Lidl strikes again. The discount mart has landed and put down roots in a high income area again. Here they are replacing our Best Market fresh produce mart who sold us out. No more regional management tuning in to what Syosset likes. No more fresh juice bar. I saw rows of cheap Gatorade dyed with bright blue, yellow and red.
Lidl. Is it a a vast chain store or a philosophy? The philosophy being to bring vast quantities off food to vast numbers of people.
Right here two years ago I stepped into this very location and had fresh juice made for me and my best friends. Today. New store and I see some containers of made from concentrate OJ and some not from concentrate the kind that comes from the large storage vats with added scent and flavor packets.
This is North Shore Long Island. Quality is what we love. Saving printed paper or digits on a statement are not front and center.
Lidl makes me rethink our world and the population explosion. I begin fearing a socialist takeover is coming. That there will be bread lines. That food will be in short supply. That money will be leaving the US and gourmet will become obsolete. That I will be sorry about this review and hope for a crumb of bread like that book I read in 2nd grade. It could happen, but I think I would be sorrier that it wasn't a crust of bread from Brooklyn.
I think the idea of bringing wholesale food to the masses is great. But when they replace a fresh produce store that once had a juice bar, a sushi station and some bread in from Brooklyn I suppose it just makes me worry.
Maybe Germany knows something about our future that we don't.
As a card carrying American from Long Island NY I have been raised on the comforts of places that make us feel special. Trader Joe's manages it with their gourmet dark chocolate cake, their healthy trail mixes, their Brie en croute to heat and serve. Their just in from California look for the team. Best market managed it to perfection with their juice bar and other awesome healthy options.
Lidl is huge. Can do anything. But knows volume and savings above all. And nothing is more dehumanizing than feeling like one of 7 billion people that should just be glad to eat food. When I read their grapes label a few years back in Moriches had the extender Sulphur dioxide on them, I knew we needed to read with care. Plainview once offered some nice coffee beans from South America. Now that.. I could get behind.
Food is life. It's substance But ideally it's community grown and It's made with care and it's Social.
Bulk quantities of generic food are here. Maybe they know something about our demographic that I don't. Gatorade guzzling, 89 cent a pound chicken grilling coming soon? When Fairway left we were all paying $17 for Murrays antibiotic free. We see your chicken and think where is that made and what's in it. Tell us what, where and how.. not just how much.
Where would Lidl be best? Where they have never had a supermarket... where big and savings are amazing. Here we have Whole foods to the west of us, Shoprite and Trader Joes to the south, and Stop N Shop to the east, Wild by Nature north east. Even further south I could go into Stew Leonard's with its piles of preservative filled bake goods but at the same time find some just squeezed juice in an aisle that I head straight for... so they redeem.
Lidl, this is Long Island.... Moriches.. yeah.. Syosset, Westhampton? Your advisors need to bring in Long Island style product... its supposed to be special here.... we live on an island.. we swim at the ocean, boat in the bay, work in the city, or local, and we love NYC, and LI style bagels, pizza, fresh caught fish, and antibiotic, preservative free mixed in with the standard stuff. We like our bread from Brooklyn or just baked. We love heirloom tomatoes. We like organic blueberries. I see the organic signs so I'll come back and check the produce out. We like attractive coastal or country market vibes. Stark floors & lighting with Red Blue and Yellow signage are tough on the eye.
If you want to be on the North Shore and in Westhampton, Please make a North Shore / Hamptons version of Lidl. It won't be cheap, but we are cuisine / food educated. Bring us the best of European goods. Get the juice bar going... bring in the sushi man as we wait... Show us what you got baby.. read more