Lidl Opens Small Store at HQ

Lidl has converted a portion of its Arlington, Va., U.S. headquarters building into a compact store it is calling Lidl Express.

The store takes up a little more than 1,000 square feet on the street level of the building and is open to the public, according to a report in the Washington Business Journal. Lidl spokesman Will Harwood told that publication that the store serves to showcase Lidl’s products to its workers while also acting as a lunch destination in the neighborhood. The store carries a variety of fresh and chilled products, including some prepared foods, beer and wine, and fresh produce and flowers.

Lidl acquired its headquarters building at 3500 S. Clark St. in the Potomac Yards neighborhood in 2015 as part of a $77 million investment. It employs about 500 workers there.

As previously reported, Lidl is now pursuing a variety of configurations and sizes for its stores, though Harwood said the Arlington unit was the only one that small in the fleet.

Separately this week, Lidl officials said it would open its first store in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley in Easton, Pa., on April 24.