ALDI to acquire Winn-Dixie

[marketreportblog]

I saw those as well but was thinking this was talking about plain unstuffed pasta (aka just linguine, spaghetti etc.), and those didn't seem to be found on the SR site (just the ravioli and such you are referring to).

Ah yes, I know those used to be under the ShopRite Kitchen brand (...I think) but I don't know that I've seen it lately. That would make sense given the context of Grocery Outlet selling it for that cheap.

[storewanderer]

I saw those as well but was thinking this was talking about plain unstuffed pasta (aka just linguine, spaghetti etc.), and those didn't seem to be found on the SR site (just the ravioli and such you are referring to).

Ah yes, I know those used to be under the ShopRite Kitchen brand (...I think) but I don't know that I've seen it lately. That would make sense given the context of Grocery Outlet selling it for that cheap.

These are plain penne or plain rigatoni.

Again, very good. So much better than the Barilla shelf stable pre-cooked product (HORRIBLE) that tastes like solid salt object.

[ClownLoach]

Right, but unless Aldi is planning something big, they probably aren't going to run full-size stores for very long. It's been speculated that once SEG finishes with them they'll offload the scraps to another buyer like C&S and/or independents (if not close them entirely).

Aldi's Announcement said that they would be opening up to 800 new stores. I wouldn't plan on any scraps.

They were pretty clear that 500 of those 800 are for the West - California, Arizona, Nevada. So that means only 300 or so W-D and other SEG formats will be converted. The rest will assuredly be dispatched, maybe not immediately but definitely by lease term ends.

Remember that Aldi operates with a mindset that is its own religion, and the corporate offices are all fanatics. They firmly believe that their little, low volume stores are superior to the big supermarket chains with tens of thousands of items which are "obsolete" and "dinosaurs" to them. They absolutely are convinced that they will eventually be the #3 overall grocer behind Walmart and Kroger, overtaking everyone else even Costco.

They will not operate these W-D stores that don't get converted in the long term. They currently say they'll run them but they give no specifics or commitments as they already have the endgame written. They are going to just run them as a shrinking, disappearing organization in a years long wind down until the last one closes and they're left with the converted Aldi fleet and subleased tenants. Furthermore I expect they will work to push the burden back onto the landlord to accommodate them in the subleasing; they will demand the sublease be done for them so all the financial risk falls on the landlord. They will say they deserve this treatment because they're a more financially stable and credit worthy tenant than SEG. And they will hold the threat that they will leave non-landlord subleased stores in a W-D or other SEG banner to be liquidated in a subsidiary bankruptcy later, leaving the landlord with a dead store and no income. It will be carrot and stick - sublease for us and we will remodel and convert to Aldi and stay for decades, or don't help us and we will cancel you at no cost in a SEG BK.

[SamSpade]

I wasn't sure this was the right thread for this, but press releases like the one shredded in this thread, make news coverage follow:
NBC Nightly News, March 11, 2024
Some grocery chains offer their own private brands to keep food prices down

Frankly another lazy national news report, they only talked to shoppers outside ALDI (of course they are price sensitive) though they did at least disclose that Costco and Walmart are also doing some expansion. ((shrug))

The expert they talk to outlines what is 100% true, meats remain expensive. This doesn't matter if you buy it from ALDI, Walmart, a local meat market, an ethnic market, etc. "Private label" doesn't help with that much at all.

I'm surprised they couldn't be bothered to talk with an independent grocer, Kroger, Albertsons, etc. I believe the reporter was based in Florida, you'd think that they could have at least contrasted with a Publix spokesperson.

[storewanderer]

Right, but unless Aldi is planning something big, they probably aren't going to run full-size stores for very long. It's been speculated that once SEG finishes with them they'll offload the scraps to another buyer like C&S and/or independents (if not close them entirely).

Aldi's Announcement said that they would be opening up to 800 new stores. I wouldn't plan on any scraps.

They were pretty clear that 500 of those 800 are for the West - California, Arizona, Nevada. So that means only 300 or so W-D and other SEG formats will be converted. The rest will assuredly be dispatched, maybe not immediately but definitely by lease term ends.

Remember that Aldi operates with a mindset that is its own religion, and the corporate offices are all fanatics. They firmly believe that their little, low volume stores are superior to the big supermarket chains with tens of thousands of items which are "obsolete" and "dinosaurs" to them. They absolutely are convinced that they will eventually be the #3 overall grocer behind Walmart and Kroger, overtaking everyone else even Costco.

Where did you see that 500 stores are slated for the west out of the 800 new stores over the next 5 years announced?
https://www.grocerydive.com/news/aldi-8 ... th/709612/
The article I saw:

"The expansion plan entails opening stores in new regions as well as ones where it currently operates. In the Northeast and Midwest, it plans to add close to 330 stores by the end of 2028. It also plans to add stores in Southern California and Phoenix — a market it entered within the past few years.

Aldi said it will also open stores in new cities like Las Vegas."

