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Has anyone heard when the Lidl on Wake Forest will open? It's been months of activity but no sign of when they'll be done. I was hoping to see a "open xx/xx/xx" sign in front of the store.
Nope. A lot of places don't give an exact date usually because it is subject to change. Everything depends on city permits and inspections, so if an inspection is delayed on the fire system, for instance, building can't continue until the inspection is completed. It also has to pass final inspections by various city agencies and the fire Marshall before they are cleared to open.
I was browsing another forum and they were talking about Lidl's expansion in the United States. Someone on that board posted a link to this article from Daily Mail and came back with the impression that they didn't know what they're doing.
The stores were described as being a mix between Trader Joe's and Harris Teeter, even though it leans moreso toward the former.
Nope. A lot of places don't give an exact date usually because it is subject to change. Everything depends on city permits and inspections, so if an inspection is delayed on the fire system, for instance, building can't continue until the inspection is completed. It also has to pass final inspections by various city agencies and the fire Marshall before they are cleared to open.
I get that but they can still put up an estimated date. They can always change the sign.
They also backed out of Eden and Goldsboro. Eden's store was already under construction when Lidl canned it without warning, so the town is stuck with a half-built building.
Danville's store is a ghost town. I passed through Wilson yesterday and the day before and the store there is only doing slightly better.
Considering the food selection they have, it's no surprise that the novelty has worn off after the initial tsunami of customers at the grand openings. I wouldn't be surprised if Lidl began closing some (if not all) of their existing US stores within the next 5 years. No loss for Clayton, IMO.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Originally Posted by LM117
They also backed out of Eden and Goldsboro. Eden's store was already under construction when Lidl canned it without warning, so the town is stuck with a half-built building.
Danville's store is a ghost town. I passed through Wilson yesterday and the day before and the store there is only doing slightly better.
Considering the food selection they have, it's no surprise that the novelty has worn off after the initial tsunami of customers at the grand openings. I wouldn't be surprised if Lidl began closing some (if not all) of their existing US stores within the next 5 years. No loss for Clayton, IMO.
Aldi has 15 stores in a special group to go head to head with Lidl. There's probably a 2nd group north of it. I found the group listing after going to the Gastonia Aldi. The group includes Danville & one or two stores in SC. Most stores in the group are in NC, including Wake Forest.
They didn't sufficiently check demographics. There are some products that are a real problem. The worst offender is Irish beef. $19.95 a pound will scare off a lot of customers, even in a Harris Teeter.
-Lidl already announced expansion into Ohio (both Cincinnati and Cleveland areas, IDK about Columbus. They also have been reportedly seeking locations out in Texas. They have not opened many stores on the east coast
-There were some pretty lofty goals that Lidl wanted to accomplish what Aldi has (~1300 stores) in only 10 years (Aldi's been around for 41 years).
-Speculation exists that some of their stores are doing poorly, with lightly trafficked stores. I heard they had halted construction on a couple of stores so they could re-evaluate their expansion plans.
-In a few cases, Lidl's US operations were drawing comparisons to Fresh and Easy (Tesco's failed US expansion)
-I won't write them off (at least not yet) because they can turn it around, but it would take them a good while if they're going to overtake Aldi.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Originally Posted by Renownedtheworldaround
A couple of bulletpoints:
-Lidl already announced expansion into Ohio (both Cincinnati and Cleveland areas, IDK about Columbus. They also have been reportedly seeking locations out in Texas. They have not opened many stores on the east coast
-There were some pretty lofty goals that Lidl wanted to accomplish what Aldi has (~1300 stores) in only 10 years (Aldi's been around for 41 years).
-Speculation exists that some of their stores are doing poorly, with lightly trafficked stores. I heard they had halted construction on a couple of stores so they could re-evaluate their expansion plans.
-In a few cases, Lidl's US operations were drawing comparisons to Fresh and Easy (Tesco's failed US expansion)
-I won't write them off (at least not yet) because they can turn it around, but it would take them a good while if they're going to overtake Aldi.
Lidl's CEO sent an Irishman to head up US operations. What was needed was an American, then surround him with experienced Lidl management. It's more important to understand us than be well-versed in Lidl's methods. My guess is that the Irish head of operations thought that he could have Irish beef by selling it in the store & that people in the US wouldn't balk at the insane price. Then there's the ads on TV. They appear to be based on a common European opinion that people in the US are a fairly foul-mouthed bunch.
Aldi has slated 1300 of their 1600 stores for remodels by 2020.
Lidl can fix the initial screwups. It's not a lost cause.
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