Lidl is laying off 200 workers at its U.S. headquarters

Lidl has laid off about 200 workers at its U.S. headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, the German-owned grocer said Friday.

The layoffs happened this week and will “mainly impact” the grocer’s corporate team, not store-level workers, Lidl Spokesman Chandler Spivey said in a statement.

“While we remain committed to the long-term success of Lidl US and look forward to continuing our expansion along the East Coast, we are continually evaluating our operations to ensure we are supporting our stores effectively,” Spivey said. “As part of this process, we have made the difficult decision at this time to eliminate approximately 200 roles across the company, which took place this week.”

Lidl, which was founded in Ludwigshafen, Germany, in 1973, established its U.S. headquarters in 2015 and opened its first store in the country two years later. The hard discounter now operates more than 170 stores across Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and New York.

Lidl is owned by the Schwarz Group.

News of the layoffs was first reported Friday by German publication Lebensmittel Zeitung, which noted that the cuts represent about 20% of the workforce at the corporate headquarters.

Several former Lidl workers have posted on LinkedIn in recent days, saying they were laid off and looking for employment.

The grocer said it will give all affected workers severance pay, as well as career transition guidance, company-funded COBRA healthcare coverage and the payout of accrued but unused vacation time, according to Spivey.

Lidl launched in the U.S. with the marketing tagline “Rethink Grocery” and plans to open 100 stores by the summer of 2018. But the retailer only opened about half that many stores by its deadline. Globally, Lidl operates about 12,000 stores.

In 2018, the grocer acquired 27 Best Market supermarkets in New York and New Jersey, giving Lidl a strong presence on Long Island, New York. 

German discount grocer (and chief Lidl competitor), Aldi, meanwhile, ranked as the fastest-growing grocer in the U.S. in 2022, with 49 new locations.