After over five years of waiting, the Lidl location in Bear has a targeted opening date. Kind of.
Signage outside the German-owned budget grocery chain say it is “opening soon,'' but unlike other times consumers have heard that promise, this time "soon'' may not be too long of a wait.
Here’s what to know about the store’s opening.
Lidl in Bear to open in the coming months
Driving down Route 40, the completed but long-vacant Lidl has become more of a monument to groceries than a shopping destination.
New signs proclaim that the nearly 30,000-square-foot store is “opening soon” for at least the second time in the past three years. But this time it might be real.
A representative from Lidl confirmed that the chain plans on opening the Bear location this summer. Specific dates are announced by the company one month in advance, and so far, no other specifics have been disseminated from Lidl.
The Lidl has been a sore spot for the Bear community, as the planned grocery store has delayed its opening due to the COVID-19 pandemic, planning obstacles and, more recently, drainage issues on the land.
Plans were first submitted in 2018, with a projected July 2020 opening, which later was pushed to the end of 2021, then the fall of 2022.
“Like thousands of businesses, we have seen that COVID-19 has put pressure on the materials supply chain and that does impact our planning,” said Will Harwood, Lidl’s director of communications, in September 2021.
Construction was completed in 2022, but its grand opening continued to be delayed.
In 2022, New Castle County’s civil engineering team found that Lidl’s stormwater management facility was not up to standard, with the site showing pools of water and signs of erosion. This halted permitting activity for over a year.
In April 2024, it looked like progress was being made as the company submitted plans to the county to rectify its drainage issues. New Castle County's Land Use Department confirmed that the drainage issues were addressed.
Minor repairs to the site's stormwater pond are in progress, but that would not impact the store's opening date.
On the same lot, a 2,700-square-foot Taco Bell is planned by franchiser Summerwood Corp. The company also owns the Taco Bell at 379 Chestnut Hill Plaza Drive in Ogletown, which is slated for demolition and a rebuild.
Summerwood Corp. did not respond to requests for comment about the status of either Taco Bell location.
Molly McVety covers community and environmental issues around Delaware. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @mollymcvety.
(This story was updated because an earlier version included inaccuracies in the cutlines.)