April 25,2018-
Fast growing German grocer Aldi Food Market will open a store in Arroyo Grande in coming months, the first venture into the Central Coast. Also they have set their sights on a SLO location.
With 57 stores in southern California, Aldi is moving north says Central California Director of Real Estate Jeff Luna.
“We expect to have 7 to 8 stores on the Central Coast” says Luna, predicting locations will open in San Luis Obispo, 2 in Santa Mara, and Lompoc among others, within a three-year period.
In Arroyo Grande the company recently signed a lease for the former Cookie Crock space, just under 24,000sf at the renovated shopping center at Elm and Grand, already home to Rite Aid, Chipotle and Five Guys.
“We expect open by fall of this year” says Luna.Not afraid of competition, Aldi’s new store will be nearby Walmart, Food 4Less and Smart and Final – all selling discount groceries. Vons is a country-block away as well.
Luna adds that Aldi is targeting a site in San Luis Obispo at Tank Farm and Broad in a new 6-acre proposed shopping center at the NWC of the intersection.
According to the real estate brochure (pictured) and the website for Pacifica Commercial Real Estate and SLO’s Rossetti Company, a 20,000sf Aldi would anchor the new 48,000sf shopping center. The center would also have drug store.
The center’s marketing material suggests some 2000 new homes are expected to be built nearby in the next few years. The Aldi would compete head to head with Von’s across the street.
Luna confirms the grocer likes the location. “We’ve signed a letter of intent and expect to get our corporate approval for a lease” he explains. With all new construction here, it is likely we will not see Aldi open this year in San Luis Obispo.
Asked if this site wouldn’t cannibalize business from its sister company -Trader Joe’s on Higuera – Luna explains Aldi targets different shoppers with an emphasis on offering the basics and rock-bottom prices vs Trader Joe’s emphasis on specialty products, organics and wine.
Instead, Aldi sees Walmart as a key competitor. Privately-held Aldi along with Trader Joe’s is owned by Germany’s Albrecht family with a world-wide store count of over 10,000. The expect to have some 2,500 locations in the US by 2022, the nations’s third largest grocery store by count. Walmart is number one.
As they move north along the coast, Aldi is simultaneously adding stores in the Central San Joaquin Valley as far north as Fresno / Clovis ( 6 stores), three stores in Tulare County and locations in Hanford and Delano to complement several stores they already have open in Bakersfield. Luna expects 15 to 20 locations in this part of the Valley several opening this year as well. They are also expanding into Arizona.
Each new store has 15 to 25 employees says Luna.