Lidl to open 100 stores by mid 2018

Here comes Lidl. Recent reports say the German supermarket chain will open 100 stores across the East Coast by mid 2018. The first stores will open in this summer in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Lidl currently has 10,000 stores in 27 European countries.

Lidl, like its German counterpart Aldi, offers an array of private brands. The retailer says on its website that its goal is to “build up brand ranges allowing items to be easily recognized and provide the customer with Lidl brand reassurance. Our private label items meet or exceed the quality of the equivalent national brand item.”

According to a report from Business Insider, Lidl plans to eventually open as many as 600 stores in the United States. Business Insider also reported that Lidl says it will be “a hybrid similar to Trader Joe’s or Harris Teeter but closer to Joe’s.”

Lidl’s U.S. operations are based in Arlington, Va.