Aldi

[veteran+]

https://www.supermarketnews.com/retail- ... tore-miami

I know this area intimately and find this location interesting.

This is a very upscale neighborhood so I think that they may be trying to draw in the lower income areas south like Perrine and Cutler Ridge.

The other location coming farther north on Dixie looks to be in a very poor area right next to the small artsy upscale Coconut Grove neighborhood.

[rwsandiego]

Were it not for the Aldi in East Encinitas, CA, which is an affluent coastal community that is just west of super-affluent Rancho Santa Fe, that also has a lot of customers who drive Mercedes, Audi, and Volvo SUVs I'd think you were 100% correct about the store you mentioned. I think Aldi has discovered that affluent people love a bargain and love the Aldi "finds." That's not to say the location isn't intended to draw from some of the LMI communities.

BTW - if you ever see the imported chocolate truffles buy them! I kick myself for not stocking up when I saw them last year.

[mbz321]

Aldi doesn't seem to shy away from higher income areas. There is a store close to me in a fairly well-off suburbs in Pennsylvania (Blue Bell), that actually opened in a planned Fresh Market that was under construction but then they bailed out. I don't know of the details how Aldi ended up there but I'm sure they must have received an attractive offer. It is definitely strange seeing an Aldi in such a shopping center filled with more upper-middle class tenants, it does seem to do well--it was a relocation from a much less wealthy area, but its hard to say how many of those customers followed. (It does have a strange orientation inside and an interior cart vestibule, and they forgot to remove the outdoor fans under the awning that I assume were meant to be for an outdoor dining area for the Fresh Market)

[veteran+]

I guess I will have to witness that dynamic when they open in Beverly Hills..........................

[mjhale]

In Northern Virginia, Aldi has opened stores multiple areas that would not fit the historical demographic of the Aldi customer. It seems around here Aldi has taken advantage of open retail spaces to get stores in more affluent areas. They probably got good deals by saying to a landlord that some rent is better than no rent. As rwsandiego said, the Aldi finds are especially popular in mainstream neighborhoods. There are Facebook groups dedicated to the finds and the Aldi subreddit has significant discussion specific to various Aldi finds. And on a price level, those who are looking for a deal on food products can still do well at Aldi. I appreciate the lower prices and the ability to quickly get through the store, though it isn't my only destination. On a similar note, Lidl has opened in McLean, VA which is one of the most affluent Northern Virginia suburbs. Lidl is more upscale than Aldi but for a hard discount grocer to see opportunity in a very affluent area says something about the appeal of the Aldi and Lidl operations.

[buckguy]

I've noticed Aldi's in places that are more well-off than their usual locations, too. For many people, they probably fall into a category of cheap, but not stigmatized stores, unlike one of the dollar store chains or Walmart. There always have been chains like this---Woolworth's had many stores in upscale locations, a more contemporary example might be Five Below, which seems welcome in places that wouldn't want a dollar store. Still, I have yet to see an Aldi in a place like Bethesda or Potomac. The one in Towson (outside Baltimore) is near Baltimore City and less upscale suburbs and away from the upscale retail hub around Towson Town Center.

[Brian Lutz]

Speaking of Lidl, there's a new one opening this Wednesday in the northern part of Greensboro on Pisgah Church Road. I haven't been around the city too much yet, but I do know that it's fairly close to an Aldi, a Sprouts Farmers Market and a Trader Joe's on Battleground Avenue, and across the street from a Fresh Market, and most of the "regular" stores in the area are Harris Teeters and a scattered Lowe's or two, where as you move further east toward highway 29 in Greensboro you start to see more Food Lions, ethnic grocers and Dollar Generals mixed in. In this case it seems like both Aldi and Lidl seem to be gravitating more toward the nicer parts of town.

