Lidl Express Opens in Arlington, VA

Even as it ramps up its expansion plans in the United States, Lidl is thinking small. The deep discounter this week opened a small-format grocery store, dubbed Lidl Express, on the ground floor of its U.S. headquarters, in Arlington, Va.

A Lidl US spokesman told Progressive Grocer that the new location would “help bring the products our team works so hard to develop closer to our team here at HQ,” as many of the company’s supermarkets are relatively far from Arlington.

The spokesman added, “The store is also open to members of the community.”

According to the Washington Business Journal, the D.C.-area Lidl Express store measures a little more than 1,000 square feet, as opposed to the retailer’s typical location size of about 20,000 square feet, and sells many convenience-type items as well as fresh food such as produce. It also caters to other workers in the immediate area, which the publication noted has few dining options.

So far, the concept is a one-off, with Lidl US Director of Communications Will Harwood noting to the Journal that the small-format store “shows how agile and adaptive Lidl can be.”