American grocery stores are about to face even more competition, as a beloved grocery store chain from abroad might soon take over their market.
Who knows? Americans might begin switching from bagged Wonder bread to freshly baked European pastries, swapping Kraft singles for imported cheese, or ditching Oscar Mayer wieners for bratwurst.
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Walmart (WMT) , Sam’s Club, Costco (COST) , and Kroger (KR) have been Americans’ preferred grocery stores for years. They are filled with the most popular food brands that have become family staples, making them reliable retailers.
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Lidl is one of the largest grocery store chains worldwide. It currently operates over 12,350 stores and 225 distribution and logistics centers in 31 countries.
If you haven’t heard about Lidl, that’s because it’s a German-based brand with most of its market in Europe and the UK. However, it has had a presence on the East Coast of the U.S. since 2015 and is quietly making huge moves to further amplify its name nationwide.
Grocery chain Lidl unveils expansion plans in 2025.
Image source: Durand/Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
Lidl unveils huge expansion plans and teases the new locations
Lidl has a mission to become the top staple retailer worldwide.
The grocery store chain recently revealed plans for a massive expansion in the UK as an extension of an investment plan launched in 2021. Its goal is to reach 1,100 locations across the UK by the end of 2025.
Since entering the UK market in 1994, the grocery store chain has opened over 980 stores and 14 distribution centers. This year, Lidl will allocate £500 million, around $6.7 million, to build 40 more stores, in various forms, including high street, retail park, and mixed-use town center sites.
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Although Lidl has yet to confirm the exact locations, it revealed to MailOnline that Berwick, Redcar, Hull, Crediton, and Manchester are a few of the chosen ones.
This year’s target number of store openings in the UK nearly doubles last year’s 23 opened locations, representing a massive growth acceleration.
Lidl quietly opens multiple stores in the US, with more to come
Lidl might be a European company, but its immense success in the EU and UK has inspired it to expand into other countries, especially the U.S.
The grocery store chain entered the U.S. market in 2015 and now has over 180 stores across 10 East Coast states.
Although Lidl has not announced any recent expansion plans in the U.S., it has quietly begun to open and build multiple locations over the last few months.
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At the beginning of this year, Lidl opened three stores in the U.S.: two in Brooklyn, New York, and one in Paramus, New Jersey. It will also open new stores in downtown Brooklyn on May 23 and in Freehold, New Jersey, on May 9.
The grocery store chain signed a leasing agreement to build two more locations: one in the Lower East Side in Manhattan, New York, which is expected to open this summer, and one in Midtown East, with no opening date yet.
Lidl is starting to increase its store openings in the U.S. each year, and if the pace continues, it could soon become as big as other major American grocery chains.
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