Aldi’s ‘coast-to-coast’ expansion to add 70 U.S. stores before close of 2020

Budget grocer Aldi unveiled plans Tuesday to open 70 new U.S. locations before year’s end, placing it on track to become the third-largest supermarket chain in the nation by 2022.

Once the “coast-to-coast” expansion plan is complete, the privately held German grocer will trail only Kroger and Walmart in terms of store count with 2,500, CNN Business reported.

The company also announced plans Tuesday to enter Arizona, its 37th state, and to break ground by 2021 on a new regional headquarters and distribution center in Loxley, Alabama, Fox Business reported.

According to company officials, the Alabama facility will allow Aldi to enter its 38th state, Louisiana.

Meanwhile, Aldi CEO Jason Hart said the company is lowering prices on some items after U.S. food prices increased for the sixth consecutive month in June, according to U.S. Department of Labor data.

“As we continue to expand, we promise to do everything in our power to offer the lowest prices, every day, without exception,” Hart said in a statement. “In fact, as food costs are rising across the country, we’re lowering prices on hundreds of items to meet our customers’ increased need for savings.”

Aldi’s low-cost business model boasts prices as much as 50% cheaper than traditional supermarkets, and its stores average around 12,000 square feet, or barely one-third of the typical 40,000-square-foot U.S. supermarket, CNN Business reported.

Cox Media Group