If You Like Aldi and Trader Joe's, You'll Probably Love Lidl—Here's What You Need to Know

Lidl exterior

Great prices, superb quality, delicious items that have their own cult following and convenience are just some of what make certain grocery stores customer faves. My friends down in Texas love the vast wine selection and seasonal tamales at H.E.B. While my sister will drive miles out of her way to peruse the wide choice of flavored nuts, sweet treats, and other snacks at Trader Joe's.

Recently Lidl, a long-time European discount grocery store has opened stores up and down the East Coast causing a buzz and asking folks to ask: "What the heck is Lidl?"

Read on to find out what you can expect when shopping at Lidl.

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What is Lidl?

Founded in 1973, Lidl is a German-owned grocery store chain that launched in the U.S. in 2015. Food & Wine calls the store "like Trader Joe's but better," thanks to its high-quality and organic groceries at shockingly low prices. The layout and wide array of products, including clothes and housewares, gives us strong Aldi vibes, which also happens to be a German-owned grocery store chain. As far as we know, there's no putting quarters in the shopping carts at Lidl, though.

Related: Aldi Meal-Planning Essentials

How do you pronounce Lidl?

Lidl is pronounced lee-dull like needle—but the folks at Lidl like to say there's nothing dull about shopping there!

How many Lidl's are there worldwide?

According to its website, Lidl has over 12,000 stores spanning Europe and the United States with most stores located all over Europe from Great Britain to Sweden to Greece and almost everywhere in between.

Where can you find Lidl in the United States?

Lidl has roughly 170 locations along the East Coast from Georgia to New York, with U.S. headquarters in Virginia.

What can you buy at a Lidl?

Lidl primarily sells groceries, including a wide array of organic and gourmet options. The majority of their products are private label, which is one of the ways they keep costs low. So while you won't find like 50 different name-brand options like at other grocery stores, Lidl's offerings are known for their stellar quality. And because Lidl is European-based you can expect to see Spanish olives, high-end cheeses that are perfect for all your charcuterie boards, and croissants some claim are the best they've ever had Stateside.

Lidl also provides a rotating selection of non-grocery weekly surprises (similar to the weekly Aldi Finds), that include everything from kitchenware to power tools. In fact, in 2023, Lidl partnered with Arnold Schwarzenegger to launch Parkside, the store's tool brand.

Shopping at Lidl is a fun and unique experience where you can fill your cart with a family pack of jamón Serrano, Alpine holiday chocolates and matching family PJ's!

Related: A Beginner's Guide to Kroger

Added perks

Most Lidl fans gush about the free samples at the fragrant bakery section that greets you as soon as you enter. The bakery is stocked with German pretzels, those famous croissants and fresh breads made daily in-store.

Lidl also has a lovely floral section and their flowers come with a freshness guarantee ranging from 7-10 days. If your plants don’t live long and prosper, you can bring the item in with your receipt and get your money back.

Related: The 15 Best January Aldi Finds

Sustainable and fair trade, please

One of the most notable, and popular, things about Lidl is its huge selection of organic fruits and veggies, along with grass-fed, free-range, organic and sustainably harvested meats, seafood, and dairy, plus a huge array of fair-trade chocolates. Much like at Aldi, Lidl shoppers are encouraged to bring their own bags or you can buy bags for 10 cents each.

Don't forget the beer and wine

Lidl fans also rave about their big, affordable selection of both beer and wine, which might be why Food & Wine ranked Lidl as the 6th best grocery store in the country. Lidl works with Master of Wine Adam Lapierre to curate an award-winning selection of wines from around the globe that are sold in Lidl stores at really low prices.

Does Lidl  have sales?

Just like at Aldi, Wednesday is the day to shop at Lidl. The store offers everyday discounts and releases weekly sales every Wednesday on limited-time items, which can be anything from seasonal ski jackets to sales on fresh produce like blueberries.

How to score even more

Download the Lidl app to get notified of "Super deals" that drop every weekend and visit the site for deals and coupons.

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