Lidl US will acquire 27 Best Market grocery stores in New York and New Jersey. The deal will expand Lidl’s presence in the region and mark its introduction to Long Island. The Best Market locations will be converted into Lidl stores, and employment opportunities will be offered to all workers.
Lidl operates 59 stores in the U.S., but prior to this acquisition just three were in New Jersey, according to Supermarket News. The retailer has been shifting its expansion strategy to include smaller stores on leased sites, rather than exclusively build-and-own locations, and the size of the Best Market stores aligns with this new approach.
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The expansion in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic could put margin pressure on other supermarkets in the region: retailers in the immediate vicinity of Lidl stores dropped prices on individual products by as much as 55%, according to a study by the University of North Carolina. On average, competing retailers near Lidl stores set their prices approximately 9.3% lower than in markets where Lidl is not present.
“Best Market has played an enormously positive role in the area, and we look forward to working closely with Best Market employees to build on that success,” said Johannes Fieber, CEO of Lidl US in a statement. “We are excited to expand into many great communities on Long Island and across the New York City area, and introduce more customers to our simple and efficient approach to grocery shopping, which will mean high quality and huge savings for more shoppers.”
