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Lidl moves ahead with Long Island store openings

Three new locations announced, including in New York City

Russell Redman

July 20, 2020

4 Min Read
Lidl produce dept-Long Island openings.jpg
Lidl plans to open two more stores on Long Island starting next week and three more early next year, including one in the New York City borough of Queens.Lidl US

Boosting its presence in metropolitan New York, Lidl US plans to launch its banner at more Long Island, N.Y., locations starting next week.

Plans call for Lidl stores to open in East Meadow (1980 Hempstead Tpke.) on July 29 and in Patchogue (655 Montauk Hwy.) on Aug. 5. The hard discount grocer said that, during the weekends before the grand openings, it will host farmer’s market pop-up outlets in each store’s parking lot to give customers a chance to try the company’s fresh products.

The East Meadow and Patchogue locations are converted stores from Best Market, a Bethpage, N.Y.-based chain that Lidl acquired in late 2018. Best Market associates at both locations have been offered job opportunities with Lidl.

Lidl bakery-Long Island openings.jpg

At the new Long Island locations, customers will see a fresh bakery near the entrance of the store, Lidl said.

Over the next four weeks, Lidl said, remodels also will get under way for Best Market stores in Astoria (in the New York City borough of Queens) and in Franklin Square and Massapequa (both in Long Island’s Nassau County) for the “next wave” of store openings early next year. All three are newly announced locations.

Lidl opened its first Long Island stores in December and currently operates four locations in the region, including one in Nassau County (Plainview) and three in Suffolk County (West Babylon, Huntington Station and Center Moriches).

Related:Lidl’s Long Island market entry pulled down competitors’ prices

Other Lidl locations previously announced for Long Island include Oakdale and Lake Grove, N.Y., which will be converted from the Best Market banner. The Plainview Lidl occupies a former ShopRite site, while the Center Moriches Lidl took over a former Waldbaum’s space.

Arlington, Va.-based Lidl US closed the acquisition of Best Market in early 2019. The 27 Best Markets acquired included 24 on Long Island, two in New York City (Astoria and Harlem) and one in Holmdel, N.J. A small Best Market store in Hicksville, in Long Island’s Nassau County, was closed in September 2019, and the Holmdel store was shut this past February.

Lidl said its Long Island entry has already has impacted competitors in the crowded market. Earlier this month, Lidl released the results of a study it commissioned with the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, which found that other grocery retailers cut prices as much as 15% since the first Lidl stores opened in the region. Researchers analyzed the prices of 47 private-brand grocery products at Long Island locations of fellow hard-discount grocer Aldi as well as at BJ’s Wholesale Club, Costco Wholesale, King Kullen, Stop & Shop, Target, Trader Joe’s and Walmart before and after Lidl entered the region.

Related:Lidl set to open 100th U.S. store

Lidl meat dept-Long Island openings.jpg

In late May, Germany-based Lidl opened its 100th U.S. location. The retailer currently has stores in nine states.

As in Lidl’s other U.S. stores, the new Long Island locations will feature low pricing and a selection of primarily store brands, with most products sourced in the United States, according to the company.

The assortment also will include hundreds of organic and gluten-free products; 100 fresh fruit and vegetable items; a fresh flower stand; and European specialty products, such as cheese, specialty sauces and cured meats. A fresh bakery department is near the entrance of the new stores, which also will offer a changing, limited-time selection of food and non-food specials. The rotating non-food selection, for example, will include fitness gear, small kitchen appliances, toys, outdoor furniture, apparel and other items.
 
“We are excited to welcome Lidl to the Town of Hempstead, the largest township in the United States,” Town Supervisor Don Clavin said in a statement on the upcoming East Meadow store. “Grocery stores played an essential role during the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to play a critical role as our region reopens. Indeed, the opening of new businesses is an encouraging sign for the local economy and our community at large.”

Germany-based Lidl opened its 100th U.S. store in late May in Suwanee, Ga., and operates retail locations in Delaware, George, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia. A grand opening is slated for a new store in Burlington, N.J., on July 22.

At the end of March, Lidl also opened a 700,000-square-foot distribution center and regional headquarters in Perryville, Md. The DC supplies products to stores in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York.

 

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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