Lidl is planning its first Cary grocery store

Plans are underway to build a Lidl grocery store on the western side of Cary.

The German grocer is one of the largest grocery chains in the world, and has made a significant incursion into North Carolina, with recent stores planned or opening in Wake Forest, Clayton, Kinston, Sanford and Rocky Mount.

A building construction permit under review at the Town of Cary discloses Lidl as the tenant for a project on recently approved development plans for a 35,000-square-foot grocery store and 205 multi-family dwellings near N.C. 55 and McCrimmon Parkway.

A local family sold the 20-acre parcel for $7 million to a real estate investment firm, Leon Capital Group based in Dallas.

Cary has become a magnet for supermarkets, with a recent infusion of chain grocery stores opening, planned or proposed.

Whole Foods is set to open in the neighboring Alston Town Center later this year.

The rush of new grocery store brands heading to Cary includes Publix, which plans to open its third store there this year, and Wegmans, which intends to put two stores in Cary. Both companies also have plans to open stores elsewhere in the Triangle.

The Wegmans stores in the works in Cary are at Cary Towne Boulevard at Interstate 40 and at Davis Drive and Airport Boulevard.

This story was originally published September 22, 2017 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Lidl is planning its first Cary grocery store."