Over the past decade, Aldi, which opened its first U.S.
grocer by store count by the end of this year. The company said this week it's on track to become the third-largest U.S.
As the chain deepens its roots in the region, it's hiring approximately 300 store associates and 200 warehouse workers.Īldi's aggressive store opening campaign kicked into gear in 2017, when it announced it would spend $5.3 billion to open hundreds of new stores and remodel others. The 564,000-square-foot regional distribution center in Loxley, Alabama, which was announced last year and is expected to open later this year, will eventually support up to 100 new stores across Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle, per the announcement. 10 with the opening of a store in Lafayette. After welcoming that store, Aldi plans to open two more Gulf Coast stores in March, followed by 20 more stores in the region throughout the rest of the year. “I think it’s a great improvement and it will look a lot better from the park.After opening 70 stores in 2020 and 100 locations last year, Aldi is accelerating its store opening schedule nearly two years into a pandemic that's been highly disruptive for expansion plans across the industry.Īs part of its 2022 plans, the company will make its debut in Louisiana on Feb. “I do want to commend you for all your efforts to respond to our concerns,” said Community Design Commission member Chris Berndt. New project renderings, adding more planting along blank walls and lowering the height of the back façade by two feet, were deemed more than adequate. Prior to the Community Design Commission approving the Aldi project in June, the commission requested that the developer make the rear of the storefront, which faces the Booker Creek Basin Park, more aesthetically pleasing. The Town of Chapel Hill recently finished installing a storage basin near the shopping center with the goal of improving stormwater retention to reduce severe flooding. In addition to its businesses, Eastgate Crossing is known for its proximity to Booker Creek, which has a propensity for flooding.
KRG Eastgate Chapel Hill LLC, an affiliate of the Kite Realty Group real-estate investment company, bought the 14-acre shopping center from its longtime owner Federal Realty Investment Trust.Īt present, the project is awaiting a zoning compliance from the town and no opening date has been set.
The Eastgate Crossing shopping center changed ownership at the end of 2020, the latest in a recent series of shopping malls in the area to do so. The lease gives Aldi the right to renew its lease in five-year increments over the next 35 years. Orange County records show Aldi signed a ten-year lease with Eastgate’s owner in April. Instead, the Community Design Commission and town manager approve concept plans to move projects more quickly to construction.Ī district map of the Blue Hill District and its encompassed shopping centers. The Chapel Hill Town Council does not review or vote on Blue Hill District projects. The future grocery store lot has sat vacant since its former occupant, Stein Mart, announced Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August of 2020.Įastgate Crossing sits squarely in the Town of Chapel Hill’s Blue Hill District, which is home to some of Chapel Hill’s older, suburban style shopping centers, including Village Plaza and Rams Plaza. The space near Kipos restaurant and the Dollar Tree is across the parking lot from another popular grocer: Trader Joe’s. In June, the town’s Community Design Commission unanimously approved plans for a 24,884-square-foot Aldi at Eastgate Crossing, located at the intersection of E. Chapel Hillians can expect yet another grocery store option as a vacant lot at Chapel Hill’s Eastgate Crossing shopping center is filled.