ALDI Opens New Store

Store Known For German Chocolate

FAYETTEVILLE — The new ALDI store is bigger, brighter and closer to residents living in western Washington County.

The store held a ribbon cutting and grand opening ceremony last Wednesday and business was brisk throughout the day, according to District Manager Jason Benward. The store on College Avenue is now closed after 18 years and the new building is located at 3214 Martin Luther King Blvd.

“We're really excited about moving south of town,” Benward said. “Things are growing quite a bit in this area and we want to capture that market. It's close to campus and will give us better coverage of this area.”

The new building has 18,000 square feet, about 3,000 more feet than the old store, higher ceilings,

more windows, wider aisles, brighter lighting and more space at the front of the store.

“Overall, the look of the store is much better,” Benward said.

The new store will offer about the same products but with an expanded cooler section. Eventually, the cooler area will have 60 to 80 more products. The store has nine employees and store manager Betsy Franklin, who was with the old store for 18 years, transferred to manage the new facility.

ALDI is a German company that opened its first store in the United States in 1976. Today, the company has more than 1,000 stores in 31 states.

Fayetteville resident Linda Eichmann first shopped at an ALDI store in Germany in the 1960s and last week was shopping in the new store.

“I think it's very nice,” Eichmann said.

Benward said ALDI is unique in that it offers “significantly cheaper” prices than its competition. Comparative signs are placed throughout the store and Benward said prices are about 30 percent less expensive than other retail businesses.

The firm is able to keep down costs, he said, by using a “quarter” cart system where customers deposit a quarter for a cart and then retrieve the quarter when they return the cart. The system eliminates the liability from damages made by carts and allows the company to use employees in the store, instead of taking care of carts in the parking lot.

ALDI charges for bags or allows customers to bring in their own bags for groceries. In addition, the store has boxes available for people to use to carry purchases.

“All these things allow us to keep our costs down,” Benward said.

The store carries some name brand products, but mainly has its own store brands. It guarantees its products, Benward said, and if customers are not satisfied with a certain product, they can return it for a refund and replace the item with another product.

“There's no risk to try it,” he added.

If ALDI cannot find a supplier that provides a product with the same quality as the name brand item, then the story will carry the name brand, he said.

Benward said ALDI is known for its German chocolates and providing fresh produce daily.

Store hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

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