Aldi to open new store in Louisiana on Thursday

Aldi is opening its first store in Thibodaux, Louisiana, on Thursday bringing its store count in the state to eight.

Located at 32 Rienzi Dr. in Lafourche County—a little over an hour west of New Orleans—the new store is part of the grocer’s Gulf Coast expansion. Aldi is looking to add 120 new stores this year, bringing its store count nationwide to more than 2,400 sites.

“Our stores are designed to make grocery shopping smarter, faster and easier, and we’ve been voted the price leader for six years running,” said Heather Moore, Loxley regional VP for Aldi, in a statement. “We’re excited to open our first Aldi store in Thibodaux and introduce local customers to a new, more affordable way of shopping.”

Looking to broaden its expansion in the Southeastern states, Aldi last month opened its first store to Flowood, Mississippi.

This year, Aldi also opened its newest regional distribution center in Alabama to fuel southeastern growth. The retailer’s 26th regional headquarters supports 100 stores and provides groceries to 8 million of its Gulf Coast shoppers. 

Aldi said its brick-and-mortar expansion is part of a larger omnichannel experience that “builds on a banner year in 2022.”

The discount grocer opened and remodeled 139 stores last year and increased its customer base to approximately 9.4 million, according to an Aldi statement. This expansion drove double-digit growth year-over-year.

For this year, Aldi said it is on track to continue that momentum. Since April Aldi has opened 35 stores in the first quarter and welcomed 5.3 million new customers to its stores.

Aldi took the top spot as the most-trusted discount and small-format grocer, according to the 2023 Most Trusted Grocery Retailers in America list conducted by market research firm BrandSpark International in partnership with Winsight Grocery Business and Newsweek.