The news channels these days have been full of stories about ALDI, America’s fastest-growing grocery store chain. This should not be surprising, as in addition to being efficient, this company is also highly adaptable and very good at promoting itself.

Thus, on the one hand, we hear that ALDI is finalizing the sale of its Southeastern Grocers, including the Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket brands, along with nearly 200 stores it acquired last year. It may look odd that a company would quickly offload such a large chunk of an acquisition; the deal ALDI struck involves just over 40% of the stores it picked up. But ALDI never claimed it was going to convert all the Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores it bought to ALDI locations. And it probably wasn’t realistic to expect ALDI to own full-fledged supermarkets. It just seized up the opportunity, learned a little about what makes its supermarket competitors tick, then picked some prime locations to convert and turned the keys back over to people who are willing to run large food stores.

But on the other hand, ALDI made a press announcement trumpeting its plan to open more than 225 stores this year in the U.S. — a record annual pace for the company. Additionally, ALDI announced that the completed deal with Southeastern Grocers would help fuel more than 800 store openings by the end of 2028. That’s an eye-popping number, but it was also ALDI taking a second bite of the promotional apple.

ALDI really seems to be firing on all cylinders right now, but the question is: Do consumers love shopping at ALDI?

The short answer is Yes!

In 2024, 19 million new shoppers nationwide were drawn to ALDI’s quality, affordable groceries, quicker, easier shopping experience, shelves stocked with only the best products at even better prices, and ultra-popular ALDI Finds. The updated shopping experience is way better than before its remodeling campaign, back when ALDI’s stores were generally seen as uninspiring places to shop. Nowadays, ALDI shoppers get great prices and a more attractive shopping environment along with trending products and unique finds.

What is the lesson here for retailers, big and small? It’s not the number of stores that builds up your balance sheet, but the quality of locations you choose to prioritize and develop.

Location intelligence, including business location analysis, historical traffic data collection, demographic analysis, and sales forecast, is a complex science, and we’re sure ALDI keeps a bunch of highly paid data analysts on its corporate payroll. For those of you who cannot afford such a luxury, the logical solution is to partner with an expert data analytics company – such as Ticon.

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