WASHINGTON — Discount grocer Lidl is opening its first store in the D.C. area Sept. 14 in Manassas, Virginia.
The store, at 11782 Sudley Manor Drive, opens at 8 a.m., following a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
It is the first store in the D.C. metro area, with more to come. It’s the 12th store Lidl has opened in Virginia since launching its East Coast blitz earlier this year. Lidl confirms it will open 100 East Coast stores by next summer, though it remains less specific about its plans for the immediate D.C. area.
Lidl is expected to open as many as a half-dozen locations in the D.C. region initially, and it has said it is ahead of schedule on plans for opening stores in the D.C. region.
The closest store to D.C. before this week’s Manassas opening is a store in Culpeper, Virginia, which opened in July.
Lidl already has more than 700 employees at its Crystal City headquarters, which it opened in 2015 as a base for its U.S. expansion, and has distribution centers in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and Cecil County, Maryland.
A typical Lidl store employs between 50 and 60 people.
German-based Lidl operates more than 10,000 stores in 28 countries.
Its German-based rival Aldi is preparing to protect its flank from the competition.
Aldi has already spent $30 million remodeling area stores with larger produce, dairy and bakery sections.
Aldi has 30 stores in the D.C. region, and a big nationwide expansion will include several more.
