Lidl is a German international supermarket chain that has begun purchasing Best Market, another supermarket chain, in locations across Long Island since 2019. It has been stated that by the end of 2021, twenty-three out of the twenty-four Best Markets will be remodeled to Lidls. 

In February of 2021, four Best Markets were closed down. Two of the four, one located in Great Neck and the other in West Islip, were shut down due to their large sizes and leasing requirements. The other two, in New Hyde Park and Riverhead, respectively, were closed down to allow for Lidl’s replacement.

“We are excited to expand into many great communities on Long Island and across the New York City area, and introduce more customers to our simple and efficient approach to grocery shopping, which will mean high quality and huge savings for more shoppers,” said Lidl U.S. CEO Johannes Fieber, in a statement. 

The supermarket chain first began with one family-owned store in Germany in 1973 before it expanded its influence. Lidl currently operates a multitude of stores within thirty different countries, and one-hundred and thirty stores along the East Coast of the United States. There are eleven stores on Long Island, the first four having opened in December 2019 in Huntington, Plainview, West Babylon, and Center Moriches. 

A study done by Katrijn Gielens, a professor of marketing at University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, found that grocery retailers cut the prices of their items by up to 15% due to the pressure of Lidl’s entry into Long Island. Gielens compared the prices of forty-seven grocery products at King Kullen, Aldi, Trader Joe’s, Costco, Walmart, BJ’s Club, Stop & Shop, and Target before and after the entry of the German chain. The study, commissioned by Lidl U.S., found that their price-cutting is steadily dissolving the most precipitous increase in food prices that consumers had seen in decades. 

“Partnering with Lidl on this deal offers our employees a secure future with a growing grocer and continues the great tradition we started more than 20 years ago. We are delighted to be part of such a win-win, and Best Market customers have something great to look forward to with Lidl,” said Best Market co-owner Aviv Raites, in an interview with “Supermarket News.”

According to the Lidl U.S. website, the chain has made a guarantee that all Best Market employees will be able to continue working with Lidl after the renovations. These employees have been  offered positions in which their wages and benefits will remain the same, if not improve. Yet, this has not always remained true. 

“I feel that the change in ownership was quite invasive. I had been working at Best Market for almost two years at the time Lidl was taking over Best Market. You would think that after almost two years of being a loyal employee, they would’ve given me something. They didn’t. They were only offering employees that worked at Best Market for over two years either a job at another location or a buy out. I was offered neither,” said Commack alumni and former Best Market employee Ava B., in a text. 🔳