Lidl To Westhampton Beach: 'This Is Going To Be A Huge Win'

WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NY —Westhampton Beach shoppers, upset after finding themselves without a supermarket as Best Way closed its doors for up to six months to make way for a new Lidl, have been sounding off on social media about their concerns.

The closure left residents scrambling for solutions, as Best Market was the only supermarket located in Westhampton Beach.

With an eye toward addressing issues raised and outlining plans for the new supermarket, William Harwood, public relations and communications manager at Lidl US, spoke with Patch.

According to Best Market and Lidl, the Westhampton location closed on Nov. 26. Westhampton Beach Village Mayor Maria Moore said the Sunset Ave. supermarket will be closed for five to six months for interior renovations.

"We look forward to serving you with high quality and low prices soon," a sign at the location said.

The German grocery store chain purchased all of the Best Market stores on Long Island last year and most recently, the Lake Grove's location was the ninth store to open in Suffolk and Nassau. The Farmingdale Best Market location closed soon after the Westhampton Beach store, to make way for Lidl in early 2021.

Harwood said Lidl is nearing the completion of a two-year conversion of the Long Island Best Market supermarkets, including full remodeling. As for the Westhampton Beach site, Harwood said: "We're going to open it as soon as we can; we are doing comprehensive remodeling. We're opening as quickly as we can."

Harwood said across Long Island, Lidl is "seeing a tremendous amount of enthusiasm about the model and the products we are bringing — incredible quality at incredible prices." Lidl, he said, has fresh items delivered daily and "the best bakery, I believe, anywhere in the U.S. It's incredible."

The Lidl chain, Harwood said, is focused on making a "real investment in the areas that we are moving into."

The remodeling process includes revamping all stores with certified green practices and the highest environmental designation and environment-friendly designs; each store will receive new equipment, new fixtures and new lighting, he said.

"We are confident from the reaction we are getting that this is going to be a huge win for the people of Westhampton," he said.

One "great thing" about the conversions is that employees at Best Market are "guaranteed" their jobs moving forward, with wages and benefits that "stay the same or get better," Harwood said. "As a result we have so many great Best Market employees who are enthusiastic," he said. "There's an incredible enthusiasm."

The focus on freshness extends to the dozen red roses that Lidl locations sells for $7.99, Harwood said. "We are the only grocer that guarantees our red roses are lush and beautiful, with a guarantee for seven days — they last longer than a week and if they don't, shoppers will get a full refund and replacement."

The “Lidl Love it! Guarantee" means people who try Lidl brand items and are not completely happy can return them and try something else, he said. The Lidl label, Harwood said, "means a meticulous attention to detail. People can really shop with confidence."

One issue that shoppers have cried out about is the fact that they want fresh, brand-name cold cuts at their local supermarket.

"One of the things we do is listen to feedback," Harwood said.

On Long Island, he said, shoppers want a fresh-sliced deli. To that end, the first pilot store on Long Island, located in West Babylon, has a deli with fresh slicing, where employees pack the most popular cold cuts to be sold in half-pound allotments. "We're always taking feedback and learning what people want and then moving mountains to get it for them," he said.

Before teams begin at new Lidl Long Island stores, he said, managers from Best Market are trained for months, offered corporate housing and cars for up to year. "We're really investing in people and one of the great things is that we get great feedback from our team."

The first Lidls on Long Island, he said, have paved the way. A Riverhead location will be opening in the next months, as well, he said. "Customers have so much to look forward to: The best quality and the best freshness at the best price. It's like a grocery tax break that's going to be coming to town, with amazing values. Everyone's excited."

Not all readers who spoke out to Patch were immediately convinced.

"Best Market had been a welcome addition for Westhampton Beach and Westhampton residents. I loved the store and staff," Neil Vineberg said. "Lidl seems like the wrong brand in the wrong market. I’ve shopped Lidl — once and only once. I think the brand and its products will fail to excite local residents. Six months is also a big stretch of time for this community to be without a supermarket."

Some were excited by the news: "I like Lidl," Toni D'Andrea said.

