Bel Air ALDI to Open This Week: ICYMI

BEL AIR, MD — This week, the anchor space in the shopping center on US 1 at MD 24 will be bustling with a new grocer. ALDI will open at the Bel Air Plaza on Thursday, Jan. 19.

To celebrate the new ALDI store in Bel Air Plaza, located in the spot where Mars closed in January 2015, several activities are planned.

First, there will be a ceremonial ribbon-cutting at 8:45 a.m.

The first 100 shoppers to enter the store will receive "golden tickets," or ALDI gift cards of various amounts.

On opening day, all shoppers can enter a sweepstakes to win produce for a year.

The store is also planning to give away product samples and distribute eco-friendly bags on its first day in business.

The Bel Air ALDI ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for 8:45 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 19.
The store at 599 Baltimore Pike will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday; 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.

• ALDI to Open in Bel Air
• Anchor Missing in Bel Air Plaza
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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. The chain has more than 1,500 stores in 34 states.

"We are pleased to bring our first store to Bel Air to help customers get high-quality products at everyday low prices,” regional ALDI executive Jeff Baehr said in a statement. "We challenge shoppers to switch from national brands to our high-quality exclusive brands and stretch their dollars without compromising quality. As important as price is, the only way to attract and keep shoppers is to have quality products.”

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: 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 employees don’t spend time retrieving carts.
• BYOB: Bring your own bags or be prepared to buy ALDI’s reusable bags.
• 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; a typical ALDI store stays open during the most popular shopping hours but "staying open later would simply add labor costs – and raise our prices,” according to ALDI.
• No banks or pharmacies at ALDI stores.

Patch Editor Mary Ann Barton contributed. Photo Credit: Elizabeth Janney.