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Monday, December 31, 2007

Supermarket chain Aldi headed to Oak Cliff?

by Shawn Williams of Dallas South

Aldi.

OAK CLIFF — All accounts say that grocery chain Aldi is locating a store in Dallas - Oak Cliff to be exact. The new store is said to be part of a shopping center that is coming up off I-20 near Wheatland and Hampton. The retail center is anchored by a Target store that is expected to open in March.

Whenever I talk to people about this, the first thing they say is "what is Aldi?" I never have a good answer, so I went to the company website and here's what I found.

(From the Aldi Website)

ALDI entered the U.S. market in 1976, with a handful of stores in southeastern Iowa. Now, more than 850 U.S. ALDI stores are spreading the savings from Kansas to the East Coast. In its 2007 report, Supermarket News ranked ALDI 24th in U.S. grocery chains in terms of gross sales—a considerable accomplishment given our limited assortment and low prices.
We concentrate purchasing power, carrying only 1,300 or so of your most frequently purchased grocery and household items, nearly all under our own private labels. As a result, we get the lowest prices from our suppliers—and pass the savings on to you.
We adhere to stringent quality standards. Every product we sell must match or exceed the leading national brand in taste, appearance, and/or performance. Our premium produce is shipped faster and smarter, so it comes to your table fresher and cheaper.
Smarter shoppers know better than to pay extra at stores where baggers bag groceries and employees chase carts in the parking lot, or the cost of national brand marketing raises prices. They know where to buy private label brands that actually exceed the quality of national brands at a fraction of the cost.
So smarter shoppers shop where select inventory increases buying power and lowers prices, saving them up to 50% over supermarket prices. That's a smart cartful whether you're a growing family, a working single, a senior on a fixed income, or a baby boomer socking it away for retirement.

Interesting concept they've got going here. In light of recent talk about the lack of grocery stores in areas populated by African-Americans, Aldi would be a welcome addition.

Pegasus News content partner - Dallas South Blog

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Anonymous

Andrew Laska, says:

Aldi is going all over the Dallas area. The Richardson location, which required variances to open in the chosen location, was approved earlier this year.

Given their expansion plans, I would guess the Oak Cliff store would be one of several in Dallas proper.

Andrew

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1 year, 11 months ago
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Peter Stawicki, says:

Aldi is a German Supermarket chain. They announced in the middle of last year that they had been studying the DFW marketplace for two years and had decided they would open 25-30 stores by 2009. Their main competitive target will be the Walmart Neighborhood Grocery Stores.

They currently plan to build a 500,000 square foot distribution center in the Denton area so you know they must be pretty serious about the market.

What I found most interesting was that Walmart attempted a market in Germany several years ago but was defeated and forced to close all their stores because of competition from the Aldi grocery stores. They were able to consistantly give lower pricing.

Not unlike some of the other European stores entering the DFW airspace, Aldi will begin charging 25 cents for carts and will charge you 5 cents each for grocery bags.

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1 year, 11 months ago
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BrownBess, says:

Parity will not be achieved until there is a Central Market or Whole Foods at the corner of Kiest and Illinois or Camp Wisdom and 67 or 30 and Cockrell Hill. Don't settle for a token expansion of a European "Savers."

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1 year, 11 months ago
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Chris Kidd, says:

Aldi is a pretty decent chain for the can/dry consumables. I also like their enviromental policy when it comes to bagging costs. Makes people take more responsiblity for their planet.

And Bess, pardon me saying this...When more people at kiest/illinois or camp wisdom start acheiving more for themselves (i.e graduate HS/College, make more than adv. 30k/yr, kicking out the scum and villany out of the area,ect) then you may request a central market/whole foods.

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1 year, 11 months ago
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Rawlins Gilliland, says:

I like Bess' stance: "Forget that damn Camry. By God I'm walking 'til we're talking BMW!"

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1 year, 11 months ago
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Candace Klenk, says:

I used to shop at Aldi's when I live in KS. Shopping there helped me out when I was in a jam.

My favorite story is one time I fell on pretty rough times. I didn't have any food at home, I only had 45 dollars to last me a month, I went there spent a good part of that money and walked out with literally a cartfull of food.

Aldi's mostly has generic non-perishable foods, at REALLY reasonable prices. I can't believe that anyone wouldn't be happy with one in their neighborhood. I've been looking for one since I moved to the area. I know I like to save money whenever I have the chance, and in lower income neighborhoods Aldi's would be the perfect answer!

As far as the quarter for a cart thing. They don't charge you to use the cart you stick a quarter in this box type thing that is attached to the cart and it release it so that you can use it and when you return the cart is when you get your quarter back. Aldi's does charge for paper bags though but usually they have optional things for you to use i.e. boxes that the products come in. They don't sack things for you, and they don't do carry out. They are able to keep the prices so low because of this, they don't have to hire anyone to sack and carry out.

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1 year, 11 months ago
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DC, says:

Sounds nasty. The quarter a cart devices are easily thwarted with the tab on a loaf of bread. That is, of course if any bread companies still do that.

CM / WF on Keist and Illinois? I30 Cockerell Hill Life Sucking Region Number 62 may be...

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1 year, 11 months ago
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Shawn Williams, says:

I got an e-mail regarding my assertion that the I-20 Hampton/Wheatland Region is Oak Cliff. The "old" or "real" Oak Cliff area is in the Jefferson-Davis/Beckley part of town. But the boundaries have long since moved outward. South Oak Cliff High School is not that far from the area we're talking about on Marsalis. Most people I know would consider that store in South Oak Cliff. The Oak Cliff Super Bowl is played between Kimball and Carter high school, the latter is just east of the Target that's going up.