The European chain Lidl has plans for stores in Cary and Raleigh. They are also opening a regional distribution center in Mebane so more stores will be in the works.
I’ve read they are similar to Aldi’s. Is any one familiar with the company and their offerings?
Should make things interesting for Food Lion, Aldi, and Wal-Mart SuperCenter, all within walking distance of the Raleigh location.
Lidl is very similar to Aldi (at least in their UK offerings).
We regard both as somewhere to visit periodically to snap up any bargains that may be on offer. Neither are supermarkets where we would be likely to do a regular “big shop” although both are now trying to position themselves in the market to do that. We find Lidl to be much better, for the bargains and the quality, than Aldi and have pretty much stopped going to Aldi (which is a bit further of a drive).
By the by, we’ve just done our Christmas booze and nibbles shop at Lidl. Bargain wines with several less than £5 and many less than £7.
Harters, next time you’re in the US you should check out a Trader Joes for comparison’s sake (and for fun).
Aldi Nord owns Trader Joes.
LulusMom - nice to see you here.
I still miss Lidl. Aldi is good, but Lidl is awesome.
They’re different branches of the same family but there’s no connection business-wise between Aldi and TJ’s.
Oh, interesting. I’ve shopped in Lidl but not an Aldi (I think - I could be getting them totally mixed up). Whichever I shopped in was good but didn’t strike me as quite the same as TJs. But again, my memory could be off - this was 8 years ago with a baby in tow.
Sort of.
The Aldi that has stores in the US under the Aldi name is one branch of Aldi.
The Aldi that owns TJs is the other branch.
I shopped in the Aldi near Southpoint. I bought a pork shoulder. It had weird slime where the bone used to be, which was super gross. Serves me right for not buying humanely raised meat.
The Lidl in Raleigh is looking quite close to opening…
Aldi and Lidl are now the UK’s 5th and 7th largest supermarket chains.
The Raleigh Lidl opened today!
I’ve shopped at Lidl at least a dozen times now. Prices are similar to Aldi’s. The store has wider aisles, high ceilings and good lighting, very clean. Carts are free to use with smaller two tiered ones available. I don’t usually think about the cart I’m using but these are very nice - slightly wider than usual, handle comfy, drink holder, moves smoothly and maneuvers well!
They add a lot of new items frequently so some aisles seem filled with zombies slowly shuffling along trying to take it all in. Best to avoid weekends and evenings if you are in a rush.
The new stuff is 3/4 non-food (clothing, housewares, tools, etc.) and 1/4 food. They often have themes - Greek, Italian, French - with shelved and frozen items. These items are just for the promo.
Produce is very fresh and well priced. Includes gourmet mushroom medley, a good amount of organic and some interesting organic micro greens assortments for under $2. I tried the Italian (lentil, arugula, kale and fennel) which was super fresh and tasty. There is also an Asian and istr a Mexican assortment.
Fresh flowers priced about the same as TJ’s. TJ has a nicer assortment though. I haven’t been too enamored by their baked goods but the little veggie tart and pretzel rolls are good. Frozen selection is extensive and has GF free options like Udi’s from time to time.
Personal care is larger than Aldi’s and TJ’s and includes diapers and even condoms. Wine/beer is much larger than Aldi’s. My meat purchases have been few but were a good value and quality. Ditto on dairy. Dry goods are a mixture of national brands, private label and some European items.
The check out moves quickly since there are two conveyors for the clerk to move rung items to. You pay and bag your own at the end of the conveyor. Bags are bring your own or available to purchase.
Oh - free Wi-Fi in the store too.
I still like Aldi’s and it is closer to home. But I am finding Lidl a nice option.
Lidl is aggressively going for the market. I saw a huge electronic billboard for them outside of Richmond, Va. A recent email from Lidl had a bit on how your other grocery stores were ripping you off. There’s been recent press about other stores lowering their prices once Lidl comes to town. I’ve noticed at Harris Teeter (prices similar to The Fresh Market) a sign on the door announcing lowered prices.
All in all worth checking out especially if you try to save money on groceries.
I can’t wait til they get to FL. I preferred Lidl over all the other grocery options in France
The first 20 US stores opened early summer 2017. It’s just 9 or so months later and there are around 50 ranging from Augusta, Ga. to Vineland, NJ. They’ve roughly been following I-95 with some detours toward more populated areas so I’d expect the same to happen in Fl. Probably Jax first. If they have moved to the I-75 corridor in Ga. then I could see them entering with Gainesville/ Ocala. At this rate you should have one within 2 years!
I’d be interested in hearing about the similarities and differences between the European stores.
Do you find US Aldi’s to be close to the ones you shopped in France?
The stores here are styles more like other American stores…brighter lighting, wider aisles, but otherwise pretty similar.
I also liked Aldi and Lidl because the staff were far more accepting if my American accent, because most of them, like many of their customers, did not speak French as their mother tongue. The Portuguese store next door was also accepting and tolerant of accents.
My local store has been open 5 months. They are in the process of a reset - removed canned goods from one side of a row of shelves, jarred sauces and spices from the reverse side and have changed it over to non-food (clothing, Harbor Freightish tools/housewares). I didn’t check to see if these foods have simply been moved or if the categories have decreased substantially.
The store now seems to be 2/3 food, 1/3 non-food. Not a bad move - no perish-ability issues to deal with. Most be getting a nice markup to devote so much square footage to the stuff.
Not sure what this means for Lidl’s future plans but they have backed out of building some NC stores and are being sued.
