Discount grocer Lidl to open stores as early as summer, has interest in Beaufort County

The European invasion of German grocery store Lidl might be happening sooner than initially expected.

According to the Associated Press, the discount grocery store and Aldi competitor will open its first set of U.S. stores this summer ahead of schedule. The company plans to continue the expansion with 100 new locations across the East Coast — including in South Carolina — this year alone.

The first 20 Lidl grocery stores will open in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, where U.S. headquarters were established in 2015. Before the early openings were announced, the company planned to open its first installment of U.S. stores no later than 2018, while still managing about 10,000 stores in 27 countries.

Lidl has looked into opening one of its stores in two different locations in Beaufort County: one in the new Sea Turtle Marketplace shopping center on Hilton Head Island and another on Buckwalter Towne Boulevard in Bluffton.

This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 5:46 PM with the headline "Discount grocer Lidl to open stores as early as summer, has interest in Beaufort County."