No stores have been announced yet for Georgia, but the state perhaps has won a bigger prize in German grocery chain Lidl’s expansion into the United States: one of four regional headquarters and distribution centers.
Lidl (pronounced “Lee-dle”) is launching the center in Cartersville, northwest of Atlanta, creating 250 jobs there to support the planned opening of up to 100 stores along the East Coast in the coming year. The overall expansion in the eastern U.S. is projected to create 5,000 jobs. Most prominent in 28 European countries, Lidl’s first 10 American stores opened in Virginia and the Carolinas this month.
The chain competes here with other German-owned counterparts Aldi and Trader Joe’s in offering a manageable and what it calls “intuitive” store format, with smaller, curated selections of products. Controlling the size, layout and breadth of products offered helps the stores generate savings they pass on to consumers.
“For us, it’s top quality at the best prices,” Lidl spokesman Will Harwood said, noting that the company sources locally when possible and welcomes ideas from farms and distributors as to which products to purchase within Georgia.
Lidl-branded products make up 90 percent of what’s on the shelves in the company’s 10,000 stores, but that enables oversight to ensure products meet its exacting standards, the company says. Lidl values careful curation over endless choice, but it also aims to surprise shoppers with offerings like home appliances, fitness gear, toys and outdoor furniture.
Georgians shouldn’t have to wait too long to see the stores in their backyard. And if recent openings are any indication, there will be plenty of appetite for a new competitor in the seemingly crowded discount grocery sector.
“Georgia is absolutely an area of focus for us,” Mr. Harwood said, saying specials at new stores were effective in attracting shoppers. “We had people queued up, camping out, hundreds of people at each store, waiting to get in,” he said. “We’re delighted to be serving customers.”
While he couldn’t give a timeline for a Georgia opening, he said the company is asking community leaders or property owners to submit appropriate building sites for free-standing stores in high-traffic areas with space for at least 150 parking spots. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the company has had an office scouting store locations in Atlanta since 2015.
The company is headquartered in Neckarsulm, Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, near Stuttgart, which is served nonstop by Delta Air Lines Inc. from Atlanta.
Cartersville attracted the company with its mix of logistics accessibility and quality of life for workers, Mr. Harwood told Global Atlanta.
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