Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Lidl opened its long-anticipated Lower East Side location on Friday, drawing lines as early as 6:30 a.m. for the official 8 a.m. opening.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony, held at 7:40 a.m., marked the German supermarket chain's continued expansion into Manhattan (there's an outpost in Harlem that opened in 2022 with one planned for Chelsea), bringing its global store count to over 12,000, with more than 185 in the eastern part of the U.S.
The 23,000-square-foot space — formerly a Rite Aid — is located at the corner of Grand and Clinton streets, in a building owned by the affordable housing nonprofit Grand Street Guild. Lidl signed a lease for the property last summer.
Opening day was as busy as you'd expect, with long lines at the entrance, free coffee and donuts for departing shoppers, and a DJ playing music near a union protest with an array of large inflatable rats outside the store.
A union representative said the demonstration — limited to the morning hours — was meant to raise awareness about labor concerns, stating, "We don't want [people] to go without food, but we do want them to think about fair labor practices."
Other offerings include a private-label meat line under the "Butcher's Specialty" brand, with items such as USDA Choice beef, organic and grass-fed options, and antibiotic-free chicken. The seafood section looked solid as well.
The eggs and dairy aisle drew a crowd as well. Eggs start at $3.75 a dozen, while a gallon of milk is $2.97.
9 comments:
Love that last image: Waage entlasten (=unload the scale)
They're even using the German software!
I tried to go into this store over the weekend but the line was pretty long so I will wait for a while until there are no lines to enter the store.
Its funny how when you go to the others stores they have almost nothing in stock makes you think maybe this is one of the stores that they want to make free 🤔
As much as I'd like to check out the new Lidl store..as a 2nd generation Brotherhood Of Teamsters member.. retired...I steer clear of any place where I see the Inflatable RAT..
Over the last 30 years or so I've seen too much NON UNION construction going on here in NYC,!
Lidl actually pay well and there dynamic is pretty interesting, rather than have cashiers, stockers etc they just have associates. It's not for me but I'm pretty sure some people enjoy how it makes each shift different because in any given shift you could be on the register one moment and stocking the next. This is how they are able to keep costs down and sell things at a cheaper price.
German efficiency on display. Talk to some Germans that live there like a teacher etc and you'll how much better the quality of live is in Germany for an average worker relative to US.
"rather than have cashiers, stockers etc they just have associates. It's not for me but I'm pretty sure some people enjoy how it makes each shift different because in any given shift you could be on the register one moment and stocking the next. "
Trader Joe's has this system since they have been in NYC. Checked them out Monday mid-afternnon. All the check outs, staffed and self service, had at least 20 people in a line. One thing they don't have is the Trader Joe's one line system which I dig. The lines take up a lot of space in the rather narrow line IMO. As noted in this article, the bakery when I went was very busy as well. It's about a 20 minute walk for me. Since TJs on 14th Street and Ave A is around a 7 minute walk, I'll stick with TJ's as my go to place for now. Unlike TJ's, they have "dry goods" here like a regular supermarket. And the demo of the customers , at least at the time and day I was there, was around 98% local.
Personally, I don't like the quality on the bakery or the meat department. Other people love those, so whatever. Lidl brings a lot of people joy with the lower prices.
Been to the Harlem store many times. It's okay. It's different, different brands, different packaged goods. Prices are cheaper, some very attractive pricing on a lot of items, but the quality is lacking too. I think the bakery section is a feature people like a lot. The wait on line can be pretty long too.
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