Discount supermarket Lidl could hit the high streets of Highgate and Muswell Hill under plans by the grocer to open dozens of new stores in upmarket parts of London.
The German-owned chain has revealed an ambitious expansion plan to open 281 new shops in the capital – including in some of its most affluent areas.
Lidl currently has only three stores in north west London: in Camden Town, Kentish Town and Cricklewood.
But Britain’s eighth-biggest supermarket chain has so far spurned Hampstead, Highgate and other London “villages”.
Lidl bosses revealed yesterday that it is looking for standalone sites of between 10,000 and 28,000 sq ft - the size of a small to medium-sized supermarket – or up to four acres for a bigger development to include both housing and shops.
It has not yet revealed potential sites of interest in Highgate and Muswell Hill.
But a supermarket has been rumoured to move into the ground floor of the old Richardson’s of Highgate furniture emporium in Archway Road after a proposed redevelopment.
The empty shop offers more than 11,000 sq ft of floorspace.
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