The Market Report

LIDL Opened: 2017 Previous Tenants:  none Location:  6440 N Military Hwy, Bromley, Norfolk, VA Photographed:  December 2019 This 38,000 square foot LIDL is one of the earlier format US LIDLs, and the buildings really are quite beautiful. It's also a lot larger than most other discount supermarkets, nearly three times the size of the Save-A-Lot on Little Creek just over a mile north. There's also a Food Lion about a quarter of a mile to the south on Military Hwy, which you can see here . We have another Food Lion to tour tomorrow, so come back to check it out!

ALDI Opened:  2017 Previous Tenants:  unknown Location:  4803 Shore Dr, Bayside, Virginia Beach, VA Photographed:  January 2020 This ALDI is one of several in Virginia Beach, just east of Norfolk, and appears to be in half of a former supermarket with Dollar Tree in the other half, but I haven't confirmed that. It opened in 2017 and is just across from a Kroger . Tomorrow, we're going to jump back across to Norfolk for two stores over on Military Hwy north of downtown in the Bromley section. Come back to check it out!

Food Lion Opened: 2000 Previous Tenants:   Woolco > Roses Location:  4253 E Little Creek Rd, Norfolk, VA Photographed:  December 2019 I mentioned that when I was in Norfolk with my family, we ended up liking Food Lion quite a bit even though it's a lower-end and generally unremarkable store. Prices were solid and selection was more than good enough, but many of the stores were very boring. This store is by far the nicest Food Lion in the area, at least that I visited, and also the largest at closer to 45,000 than 35,000 square feet. By the way, there was also an A&P in this mall. We enter to bakery/deli in the right front corner, with produce in the rest of the first aisle. Meat and seafood line the back wall, with dairy/frozen on the left and beer/wine in the front left corner. As we see, there's also a larger selection of prepared foods here although again, the deli and bakery were closed for the night. Nice big bakery, and the deli is much more substantial her...

Original Tenant: Food Fair Address: 2420 E Little Creek Rd, Norfolk, VA Opened:  1950s Closed:  unknown Later Tenants:  unknown > Dollar Tree Photographed:  January 2020 Gotta love the tower! This 1950s-era Food Fair has since become a Dollar Tree, but I'm not sure what else was in between. The building looks like it originally would've been around 17,000 square feet but later expanded by about 3,000 to its present size. Tomorrow we move about half a mile east for our next store on The Market Report !

Save-A-Lot Owner: unknown Opened:  unknown Previous Tenants:  unknown Location:  2314 E Little Creek Rd, Norfolk, VA Photographed:  January 2020 About half a mile east of yesterday's Walmart Neighborhood Market is this Save-A-Lot. The 15,000 square foot store has been open since at least 2007, but I don't have much more info on it than that. I stepped inside but didn't have time for more than one quick shot... As we see, this is very much of the older school of Save-A-Lots, and I'm not sure if it's been modernized at all. We'll see some much nicer Save-A-Lots as we travel that are newer or newly renovated. I'm not sure if there was previously another supermarket in this strip mall, but there was one across the street -- which you can see here . Tomorrow we move about half a mile east for our next store here on The Market Report!

Walmart Neighborhood Market Opened:  2009 Previous Tenants:  Zayre (1969-1989) > Ames (1989-1993) > Winn-Dixie Marketplace (1999-2004) Location:  1720 E Little Creek Rd, Norfolk, VA Photographed:  January 2020 Quick look today at a 48,000 square foot Walmart Neighborhood Market out east on Little Creek Drive from downtown. The store was originally a Zayre department store, later Ames, and then Winn-Dixie until 2004. It still retains its distinctive Winn-Dixie style facade. Thanks to Ryan here , by the way, for that history! Tomorrow we're moving a few strip malls to the east for one store here on The Market Report and one over on Grocery Archaeology !

Food Lion Opened: unknown Previous Tenants:  none Location:  7525 Tidewater Dr, Norfolk, VA Photographed:  January 2020 Following the pattern of what we saw in the Delmarva peninsula, this Food Lion is right around 35,000 square feet. Not sure when it opened, but it was open by 2000 because the nearby Hannaford was sold to Kroger when Delhaize purchased Hannaford. I would say this is probably on the older side of Food Lions, given the age of the facade and fixtures inside. The decor had been newly refreshed when I visited... I must say that I don't hate this decor package. My biggest problem with it is that it looks cheap -- which seems to be the point. Food Lion is increasingly positioning itself as the lower-end, more affordable option especially in this area when compared to Harris Teeter, which is increasingly positioning itself as higher-end and consequently higher priced. The layout is pretty standard for a Food Lion, with produce in the front right corner. A small...