Aldi opening stores this week in Middletown, Camden

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Aldi file photo.
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Winter view of an Aldi in Pennsylvania. (Creative Commons)

German discount grocery giant Aldi will open stores in Middletown and Camden, DE on Thursday.

The stores are located on  Bunker Hill Road in Middletown and 390 Walmart Drive in Camden. 

Aldi is known for operating smaller stores with private label grocery products. The company has 1,400 locations  in the U.S.

The two stores  are  the first for the company in Delaware. The company  has operated a store for many years near the state line in Elkton, MD.

Aldi  is not afraid to compete with Walmart, the world’s largest grocery  chain,  on price.  Both Camden and Middletown  have large Walmart stores.

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The grocer first targeted lower income suburban areas, but  more recently, moved into more affluent communities to target  dollar-conscious shoppers.

As Market Watch reported, Aldi is also feeling pressure from  dollar stores and even drug stores as shoppers have more options when it comes to buying groceries.

The no-fills company runs with lean staffing and  pays  workers above the minimum wage. It also charges for bags and use of a shopping cart,

The grocer  is expected to see competition from a German rival, Lidl, which is building a distribution center west of the Delaware line in northeastern Maryland.

Lidl has been scouting sites in Dover, Newark and other areas in the region and is asking developers to submit proposals for store locations.

A  branch of the merchant family that owns Aldi  operates Trader Joe’s, a discount upscale  grocer with a Delaware location in north Wilmington near the Pennsylvania line.

Trader Joe’s has been selective, opening less than 500 stores in the U.S. It has disappointed shoppers in many  areas by not opening stores in  areas such as Newark.

The profit potential of Trader Joe’s in the region is limited by liquor laws that bar sales in grocery stores.

In many states, Trader Joe’s attracts crowds with its deeply discounted wines that sometimes earn accolades from critics.

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