the United States, the Arlington, Virginia-based grocer has about 100 stores in nine East Coast states. The company is No. 96 on the PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
