Lidl announces opening date for first two Long Island stores
Lidl will open its first two Long Island stores next week, in West Babylon and Center Moriches. Here, the produce department at a Lidl store in Staten Island. Credit: Jeff Bachner
Discount grocer Lidl’s first two Long Island stores will open next week, the company said.
The two stores — one was converted from a Best Market, at 725 Sunrise Hwy. in West Babylon, and the other is in a former Waldbaum’s supermarket space at 812 Montauk Hwy. in Center Moriches — will open on Dec. 11.
“Our store brings significant new investment to Center Moriches and will be a customer-focused shopping destination that will be a great addition to the community,” Center Moriches store manager Carlo Franzese said in a statement.
The stores will have 20,000-square-foot sales areas, Lidl spokesman William Harwood said.
In January, the U.S. arm of Germany-based Lidl bought 27 stores, including all 24 Best Market locations on Long Island from the Bethpage-based company for an undisclosed price.
Lidl closed the Best Market in Hicksville in September. It has said that the remaining Best Market stores will be converted to Lidl over the next two years.
So far, Lidl has announced that eight Long Island stores will bear the Lidl name in 2020, including the Best Markets in East Meadow, Oakdale, Patchogue and Lake Grove. Those four stores will close for remodeling early next year and reopen by summer, Lidl has said.
Lidl operates limited-assortment stores, which are smaller and carry fewer products than traditional supermarkets. Limited-assortment stores also carry a high percentage of their own private-label brands.
About 80% to 90% of Lidl’s products are private label.
While Best Market supermarkets have full-service delis and meat and seafood departments, Lidl stores do not.
Lidl has more than 11,000 stores in 32 countries, including more than 75 locations in nine states on the U.S. East Coast.
Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.