Linda Dietz added: "We are completely bummed! Not only did we love Best Market, everything we’ve seen or read about Lidl sounds very limited and down market. Not really a supermarket and not at all what people here want or need. It’s very unfortunate. Lucky for us we live close to Stop & Shop in Hampton Bays so we can go there, though I’ve generally much preferred Best Market. This also means we will be heading toward Westhampton less frequently and likely not making some of the other stops we often do when picking up groceries there. I’m afraid that having an inferior supermarket will be bad for Westhampton in many ways."

Donna Buonomo said, of the closure: "It's bad news for the Hamptons. We need Best Market type stores not pre0packaged stores. I, for one, will never shop there. This is very sad."

One man who asked to remain anonymous said he couldn't agree more "with all the reader outrage. This is going to be a disaster. We too visited some Lidls upon hearing about Best Market closing, and could not believe what we were seeing. Off-brand products, pre-packaged produce and bazaar-like bins loaded with items looking they were salvaged from a multitude of garage sales. We walked out thinking, 'This can’t be'. .. Perhaps, the new Lidl here will take into account how Best Market was wholly embraced by the community with its amazing bakery, deli counter, produce and wide assortment of quality brand products people have actually heard of and offer us their revised version of the store."

Lidl, he believes needs to change or the location on Sunset Ave in Westhampton Beach "will be an embarrassment the town will never get over. Really just shocking that we’ve gone through such an amazing town renovation, upgrading all aspects of our area only to have this kind of supermarket bring the whole area down."

Lidl is tranforming across all Long Island Best Market stores.

The first Long Island locations opened in in West Babylon, Huntington, Center Moriches and Plainview in Dec. 2019, Lidl said.

The company is known for paying employees a higher wage, starting at $15 per hour, and offering medical benefits to all employees, including part-time workers.

"Lidl is a family business just like Best Market. We opened our first store in Germany in 1973 and remain a family-owned company to this day. Our simple approach has contributed to our expansion across 30 countries, including right here in the U.S. where we operate more than 100 stores along the East Coast," Lidl said on its website.

Lidl said they are committed to providing customers with low prices.

Some Patch readers said they will travel to buy groceries now.

Kate Carpluk, who lives on the North Fork and works in Westhampton Beach spoke out: "Noooo, please," she wrote on social media. I will not shop there anymore now. I tried the Lidl in Center Moriches on my way home from up island one day. Weird place, almost like a cheap flea market. Wait until you see all the poor quality junk they sell all over the store besides groceries. And the food is no name and large sizes; I can't use either. Good luck to them."

Pat Fronst said she will continue to frequent ShopRite in Riverhead.

Nina, of Westhampton, said she wasn't happy and would have "preferred to see Trader Joe's rather than this bargain-type establishment that will ruin the nature of what we have come to love about Westhampton."

"I'm very said to see Best Market close," said Valerie Grayson. "The quality and variety were unparalleled. I, too, stopped into the Center Moriches Lidl and was so disappointed that this is the caliber, selection, and presentation of foods. I agree with the other neighbor who noted that we invested so much in the beautification of Main Street (it’s fabulous!) and to downgrade with a market like this is counter to any logic I can imagine. I hope that considering they are closing for six months that maybe, just maybe, they will be creating a better market to the one I visited. Is there any chance this decision can be changed?"

Mary Ellen Shilen was outraged: "How do we vote them out before they even open? This is one thing I would gladly protest! Until they are gone find me at Justin's and the farmers markets."

Kristen Hyland of Southampton said she prefers Wild By Nature in Hampton Bays for fresh, organic foods.

Alexandra Smith, who works in locations across Long Island said it's been awful for her to watch Best Markets close. "Islip is in a similar predicament. Lidl truly is awful. It’s bizarre and the produce is awful. Everything in the meat section is frozen."

And, said Gloria Gewelke: "Wow. What a mismatch. People spend big money for seasonal rentals and want to pamper themselves while they vacation. Buying groceries out of a box does not add to the resort experience. People want the kind of prepared foods that Best Market offered. Without a deli or bakery everyone will have to go to Hampton Bays or Riverhead. Someone is making a mistake."