ALDI to Open in Bel Air

BEL AIR, MD — The supermarket ALDI is reportedly planning to set up shop in the Bel Air Plaza off US 1 at MD 24.

The grocer plans to open by the end of 2016 and recently held a job fair to hire personnel for the new store, The Aegis reported.

This will be the third ALDI in Harford County, where there is one off Business Center Way in Edgewood and another off South Philadelphia Road in Aberdeen. In Baltimore County, ALDI opened last October in Perry Hall as well. Overall, the chain has more than 1,500 stores in 34 states.

The anchor space in the Bel Air Plaza has sat vacant since Jan. 25, 2015, when Mars closed its doors.

When Bel Air Patch asked readers last year to name a business they would like to see in its place, the most requested were grocery stores Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.

• Anchor Missing in Bel Air Plaza
  
• Bel Air Mars Closes Doors in January

ALDI operates in a smaller footprint than the traditional supermarket. It culls together the best selections for its customers and instead of offering eight types of the same thing, offers one of them. This saves space and therefore money, which is passed on in price to the customer.

Shopping at ALDI is a little different than the traditional grocery store experience. Here are tips curated from savvy shoppers, grocery store blogs and the company itself:

• Bring quarters: In order to use a shopping cart, you’ll need to pay with a quarter. Once you return the cart, you’ll get your quarter back. ALDI notes this helps to keep prices low because they don’t spend time retrieving carts. (Each store typically has just three to five employees working at a time.)
• BYOB: Bring your own bags or be prepared to buy ALDI’s reusable bags ($1.99); ALDI also charges 10 cents for plastic bags or 6 cents for paper sacks, according to the I Am That Lady blog. Also be prepared to bag your own groceries.
• Natural: ALDI has committed to removing certified synthetic colors, partially hydrogenated oils (a source of trans fats) and added MSG from all of its exclusive brand food products. Read more on that here.
• Brands: Don’t look for big brand names at ALDI; 90 percent of the items in the store are ALDI brands.Private brand selections at ALDI include gluten-free (Live g-Free); “free-from” pure foods (Simply Nature); premium specialty (Specially Selected); and better-for-you items (Fit & Active), according to Supermarket News.
• Organic produce: Along with increasing its selections of fresh foods, the store has rolled out organic produce in all stores, according to Supermarket News.
• Double-guarantee: If, for any reason, you are not 100 percent satisfied with any product, ALDI will offer a Double Guarantee where it will replace the product and refund your money. (The Double Guarantee does not apply to non-food Special Buy items, alcohol, national brands and non-quality related issues.)
• Multiple bar codes: ALDI adds several bar codes to a product so that cashiers can check customers out faster.
• No coupons: The store does not accept coupons; again the company says by doing this, it saves money and passes savings along to customers.
• No music: Another way the store saves? By not playing any music in its store and not paying music licensing fees.
• Hours: The stores are not open 24-7; most are open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays. A typical ALDI store stays open during the most popular shopping hours, according to the ALDI Web site. "Staying open later would simply add labor costs – and raise our prices,” they note.
• No banks or pharmacies at ALDI stores.

Patch Editor Mary Ann Barton contributed.

Photo Credit: Elizabeth Janney.