A German Mash-Up Between Trader Joe’s & IKEA Is Coming To America

For anyone who has ever wished for a bigger food section in IKEA, or that they could shop at an H&M inside a Trader Joe’s, we have some good news: German chain store Lidl is poised to take over the United States. The company, which plans to start opening stores stateside in 2018, employs many of the same cost-cutting measures of Trader Joe’s, like a limited inventory and generic brands, to keep prices low. And, like fellow German chain Aldi, Lidl saves money by displaying products in shipping containers and offering less customer service. But unlike Trader Joe’s and Aldi, Lidl also sells furniture and home goods, and last year released its first collection of women’s clothing. The success of the collection — which sold out in three days, according to the U.K.'s Daily Star — paved the way for a men’s collection as well as a line of fitness wear and handbags. This kind of retailer may remind many American shoppers of chains like Costco and Sam’s Club, with one key difference. Unlike the big box stores, Lidl occupies far less square footage — stores in the U.S. will probably be about one-fifth the size of a typical Walmart. This may prove to be an asset for Lidl, as retail analyst Mike Paglia explained to Business Insider: “[T]he appeal of the traditional big-box store with overwhelming choice…has been waning for several years." In other words, we’re excited for a more curated, less stressful Sunday stock-up trip — if we can just wait patiently till 2018.