A Trader Joe's competitor is opening 100 stores in the US - see if it's coming to your hometown

Hayley Peterson

Feb 16, 2017, 01:18 IST

Reuters

Lidl is coming to the US.

The German supermarket chain Lidl is about to make its US debut by opening dozens of stores along the East Coast.

The chain, which is like a cross between Kroger and Trader Joe's, will open its first 20 stores this summer in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Within the first year, Lidl plans to open 100 stores.

The chain hasn't revealed a comprehensive list of the cities where its stores will open.

However, Planned Grocery - a new app that tracks grocery store development - has a pretty good idea of where the stores will be located.

The app, developed by South Carolina startup Beitz and Daigh Geographics, pulls information from local news reports on a weekly basis regarding commercial real estate leasing and site developments by various grocery chains.

According to Planned Grocery, this is where the first Lidl stores will likely open:

Planned Grocery

Lidl has purchased some of the sites on the map, while others still need final approval by local government, according to David Beitz, co-founder of Beitz and Daigh Geographics.

North Carolina and Virginia will get the most Lidl stores, according to the Planned Grocery data. The map lists 32 potential sites in North Carolina and 33 in Virginia.

Street addresses and news sources for the sites are available on the app. Here's a list of all the locations that Lidl is considering, according to the data:

Delaware - 2 stores