A SUPERMARKET chain has announced that five stores will close this year - one neighborhood is reeling after their local grocer was shuttered.

Lidl started shuttering "underperforming" grocery locations across the US, including a storefront in a Washington D.C. suburb in Maryland.

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The Oxon Hill Lidl closed its doors for the final time on July 16.

"This was an underperforming location, and we made the strategic decision to close this location so we can focus on the locations that are closer and more convenient to more of our customers and where we are seeing significant growth," a Lidl spokesperson said to WTOP.

Lidl said it offered employees at the Oxon Hill location opportunities to work in nearby stores.

The discount grocery kept another area storefront open in nearby Forestville.

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Both Maryland locations opened in 2017.

The news comes as Lidl expects to open a location in Lorton, Virginia, 17 miles away.

The Lorton location is expected to open on July 26.

"From the earliest stages of this project, the County and the Lorton community had a vision of a neighborhood with schools, parks and shopping all within walking distance." Jack Perkins, the Vice President of Elm Street Developments - a multi-community developer - said in a statement.

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"We are thrilled to make an important part of that vision a reality by introducing Lidl to the Liberty community."

LIDL'S SPATE OF CLOSURES

Earlier this year, Lidl announced it would close five stores in the US.

All five closed on July 16.

Another Lidl location an hour's drive away in Brooklyn Park, Maryland, shuttered on the same day.

"After a thorough review of the performance of our store network, we made the difficult decision to close our store in Brooklyn Park" Chandler Spivey, senior public relations manager at Lidl US, told the Baltimore Sun.

Most of the locations have been open for less than ten years.

WHAT IS LIDL?

Lidl is a German-based discount retailer that opened in 1979.

The brand garnered enthusiasm across Europe for distributing low-cost everyday items.

The company established a headquarters in Virginia in 2015, followed by a two south-east distribution centers.

In 2017, the first US store opened in Virginia Beach.

The grocer has grown its portfolio to around 180 locations in the US.

The U.S. Sun reports on other grocery store closures - here is a list of four stores closing in the US this summer.

Read More on The US Sun

Also, this brand closed seven stores in three years.