Lidl drops plans for grocery store at Valley Stream mall site, Hempstead IDA says

Discount grocer Lidl's plan to come to the Green Acres Mall is off, at least for now.

A public agency last month approved Lidl's sublease of a building on the mall property, even though it was already occupied by a Michaels arts and craft store that said it had no plans to leave. Furthermore, another discount grocer, Aldi, is nearby on the Valley Stream mall property.

Now Lidl has withdrawn from the agreement for the mall property, according to the Hempstead Industrial Development Agency.

The IDA wouldn't comment Tuesday on the reason for the canceled deal or why the agency had approved a sublease when the occupant intended to stay at the location.

Instead, the IDA directed news media inquiries to Lidl and the mall, the latter of which was mum on the subject.

A Germany-based retailer with U.S. headquarters in Virginia, Lidl declined to give specifics on its Long Island plans Tuesday.

“We are looking at a number of sites on Long Island as we continue with our expansion in the area.  … We continue to receive positive feedback from our Long Island customers and look forward to opening more Lidl stores in the future," said Chandler Spivey, a spokeswoman for the grocer.

The IDA is a government agency that grants tax breaks to expanding businesses in return for job creation and investment.

The agency holds title to the 2.1-million-square-foot Green Acres Mall, including its adjacent shopping center, Green Acres Commons, because the property operates under a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, or PILOT, the IDA approved in 2015.

So, the mall’s owner, The Macerich Co., a real estate investment trust based in Santa Monica, California, is considered to be leasing the property and must get the IDA’s approval for all tenants’ subleases at Green Acres.

On Feb. 28, the IDA board approved a sublease agreement between Green Acres and Lidl.

The grocery store was to occupy a 22,789-square-foot, free-standing building, at 650 Sunrise Hwy. and employ 43 people earning an average of $26.62 an hour, according to a Feb. 10 letter Macerich’s attorney sent to the IDA that appears with the board documents on the agency’s website.

The building is fully occupied by the Michaels store and there are no plans to close or relocate, a spokeswoman for the Irving, Texas-based retailer told Newsday on Feb. 28.

Macerich did not respond to Newsday’s request for comment Tuesday.

About 1,050 feet from Michaels is  the Aldi grocery store, which opened in February 2020 at Green Acres Commons at 750 Sunrise Hwy.

Aldi, which has a 15-year sublease for its Green Acres store, said it plans to stay there.

Aldi’s sublease agreement stipulates that no other grocery stores can become tenants in Green Acres Commons, but the Michaels building is not considered part of the commons, said Chris Daniels, division vice president of the ALDI Inc. South Windsor Division.

Also a German discount grocer, Aldi has 11 stores on Long Island and U.S. headquarters in Illinois.

Lidl expanded into the Long Island market in January 2019, when the retailer’s U.S. arm completed its purchase from Bethpage-based Best Market of 27 New Jersey and New York stores, including all 24 on the Island, for an undisclosed price.

The discounter converted most Best Markets to the Lidl name, but it also closed a few and opened new Lidl stores.

The grocer opened its 24th Long Island store, a new-construction supermarket in Deer Park, in January.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.