Aldi opens 2 more grocery stores in Port Charlotte, continuing its expansion

Aldi opened two newly-converted Winn-Dixie stores in Port Charlotte in early December that now carry the grocer’s iconic yellow, orange and blue signage, continuing its expansion throughout Southwest Florida.

The stores, located at 2000 Kings Highway in the Kings Crossing mall, and 3280 Tamiami Trail in the Promenades mall, are two of the four Aldi stores now in Charlotte County.

The county’s first Aldi arrived in March 2016 in Port Charlotte at 1391 Tamiami Trail, followed by a newly-constructed Punta Gorda Aldi located off Jones Loop Road in September 2018.

Chris Hewitt, regional vice president for Aldi, said these latest stores bring Aldi “one step closer to achieving its goal of opening 800 stores nationwide by the end of 2028.”

ALDI operates more than 2,600 stores in the U.S. and has nearly 300 stores in Florida, he said.

In the second week of December, 10 more Aldis opened, including one in North Fort Myers at 5690 Bayshore Road. That, too, is a converted Winn-Dixie.

Currently under construction is an Aldi in Cape Coral at 3560 De Navarra Parkway and another in North Fort Myers. Both are set to open in the new year, Hewitt said.

The brand has come a long way since 1961 when the Albrecht family founded the world’s first discount grocery store in Germany. Sixteen years later in 1976, the first U.S. Aldi store opened in Iowa.

From its humble beginnings, Aldi is now America’s fastest growing grocer. When asked how Aldi became a major player in the retail grocery market, Hewitt said the brand is “an intentionally different grocery store that is built for today.”

And that is probably an understatement, as Aldi is indeed different from the large supermarkets and stores that sell groceries, including Walmart and Target. Aldi has its own formula for success, and apparently, that has been working out.

“We always look for opportunities to pass savings on to our customers, from displaying our products in the boxes they arrive in, to our quarter cart system," Hewitt said. "Our stores are stocked with only the items our customers need so they can get in and out.”

Basically, Aldi sells the best products at the lowest possible prices of any national grocer, Hewitt said, adding that customers can save up to 36% on an average household’s shopping list, which translates into $4,000 in savings for families if they shop Aldi-exclusive products over name brands.

That is accomplished by selling mostly exclusive brands that make up 90% of all the items on Aldi shelves. In order to save more, customers would have to purchase non-brand names that are prevalent in other supermarkets.

The first visit to an Aldi will probably result in one searching for brands that may or may not be in the store, but the item itself will be displayed, albeit under a different brand name.

Hewitt said Aldi is so confident in its products that every item is backed by its "Twice as Nice Guarantee." If for any reason a customer is not 100% satisfied with the quality of a product, Aldi will replace the product and also refund it.

"At our new Port Charlotte Aldi stores, shoppers will find that every decision we make, from our product selection to store layout, is to provide our customers with the best products at the lowest possible prices of any national grocer," Hewitt said.

The stores themselves are unique. They feature what are called “Aldi Finds” – limited-time, seasonal products, unique groceries, home goods, and specialty items that are displayed in the store’s middle aisle, called the “Aisle of Shame.” The items are refreshed weekly.

Also, Aldi became the first major U.S. grocery retailer to eliminate plastic shopping bags at all of its stores, which is also a selling point among some consumers.