Another month has gone by, and there has still been no evidence of any work going on inside the future Lidl grocery store at 7625 Old Georgetown Road in the Bethesda Place development. Shelving and display cases have been in place since last fall, but remain empty. Rumors over the winter suggested the store had run into permitting issues with Montgomery County, which had been resolved by mid-January, but two months have since passed. Lidl's media relations department declined to respond to an inquiry about the delay in opening the Bethesda store.
14 comments:
That makes zero sense if rumors are true especially given the fact that the county planning board approves giant projects on every corner without hesitation. While I don't know if Lidl is going to resonate with that demographic, it should not be stuck in limbo.
It would be hard to imagine they'd back out of the lease now... but I guess anything's possible.
"Moribund" Montgomery County city council on it again..... they would rather see the county suffocate with regulation and permitting rather than give its citizens the AFFORDABLE, VARIETY OPTIONS that a large chain like LIDL would bring to Downtown Bethesda. Northern Virginia under Glenn Youngkin is a shining example for Montgomery County to follow: There are SO MANY OPTIONS there!!!
It's always the permitting issues in this county, TOO much red tape, TOO much government! Inspectors stuff their pockets and we all starve and go moribund.
Thanks for the update, Robert. This is ridiculous! The first "coming soon" sign went up almost a year ago, in April 2024.
These permitting issues are killers. There's absolutely no reason for the county to move quickly and delaying them are a lose-lose-lose proposition. The county loses because they miss out on tax revenue (sales/business taxes and increased RE taxes), the owner loses because their carrying costs increase and increase the chance of the company going out of business in the future and the community loses from having empty stores in their neighborhoods and not having better options to go places. So much value and wealth are created by getting these things done, but the county doesn't care and just sits on them forever.
I was waiting for you to post a story about this. I spoke to the management of Bethesda Place who said part of the problem is that LIDL corporate is having trouble staffing the store and has cut off communication. The rumors about permitting are true and actually there are still several permitting issues. Everyone seems to be pointing fingers at everyone else. Such a shame for the community not to have this.
Don't mess with The Germans!
These German Grocery Stores are all about Efficiency and Low Prices and that’s it. They don’t have any of the Food Brands we are familiar with in America.
I will NEVER shop at them !!
JAC: No I don’t think Lidl will fit in in Bethesda.
They are way too far DOWN the scale !!
We all know Lidl is not up to Bethesda Standards !
It’s pretty obvious…….
Lol, funny imitation.
We understand your opinion. No need to say it over and over again; it's not that important.
Just maybe Lidl is getting cold feet. The new one in DC by the new Wegmans at the old old Prudential bldg has been almost empty every time I've gone there.
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