Aldi to open 150 stores nationwide
The move will open up 500 jobs in the Southeast
Discount grocer Aldi is opening 150 additional stores nationwide and a distribution center this year in an effort to expand its footprint within the grocery industry.
The move, which is part of the company's coast-to-coast expansion plan, puts it on track to become "the third-largest U.S. grocery retailer by store count by the end of this year," according to Aldi, and is creating a slew of jobs.
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The company will be opening up a location in Lafayette, Louisiana, its 38th state, on Thursday before opening two more Gulf Coast stores in early March. The company will add another 20 stores throughout the Southeast by year-end.
A member of staff prepares to scan goods taken from a customer's shopping basket at the check-out counter inside an Aldi supermarket store in London, U.K., on Monday, June 29, 2015. (Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The company is also investing in a new 564,000-square-foot regional distribution center in Loxley, Alabama, this year, supporting "as many as 100 new stores throughout Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle," according to the company.
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To support this growth, the company will hire approximately 300 store associates and 200 warehouse associates in the area.
In February 2021, the company announced that it would be opening 100 locations nationwide while also expanding its e-commerce options. The company planned to spread those locations across Arizona, California, Florida and the Northeast, Aldi said.
Over the past decade, Aldi has opened more than 1,000 new stores.