Aldi Unveils $1.6B Remodeling Plan
Hard-discount grocery retailer Aldi has announced an aggressive $1.6 billion capital improvements plan that aims to remodel and expand more than 1,300 of its U.S. stores by 2020.
The Batavia, Ill.-based company says its new store look “delivers on its customers' desire for a modern and convenient shopping experience with a focus on fresh items, including more robust produce, dairy and bakery sections.”
Remodeled stores will feature a modern design, open ceilings, natural lighting and environmentally friendly building materials, such as recycled materials, energy-saving refrigeration and LED lighting.
"With this significant investment in our stores, what we're really doing is continuing to invest in Aldi customers," said CEO Jason Hart. "We're continuing to expand our fresh offerings, which means we need to provide more space for produce, meat and bakery items. We've also made a number of improvements to our products, such as removing added MSG, certified synthetic colors and partially hydrogenated oils from all of our Aldi exclusive-brand foods. But one thing that hasn't changed is that our customers still save money on the groceries they buy the most."
In the past few years, Aldi has added a number of new product lines, including the LiveGfree brand of gluten-free foods; SimplyNature products, featuring many organic items; and a full line of premium baby items under the Little Journey brand.
According to Aldi, the chain serves more than 40 million customers each month, which it says is a nearly 60 percent increase since 2013.
Coast-to-coast Expansion
Aldi is embarking on this significant remodel program while continuing to implement an accelerated growth plan to open 650 new stores across the United States, investing more than $3 billion to bring its total to nearly 2,000 locations by the end of 2018.
The remodeling program includes Aldi’s first stores in Southern California, where it has opened 34 locations since March 2016.
The company currently operates more than 1,600 U.S. stores in 35 states.