![Lidl store has come to the United States [Image: benso1966/YouTube screenshot]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/7/2/660x290/b_502x220x82/lidl-store-has-come-to-the-united-states-image-benso1966youtube-screenshot_1420657.jpg "Lidl store has come to the United States [Image: benso1966/YouTube screenshot]")
There is a new store in the United States. Lidl just opened its first stores in America, and the grocery chain is already taking Walmart's shoppers when it comes to buying groceries at low prices. Up until now, Walmart has been the largest grocery chain in America. Lidl intends to take that title.
The German supermarket chain is 9 percent cheaper than Walmart and 3 percent cheaper that its German rival Aldi and 16 percent cheaper than Food Lion. With those statistics, Lidl seems to be the way to go when it comes to shopping for groceries.
New competition
Lidl is the newest competition for other grocery stores. It is forcing other stores to lower their prices to keep the shoppers they have.
Shoppers don't go to Lidl stores only because of low prices. The grocery store has other perks including its excellent customer service. The store's policies are similar to favorite stores such as Costco and Publix, according to analysts. Lidl's chief competitor is the German discount chain Aldi that is also in the United States.
Lidl stores
There are more than 10,000 Lidl stores in 27 European countries around the world, and now the stores have made their way into the United States. They will be opened around the country in phases. A week ago, it opened 10 stores and another 100 will be opened by next summer.
The 10 stores were first opened in the south in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
How the store is different
When the Virginia Beach store opened last Thursday, hundreds of people lined up before 7 a.m. for the grand opening to see what the store was like. Shoppers were greeted with friendly employees who showed them around the store.
Consumers were impressed with the high ceilings in the 20,000 square feet store.
The bakery was a main attraction with its wide variety of breads, pastries, donuts, and croissants that are made daily. Samples from the bakery are readily available to customers Other sampling stations are found throughout the store like Costco and Sam's Club.
Even though the store is huge, there are only six long aisles where items are easily accessible. The store has a wide assortment of organic and gluten-free products around the store, including organic fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy, and packaged food items. It is interesting that the store has no deli section, but there a wide selection of sliced packaged meats.
About 90 percent of the products in the store are private labels that make them 50 percent cheaper than its rivals. Like Aldi, Lidl will keep its prices low by limiting inventory to a small selection of items. Traditional supermarkets usually carry several brands of a single product. Customers will soon get used to the private labels and the limited selection of an item.
Like stores in the United States, Lidl has a wide selection of beer and about 120 different wines. Lidl can afford to cut prices because the store saves money by requiring customers to bring their own shopping bags.
There are computers that print labels throughout the store for items that shoppers select and weigh themselves. This saves time at the checkout.
Lidl is not limited to selling just groceries. Later this year, a new apparel line designed by fashion icon Heidi Klum will be included in the store.
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