There are currently 4 Aldis in Greensboro (two in the north part of town on Battleground Avenue and New Garden Road, one on Gate City Boulevard and one on Randleman Road.) Out of those four I'd say three are in more upscale areas. With the new Pisgah Church store there's now two Lidls in Greensboro, both rather close to existing Aldi stores. I suspect the next location each of them opens in the area will likely be north of the recently completed urban loop as that area seems to be seeing the biggest growth right now.

[storewanderer]

Lidl will work in the nicer areas if there are customers with some degree of price sensitivity looking for basic grocery items. Lidl has a pleasant store. I can't speak for the quality of their private label items as I haven't tried enough but I have confidence their quality is great.

I'm guessing these Aldis are run a lot better than their terrible operation in SoCal too which probably helps them. I'd have a really hard time shopping Aldi in SoCal on a consistent basis after multiple terrible service experiences with them now. Maybe self checkout would be the trick that would help but so far I haven't come across a location with it. Total opposite of my Aldi experiences elsewhere where I thought service was great and efficient. Even in places in the middle of the midwest where efficiency is not really a "thing" like rural Oklahoma, it is a thing at Aldi there. But somehow Aldi in SoCal has sluggish, angry, miserable, playing on their phones employees who are inefficient and hate doing work being supervised by hostile managers who are somehow even more rude.

I also think Aldi is being over-hyped as it expands. In SoCal in particular somehow their pricing doesn't seem that great to me. It is higher than in the midwest. There are various other options in SoCal with better and lower priced produce. Center store mix is sloppy and inconsistent, if they have what you need it is probably cheaper than WinCo or Wal Mart but not by more than 10% in most cases and if you catch a sale at some other store (WinCo included) there are better deals.

I used to really like Aldi but the awful service experiences I've had in SoCal have soured me. Whoever oversees their stores around Orange County is running something very unlike Aldi.


These nicer areas are sometimes a bit hard to crack. Sometimes they are areas where the customers want premium food products, high cost liquor, etc. Those areas this discount format won't work so well. Other times they are areas where people are looking for basic items at a deal and will spend a lot of money on their house, family, furniture, etc. but not necessarily on day to day items.

[storewanderer]

I also see Aldi only has 11 stores in Arizona. It seems like their expansion in Arizona has stalled for some reason.

I wonder if they are trying SoCal pricing in Arizona. If so their pricing will be worse than places like Wal Mart, WinCo, and many sales at Frys or even Safeway.

Supplying stores in AZ from CA is a bad idea. Costs to supply from CA are simply too high when your AZ competitors do not supply from CA. They'd be better off doing a distribution in AZ and supplying NV, NM, and part of UT with it and completely isolating that from CA.

[rwsandiego]

I also see Aldi only has 11 stores in Arizona. It seems like their expansion in Arizona has stalled for some reason.

I wonder if they are trying SoCal pricing in Arizona. If so their pricing will be worse than places like Wal Mart, WinCo, and many sales at Frys or even Safeway.

Supplying stores in AZ from CA is a bad idea. Costs to supply from CA are simply too high when your AZ competitors do not supply from CA. They'd be better off doing a distribution in AZ and supplying NV, NM, and part of UT with it and completely isolating that from CA.

Aldi was to open a distribution center in the West Valley and then announced that it was on hold, likely for "several years." IIRC, they cited logistical issues. Meanwhile, they have slowed down their Arizona expansion plans. In the last year they have opened a couple of new stores. One is in North Mountain (Bell Rd and 12th Street, Phoenix), which opened about a year ago, and the other just opened in Tempe (Baseline and McClintock). They are also opening a store in Paradise Valley (the Phoenix neighborhood, not the ultra-wealthy town) at Tatum and Cactus. They are taking part of a space that was a Stein-Mart.

The thing to keep in mind about Aldi is it isn't a typical American supermarket. It's quirky, 25-cents-to-unleash-a-cart, small building, limited selection, products-here-today-gone-tomorrow Aldi. Until the last ten or so years, they stacked cases of product on the floor and as one case became empty they opened another one. If customers are looking for an amazing shopping experience they are at the wrong store.