On the clock: Lower East Side Lidl Watch

Photos by Stacie Joy 

The Lidl outpost is looking closer to opening at 408 Grand St. (at Clinton) on the Lower East Side.

Larger COMING SOON signage is up for this "Super-est Market" with a big fan following...

News arrived last August that the German supermarket chain with 12,000 stores worldwide was opening a branch here. For now, the company hasn't announced an opening date — only that it will be in Summer 2025.

Lidl US signed the lease for the 23,000-square-foot space — previously a Rite Aid — on property owned by the affordable housing nonprofit Grand Street Guild. 

There are several Lidl outposts around NYC, including in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island ... with a location also slated for Chelsea. 

This article tells you what you can expect from a Lidl.

Lidl watch for 2025

Here's a build-out people will likely be watching in the New Year. 

As reported in late August, Lidl, the German supermarket chain with 12,000 stores worldwide, is opening a branch on Grand and Clinton on the Lower East Side next summer. 

The coming soon sign is up, as the top photo shows. (Thanks to Roger Bultot for the first two photos in this post.) 

Lidl US signed the lease for the 23,000-square-foot space at 408 Grand St. (previously a Rite Aid) on property owned by the affordable housing nonprofit Grand Street Guild.

Here's a look inside the gutted storefront going back to October (pic by Stacie Joy)...

There are several Lidl outposts around NYC, including Queens and Staten Island. When the Grand Street grocery opens, it will be the third in Manhattan. There's one in Harlem now, with a location slated for Chelsea. 

This article tells you what you can expect from a Lidl.

German supermarket powerhouse Lidl is opening an outpost on the Lower East Side

Lidl, the German supermarket chain with 12,000 stores worldwide, is opening a branch on Grand and Clinton on the Lower East Side. 

On Thursday, Lidl US officially announced that it had agreed on lease terms with affordable housing nonprofit Grand Street Guild for the 23,000-square-foot space at 408 Grand St. that previously housed a Rite Aid. (There were rumors of this pending arrival earlier last week, per the East of the Bowery Instagram account.)

There are several Lidl outposts around NYC, including Queens and Staten Island. When the Grand Street grocery opens next summer, it will be the third in Manhattan. There's one in Harlem now, with a location opening in Chelsea. (And more groceries are on the way.) 

Lidl US first arrived in Virginia in June 2015. The U.S. expansion hasn't been smooth, per a June 24 post on Grocery Dive: 

Renowned across Europe for the potent mix of low prices and high-quality goods that defines its thousands of colorful stores, Lidl arrived stateside with deep pockets, a highly developed private label strategy and a disciplined focus on efficiently running a complex business in a highly competitive environment. 

But instead of steadily growing its U.S. footprint as it had originally intended, Lidl US has moved ahead in fits and starts, prompting questions about why its value-focused business model has trouble gaining traction on American soil.

This retail space is on the other side of Grand and Clinton from Target, which opened in August 2018. (And yes — there's a Trader Joe's nearby too.)