No-frills German supermarket chain Lidl announced Wednesday it would open its first stores in the US as early as this summer.

Expansion details were made public as Wal-Mart and traditional grocery chains in the US already saw a stronger threat from German low-priced retailer Aldi with its more than 1,600 US stores.

Lidl said the first 20 stores would be opening in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, where the company established its first US headquarters in 2015.

The retailer added it was aiming to open as many as 100 stores on the East Coast within a year, creating some 4,000 jobs on the ground.

Big experiment

"We have landed in America and we are searching for talented, friendly and dynamic people to grow with us," Lidl said on its career website. "We're bringing a brand-new fresh shopping experience to our American shoppers," it promised.

Lidl runs more than 10,000 stores in close to 30 countries in Europe. It has become a retail giant by selling mostly own-brand goods in no-frills stores with minimal staff.

It has recently struggled in its home market as many German shoppers have shifted to mainstream supermarkets, prompting the discounter to offer more brands and spruce up it stores while also expanding abroad.

hg/sri (dpa, Reuters, AP)