Discount Grocery Chain to Open Stores in LA County

Discount grocery chain Aldi will open its first stores in Southern California in March, with 25 stores expected to be in operation by July 2016, the chain announced Thursday.

Aldi plans to have 45 stores open in the area by the end of 2016, including stores in Los Angeles County.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the store offers steep discounts, thrives in affluent areas and will likely trigger price wars among local grocers.

The grocer is known for its no-frills approach, requiring shoppers to bag their own goods. Its stores are smaller than a traditional grocery chain, offering “1,300 of the most commonly purchased grocery items in the most common size.”

More than 90 percent of the items offered at the stores are the company’s exclusive brands, rather than national brands. The strategy enables the store to buy in bulk and pass savings along to customers, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Shoppers also need to pay a 25-cent deposit to use a shopping cart. The money is returned when shoppers return the cart to the rack -- a system the company says cuts down on the need to hire people to wrangle carts from parking lots and discourages people from walking off with them.

Aldi expects to employ more than 1,100 people at the shops and its headquarters/warehouse facility in Moreno Valley.

City News Service

Photos: Aldi