New ALDI store to open Thursday
Customers who are planning to attend the grand opening of the first ALDI store in the Golden Isles at 8:45 a.m. Thursday should plan to bring more than their wallets.
ALDI stores do not use plastic bags, so customers should plan to bring their own reusable ones or purchase reusable bags at the store.
It’s also important to bring a quarter for a shopping cart. The quarter, which is refundable, frees the locking mechanism that attaches the cart to others inside the store.
After customers load their groceries into their vehicles, they must return the cart into the store and lock it to the row of carts. The same quarter they paid will be returned.
Shawn O’Keefe, divisional vice president of ALDI, said there are no places in the parking lot designated for carts to be left outside. The quarter may not seem like much, but it motivates people to return the cart.
The store will provide quarters to customers who forget to bring change, he said.
ALDI is the nation’s fastest growing grocery chain with more than 2,400 stores in 38 states, O’Keefe said. The discount grocery store was started in 1948 by a German company, Albrecht Discounts, in Germany.
While the Winn-Dixie chain has been purchased by ALDI, O’Keefe said there are no plans to convert all the Winn-Dixies. When asked if Winn-Dixie stores will still be around in five years, O’Keefe said, “Winn-Dixies will exist.”
“We’re still beginning to decide what Winn Dixie stores will be converted,” he said.
There will no longer be a Winn-Dixie store in Camden County in the coming months. O’Keefe said the store in St. Marys is already closed and undergoing its conversion to an ALDI. The store in Kingsland will undergo the conversion in the coming months.
The new ALDI store conversion in Brunswick, located at 341 Venture Drive, took five months and the look inside is noticeably different. There is no deli, bakery or in-store butcher, but the wide variety of fresh produce, baked goods, meats and products expected at a grocery store are theer.
“You get the selection of what you need,” he said.
Efficiency is improved at the checkout counter. The merchandise has noticeably oversized and multiple bar codes to make it faster to scan at the cash register or at the self-checkout scanners.
“We strive for efficiency,” O’Keefe said. “The bar codes make it faster.”
Another noticeable change is that aisles are much wider than at a typical grocery store.
“You get the elbow room,” he said. “You have space.”
Customers won’t find many name brands in the store. Most of the product brands are made specifically for ALDI. In many instances, O’Keefe said the products are made by name-brand manufacturers with an ALDI label.
“The focus is on costs and streamlining,” he said.
They also sell products that are unique to ALDI, including a large cheese selection and popular products such as a cranberry almond chicken salad and varieties of smoked salmon.
“I expect a really positive reaction from our new customers,” he said. “You will be hard-pressed to beat our everyday prices.”
Another feature are the weekly specials called ALDI Finds. They are 100 products not normally sold at the store. Once they are sold out, they’re gone.
ALDI Finds are reset every Wednesday.
“If you see something you like, you’ve got to get it,” O’Keefe said.
The stores are open fewer hours than most of the competition. The store opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 8 p.m. O’Keefe said that’s when most people shop for their groceries.
To celebrate the opening, the first 100 customers will receive a gift bag filled with a sampling of ALDI exclusive products and a gift card as part of the ALDI Golden Ticket giveaway program. Shoppers can also enter a sweepstakes for a $500 ALDI gift card through opening weekend.
“As shoppers look for ways to stretch their dollars further, our new ALDI store will deliver the Brunswick community affordable, quality groceries, a quick, easy shopping experience, shelves stocked with only the best products and on-trend ALDI Finds,” O’Keefe said. “The new store brings us one step closer to our goal to add 800 stores nationwide by the end of 2028 in response to customer demand for ALDI stores in their communities.”
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