Aldi in $3 billion US expansion drive
Aldi is to expand its business in the US with the opening of 650 new stores by 2018.
The German discount retailer has announced plans to invest $3 billion in accelerating the number of store openings to an average of 130 per year, up from an average of 80 stores per year in recent years.
When the expansion is complete, Aldi will have just under 2,000 stores coast-to-coast from which it expects to serve more than 45 million customers per month. The plans also include the building of a regional distribution centre and a US headquarters in California.
The expansion is expected to create more than 10,000 new jobs at Aldi stores, warehouses and division offices.
“We’re ramping up our expansion plans to meet growing demand for Aldi from customers across the country,” said Aldi president Jason Hart. “Recently, we successfully entered new markets such as Houston, and expanded our presence in competitive markets like South Florida and New York City. At Aldi, we believe that great quality can be affordable, and we are eager to bring the Aldi difference to new markets like Southern California.”
Aldi currently has nearly 1,300 stores in 32 states across the US and employs more than 18,000 people in the country.
