The discounter Aldi is planning around 800 new branches in the USA by the end of 2028. In the next few years, around 9 billion US dollars (8.22 billion euros) will flow into the expansion, as the company announced on Friday in Batavia, Illinois. Almost 330 of the new branches will be built in the Northeast and Midwest.
Aldi recently completed the acquisition of US retailer Southeastern Grocers and its supermarket chains Winn-Dixie and Harveys. Some of the approximately 400 stores in the southeastern United States will be gradually converted into Aldi stores over the next few years, the company announced on Friday. However, some locations will continue to operate under their current brand names.
The discounter’s US business belongs to Aldi Süd, which is based in Mülheim an der Ruhr. According to the trade research institute EHI, the company recorded net sales of 16.9 billion euros in the USA in 2022. In recent years, Aldi says it has opened more than 100 new branches there per year, with a total of over 2,200. Its competitor Lidl has fewer than 200 stores in the USA.
Aldi had recently announced that it wanted to expand its business in Great Britain. This year, the equivalent of 644 million euros will be invested in building new branches and modernizing existing ones. The company did not disclose the number of new stores.
The founders Karl and Theo Albrecht split Aldi into two independent companies in 1961: Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd. Since then, the Aldi equator not only cuts through Germany, the world is also divided. The branches in France, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain, for example, belong to Aldi Nord. Aldi Süd is targeting customers in Great Britain, Italy and Australia, among others. Both companies are represented in the USA, but Aldi Nord operates under the name Trader Joe’s. The first Aldi branch in the USA opened in 1976. (dpa)