Lidl set to open 100th U.S. store

Next week, hard discount grocer Lidl plans to open its 100th U.S. location in Suwanee, Ga.

Plans call for Lidl to hold a soft opening at the Suwanee store — with no ribbon cutting — to maintain social distancing for customers and employees. In line with the company’s coronavirus safety measures, the store will operate under adjusted hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Sunday.

“Next week’s opening represents an important milestone in our mission to deliver outstanding quality products at the lowest possible prices to our customers in the United States,” Roman Heini, chairman of Arlington, Va.-based Lidl US, said in a statement. “We plan to continue to build new stores, ramp up our hiring efforts and expand our network of distribution centers to reach even more customers in the years ahead. We look forward to forging new and strong relationships with everyone who helps make our journey possible.”

Including the Suwanee store, located at 2985 Peachtree Parkway, Lidl now has six stores in Georgia employing more than 200 workers. Last week, on May 13, the Lidl held a soft opening for a new store at 5270 Peachtree Parkway NW in in Peachtree Corners, Ga., the chain’s second location in Gwinnett County. The company also is building a regional distribution center in Covington, Ga., which will create 270 new full-time jobs.

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“We congratulate Lidl and the residents of Suwanee on the grand opening of Lidl’s 100th store,” said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in a statement. “We are grateful for Lidl’s expanding investment in Georgia and, more than ever, we appreciate how important it is for Georgians to have access to high-quality food at an affordable price. We also appreciate the commitment of this store and so many others to maintain proper health guidelines so they can operate safely, keep people employed and meet critical needs during COVID-19.”

Besides plexiglass shields at checkout, Lidl's COVID-19 safety measures include daily enhancing cleanings across the store, limits on shopper capacity, social distancing signage, and special shopping hours for seniors and other vulnerable customers.

Lidl also recently opened its second location in Cary, N.C., holding a soft opening on April 29. With the new store, situated at 2741 NC-55, the retailer now has two dozen locations in North Carolina.

Germany-based Lidl continues to rapidly grow its U.S. store base. In early 2019, the retailer completed its November 2018 acquisition of 27 Best Market stores, mostly located in New York’s Long Island. Then in May 2019, Lidl announced an East Coast expansion plan that called for 25 new stores in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia by spring 2020.

The first Long Island stores opened in December. Also that month, Lidl announced the acquisition of six Shoppers Food & Pharmacy stores in Maryland and Virginia from United Natural Foods Inc.

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At the end of March, Lidl also opened a 700,000-square-foot distribution center and regional headquarters in Perryville, Md. The company said the facility supplies products to stores in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. Overall, the retailer has more than 5,000 employees across nine states.

“We are immensely proud of the Lidl US team, who has accomplished a tremendous amount in a few short years to bring us to this point,” said Johannes Fieber, president and CEO of Lidl US. “The entire team is working hard to provide high-quality, fresh products to our shoppers, and we see how important this is every day during this time of unprecedented need. Our team cannot wait to serve the community in Suwanee and continue to open new stores in the U.S.”