ALDI expanding UK footprint

International discount grocer ALDI is stepping up its bricks-and-mortar footprint in the U.K. 

The company’s CEO, Giles Hurley, revealed to BBC News that it will open a new store in the U.K. every week on average for the next two years through a $1.2 billion investment. 

"The reality is that almost 50% of the population of the U.K. doesn't currently shop with us and they tell us the main reason for that is that they don't have a store near us," he said to BBC. 

The company is also experimenting with a new, smaller, convenience store format. There are currently eight ALDI "Local" stores in Greater London, including a former Waitrose store in Camden. ALDI thinks that figure could grow to as high as 50 in the longer term, according to BBC.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the private label giant is embarking on its journey to become the nation’s third largest grocery retailer by 2022. And this “something big” is also disrupting the entire grocery industry. 

ALDI, which opened its first U.S. store in Iowa in 1976, has always been known for its low prices of private-branded consumer packaged goods (CPGs). But in the last five years ALDI has gained a reputation for its quality of private brands in addition to its low prices. ALDI, which offers more than a 90 percent assortment of private brands under multiple lines, is also garnering recognition as an innovator of store brands and a place to shop for premium and exclusive items.

To read the BBC article, click here.