On a busy street in Fredericksburg, VA, a tall, black security fence guards a sprawling — and, for now, largely empty — brick-and-glass building.
The under-wraps facility is a prototype store for Lidl, a German grocery chain that has been working for more than a year to plot its entry into the U.S. market. The company is using the space to test which details appeal to American shoppers: To hit on what kind of signage looks good dangling from the ceiling, to figure out how many aisles make for the most efficient movement through the store.