Aldi Opens Ten Stores in California This Week

“Walmart and Smart & Final are off my list,” Marilyn Havey of Buena Park, California said after she discovered an Aldi opening in her neighborhood. The Buena Park location is just one of 10 scheduled to open this week in Cali.

Aldi has been rapidly expanding in the United States. To many people’s surprise, the discount grocer opened its stores in Anaheim, Buena Park and Fountain Valley, California on Monday. They did this to avoid huge crowds of people at the end of the week, when the stores were originally slated to open.

In addition to the stores opening in Orange County, Aldi will also be opening up stores in Southern California. SoCal stores will be located in Arcadia, Cerritos, Covina, Inglewood, La Verne, Palmdale and San Bernardino. The store will be offering special Grand Opening perks to customers. Each of the stores will have a ribbon cutting ceremony at 8:45 a.m. on Thursday and the first 100 shoppers will receive an advantage over others.

If you are one of the first 100 shoppers at one of the 10 stores opening in California on Thursday, you will receive a golden ticket. The ticket will contain an Aldi gift card. Gift cards will vary in value. There is also a $5 off coupon that is circulating for the discount grocer that will be valid starting Thursday.

Grand Opening Day isn’t the only day Aldi will be giving things to their new Orange County and SoCal customers. Through Sunday, customers can receive a free reusable grocery bag. If you shop at Aldi regularly, you know that a reusable bag comes in handy.

Aldi does not use grocery bags so people are required to purchase bags if they want them (or bring their own). The company claims not using grocery bags helps keep cost low and, in return, keeps prices low for customers. Reusable grocery bags at Aldi cost $1.99 normally. Plastic bags cost 10 cents and paper bags cost 6 cents. If you are thinking about checking Aldi out within the first few days they are open, be sure to get your free grocery bag.

These benefits of visiting the brand new Aldi stores are nothing in comparison to the amount of money you’ll save every day by shopping at the discount grocer. Some customers have claimed to have saved as much as 40 percent on their grocery bill by shopping at Aldi.

In addition to savings on groceries, the store also offers a number of seasonal items at discounted prices. For instance, if you visited Aldi today, you may see some outdoor furniture. You may also find grill accessories, umbrellas, beach towels, among various other items.

The German-based company currently runs 1,500 stores in 32 states. Aldi has made its way from small to huge within a few years in the U.S. by selling store brand versions of popular name brand products, like Pop Tarts or Coca-Cola. It opened its first California stores last month and is expected to do extremely well in Cali.

Photo: Flickr: Mike Mozart