Trending: Aldi opens 7th Delaware store in Christiana area

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Aldi opened its seventh store in Delaware on Wednesday at the Christiana Town Center, a center off Route 273 that is anchored by the Boscov’s store. The newest Aldi had been a Staples store.

Aldi is no stranger to the area. It opened a nearby store in Elkton, MD in 2009. Over the past few years, the German company with a U.S. headquarters in Illinois has added stores in Delaware as part of a nationwide expansion.

Recently Aldi opened a store on Coastal Highway near Rehoboth Beach at a former Kmart location that has been converted to a strip center. 

 To the south, a  new Aldi is coming to Coastal Sussex County at the former location of the Kmart store near Rehoboth.

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Lidl, comparable in size to Aldi,  is a latecomer to the U.S. market but has been steadily opening stores in the Mid-Atlantic and Georgia.

The company delayed opening a store a few miles away from Aldi’s Christiana location (the former Countryside garden Center)  until fall of next year, despite the building being completed.  Lidl currently has locations in Middletown and Dover.

The Aldi news follows the late April opening of Trader Joe’s in the Christiana Fashion Center adjacent to the mall. Trader Joe’s has operated a location off Route 202 in north Wilmington for many years.

All three chains operate smaller supermarkets with an emphasis on private-label goods sold at discount prices. 

Trader Joe’s and Aldi are operated by different branches of one of Germany’s wealthiest families. 

The three chains are known for lean staffing while offering wages and benefits that are in many cases better than their domestic rivals. However, trader Joe’s does have more employees around the store.

Aldi takes a no-frills approach that includes shoppers using their own bags and paying a refundable deposit for shopping carts in addition to private labels.

Like Lidl, Aldi features a rotating selection of household items ranging from patio furniture to tools.

Along the way, Aldi has built a loyal following that includes consumer blogs on its offerings and weekly specials.

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