The new Lidl grocery store in the Northwood Commons shopping center, just off the campus of Morgan State University, will celebrate its grand opening on July 13, the store announced Thursday. The chain’s first Baltimore location is at 1500 Havenwood Road.
The German chain announced this location in 2019 and opened two Baltimore County locations in early 2020. The Northwood location is meant to anchor a $50 million, 100,000-square-foot Northwood Commons project. The Lidl store will occupy more than 30,000 square feet.
The Northwood neighborhood and large areas of northeast Baltimore lacked a large grocery store for residents and students at Morgan State. The Northwood Commons will also bring to the area a Barnes & Noble cafe and a public safety building for Morgan State.
The project was originally expected to be completed by early 2022.
“The northeast corner of Baltimore, anchored by Morgan State, has been waiting for decades to have a first-rate supermarket in our community,” Morgan State University President Dr. David K. Wilson said in the release. “We are finally getting one. ... We are no longer a food desert. Hallelujah!”
The Evening Sun
Forty-five jobs have been created with the store’s opening with a starting wage of $15.50 per hour, the release says.
Following a 7:40 a.m. ribbon-cutting on July 13, the first 100 shoppers in the store will receive a gift card with a value ranging from $5 to $100 each. Partnering with the Maryland Food Bank, Lidl will donate $1 for every person who makes a myLidl account and sets the Northwood Commons location as their local store.
“I’m looking forward to having my first Lidl experience right here in my own community,” Baltimore City Councilman Ryan Dorsey said in the news release.