LIDL
Opened: 2018
Opened: 2018
Previous Tenants: none
Location: 2973 NJ-35, Hazlet, NJ
Photographed: January 2021
Our final Hazlet store is also one of its newest. Just across the highway from the even-newer ALDI, this 38,000 square foot store was built about three years ago in LIDL's first push to enter the US. Later stores have been scaled back in design and occupy other closed supermarkets, such as Park Ridge and Garwood. This store is of the same model as Union.
We enter to produce in the front of the store with bakery, the store's only fresh department, on the right side.
Dairy/deli packaged items line the rest of the right side wall.
As we can see, the shelving stays at a pretty low level, allowing for a great sightline across the store. Dedicated readers know that I am not particularly a fan of LIDL, but these earlier US buildings are really beautiful.
We can also get a good sense of the sloping ceiling here. I do love any ceiling that's not just a regular flat ceiling, and I think this variation works quite well in the discount store-type environment LIDL has created.
LIDL encourages its customers to "rethink grocery," but it remains to be seen how much of an impact they'll actually have on the US grocery market. Most comparisons have been made to either ALDI (an enormous success) or Fresh & Easy (an enormous failure). In my opinion, LIDL US will probably be somewhere in the middle -- I doubt they'll crash and burn dramatically, but I also doubt they'll make as much of a difference as they hope, at least in the New Jersey area.
Looking along the last aisle, which is frozen foods. There are three of these deluxe sloped-roof stores in New Jersey, with the other two being Union (linked above) and Eatontown, which unfortunately we will not be covering.
Well, I don't think LIDL is particularly special but up next, we'll be heading about 3/4 of a mile east to a store that certainly is! Check that out tomorrow on The Independent Edition.
This was the first Lidl I was ever in and I liked it! Thought it was much better than all the Aldis I had ever been to. Loved the self-checkouts as the lines at the staffed registers extended far down the aisles. Then I gave the Weehawken Lidl a try when it opened and... no.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Yeah, not a fan of the newer LIDLs but I gotta say I don't so much like these older ones either -- other than the buildings!
DeleteI prefer their latest model but this one looked quite awesome when it was released (particularily with the original 2017 decor pieces). I like how they were able to pull off a building with no columns.
ReplyDeleteYeah -- it certainly makes for striking sightlines inside!
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