Aldi to open latest city store

DISCOUNT supermarket chain Aldi has announced it will open its latest store in Cardiff this week.

The German-owned retailer will unveil its latest store at Caerphilly Road in the city on Thursday.

It will mark Cardiff’s sixth Aldi store, following previous store openings in Pontprennau, Newport Road, Ferry Road, Cowbridge Road West and Culverhouse Cross.

The latest outlet is on the “Phoenix Estate” site of the former Electrocoin factory and Texaco petrol station.

The investment is creating 30 jobs, with staff being paid a rate of £8.53 an hour.

The store will be opened by three times world champion and London 2012 Olympic gold medal winning Welsh track cyclist Danielle Rowe.

Ms Rowe said: “I have lived in the area for over five years and I recently won a bronze medal for Wales in the Commonwealth Games, so it’s great to give back to a community that’s supported me throughout my career.”

When the planning application was submitted, there were 74 letters in support of the development and 10 objections.

Some of the objections included concerns that there are already a number of supermarkets in the area and the infrastructure would not be able to cope with more traffic.

In support, people said it would create healthy competition and jobs.

At the time, the supermarket chain said the site would include 123 parking spaces and eight bike stands, and two deliveries a day would be made by lorries using a facility at the rear of the building.

Aldi currently has more than 40 stores in Wales, employing more than 1,250 workers.

Rival German supermarket chain Lidl – which already has a store just 300m from Cardiff’s new Aldi – aims to have 1,000 stores in the UK by 2022 which includes plans to build more in Wales.

The company has set its sights firmly on 44 areas and is looking to open stores stretching across the whole of South Wales.

Lidl said it is looking for “prominent sites in town, district, edge of centre or out of town location.