...

"Aldi has made no secret of its ambitions to disrupt traditional grocers. Its boldest move to that end came last summer when it agreed to acquire Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets from Southeastern Grocers. On Thursday, Aldi said it plans to convert a “significant” number of those stores over to the Aldi brand. It will begin a phased approach to store conversions this summer, with around 50 stores planned to undergo remodeling work. The majority of those stores will reopen as Aldi locations in 2025."

***
So here we have 330 for NE/Midwest US plus just in one year 50 conversions. So that leaves 420 additional new stores. But there are going to be more than 50 SE Grocers conversions- assuming 50 per year over 5 years that gets to 250 SE Grocers Conversions.

So for the new stores:
SE Grocers Conversions: 250 stores
NE/Midwest: 330 stores
West- maximum possible: 220 stores

And I don't think it'll even be 220 stores out west. Because I assume they will also open new stores in places like TX, KS, OK, etc. Unless they consider that part of the Midwest. Also what about additional stores in the South/FL/NC/SC that are not SE Grocers conversions?

Reading between the lines I am questioning how well they are doing out west. Sure, they say they will open more stores in the west. They have transacted for real estate and need to go through with the committed openings. But the fact that they bought SE Grocers and want to throw 330 stores in the NE/Midwest where they already have deep presence, rather than saying they're expanding into NorCal, further into NV, OR, WA, ID, CO, UT, MT, etc., says a lot. It feels to me like they are using resources they could have used to do a faster and larger territory expansion out west, on SE Grocers and on 330 stores in the Northeast/Midwest instead.

[Bakeragr]

"Remember that Aldi operates with a mindset that is its own religion, and the corporate offices are all fanatics. They firmly believe that their little, low volume stores are superior to the big supermarket chains with tens of thousands of items which are "obsolete" and "dinosaurs" to them. They absolutely are convinced that they will eventually be the #3 overall grocer behind Walmart and Kroger, overtaking everyone else even Costco. "

I am not sure where you've been to an Aldi location, but the ones in the Midwest are often just as busy, if not more busy, than the local Walmart. In addition, their private label items are excellent in many cases and we've gotten so that we prefer many of their private label items over something from the regular grocery store. Aldi has become a sort of mass-market Trader Joe's, in my opinion. The only complaint I have is that ours has put in several self-checkouts, which are sort of counterproductive to their concept because their checkout team is always very fast and we usually have a full cart. I don't want to do self-checkout on a full cart of items.

[jamcool]

What goes in the Midwest (or Germany ) often doesn’t do well in the South, especially not having access to certain brands/foods that Aldi won’t stock (No Duke’s mayo? No Blue Bell ice cream?)

[pseudo3d]

"Remember that Aldi operates with a mindset that is its own religion, and the corporate offices are all fanatics. They firmly believe that their little, low volume stores are superior to the big supermarket chains with tens of thousands of items which are "obsolete" and "dinosaurs" to them. They absolutely are convinced that they will eventually be the #3 overall grocer behind Walmart and Kroger, overtaking everyone else even Costco. "

I am not sure where you've been to an Aldi location, but the ones in the Midwest are often just as busy, if not more busy, than the local Walmart. In addition, their private label items are excellent in many cases and we've gotten so that we prefer many of their private label items over something from the regular grocery store. Aldi has become a sort of mass-market Trader Joe's, in my opinion. The only complaint I have is that ours has put in several self-checkouts, which are sort of counterproductive to their concept because their checkout team is always very fast and we usually have a full cart. I don't want to do self-checkout on a full cart of items.

They never seemed to take off in Texas (only a handful of stores in the Texas Triangle, plus some new-builds in Houston and Dallas). They aren't busy and rarely have more than one checkstand open. I'm sure they still turn a profit but they sure haven't been enthusiastic on TX expansion and not hard to see why.

[wnetmacman]

They never seemed to take off in Texas (only a handful of stores in the Texas Triangle, plus some new-builds in Houston and Dallas). They aren't busy and rarely have more than one checkstand open. I'm sure they still turn a profit but they sure haven't been enthusiastic on TX expansion and not hard to see why.

There are 127 stores in Texas only behind OH, NY, FL and IL. Almost 70 of those are in D/FW. They aren't in the triangle because not much else is either, except right along the I35 corridor and Bryan/College Station. There are also a handful in East and West Texas, and about 40 in and around Houston. I know they don't appear busy, but they are selling a lot out of those tiny stores. I know they just started in Louisiana, and I don't find them better priced than what we have here, but they do have a following.

[mbz321]

What goes in the Midwest (or Germany ) often doesn’t do well in the South, especially not having access to certain brands/foods that Aldi won’t stock (No Duke’s mayo? No Blue Bell ice cream?)

I don't know about other areas, but at least here in the Northeast, I see a few regional items stocked, so they definitely can if they want to. Where I am for example, they sell Hatfield (a big regional meat processor) Pork Roll.