Lidl sets sights on Eastbourne and Hailsham for potential new stores

The supermarket giant has released a ‘wishlist’ of stores it aims to open up as part of ‘ambitious plans’ to acquire 1,100 new sites.

Among these locations are Hailsham and Eastbourne – with the latter expected to be situated in the north of the borough.

The information has been made available in Lidl’s Site Requirement Brochure for spring, which lists 59 new locations the supermarket hopes to open up in the South East.

The brochure states: “We’re looking for great quality locations for our new stores, to help us continue our phenomenal growth.

"Lidl are big on expansion, with ambitious plans to achieve over 1,100 stores across Great Britain.

“This means we are looking to acquire sites that meet our standard store format requirements.”

These requirements include: ‘prominent’ locations with ‘easy access’, including town centres or retail parks; unit sizes between 18,000 and 26,500 sq ft, and more than 100 car parking spaces.

Richard Taylor, chief development officer at Lidl GB, added: “We have been the fastest growing bricks and mortar supermarket for the past seven months in a row.

“We’re planning to open hundreds of new Lidl stores but ultimately see no ceiling on our ambition or growth potential.”

20 further locations in Sussex have been earmarked for new stores.

Here’s the full list:

• Bexhill - North (relocation)
• Bexhill - South
• Brighton - City Centre
• Brighton - Hollingbury
• Brighton - London Road
• Brighton - Moulsecoomb
• Brighton - Portslade
• Burgess Hill - South
• Crawley (relocation)
• Crawley - North
• Crawley - South
• Eastbourne - North
• Hailsham
• Hastings - East
• Hastings - North
• Haywards Heath
• Heathfield
• Lewes
• Newhaven (relocation)
• Peacehaven
• Rye
• Seaford

Locally, Lidl already has sites in Seaside (Eastbourne) and in Polegate.