Lidl Plans To Open New Grocery Store In Downtown Bethesda

BETHESDA, MD — Lidl is planning to open a new grocery store in a space in downtown Bethesda that was the former home of Safeway, according to a report.

The 41,300-square-foot location at 7625 Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda was the site of a Safeway for more than 25 years before it closed in March 2018.

Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row reported that Bethesda Place’s leasing firm confirmed that Lidl would be opening a new store at the location.

“This is certainly good news for the residents of Bethesda Place and the many other nearby residential buildings within close walking distance, who have had to go farther since the Safeway closed five years ago,” Robert Dyer reported Tuesday.

Lidl confirmed in an email to Patch that it does have plans to open a store in Bethesda. "We are still in the early planning phases for this site and do not yet have a timeline or an opening date to share at this time," the company said.

Lidl opened its first store in Takoma Park in 2020. Stores were then opened in Glenmont in 2021 and in Montgomery Village in 2022, according to The MoCo Show.

The German company also has plans to open new grocery stores in Germantown and Rockville.

With its U.S. headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, Lidl operates more than 170 stores in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York.