Aldi opens new regional HQ in fast-growing region

Fast-growing retailer Aldi said it has strengthened its presence in the Southeast with the opening this week of a new regional headquarters at its 564,000-square-foot distribution center in Loxley, Ala., that will serve up to 100 Aldi stores.

It is the Batavia, Ill.-based retailer’s 26^th DC in the U.S. — the German-owned company has extensive operations overseas — and its sixth in the Southeastern U.S., an area that has been a particular focus of the company’s growth in the past year.

The new facility will serve stores across Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle, with the potential to reach more than 8 million customers, Aldi said.

Adli currently operates 30 stores in the Gulf Coast region, after opening 20 last year alone. The company said it plans to add another 13 stores in the region in 2023, part of an ongoing aggressive expansion plan that includes dozens of new stores across the U.S.

The retailer has been expanding in the New Orleans area, for example, with recent openings in Metairie and Covington,, La., and several more planned. On its website Aldi also lists recent or upcoming grand openings in Mobile, Ala.; Bradenton, Fla., and McComb, Meridian and Starkville, Miss.

Other recent or upcoming openings around the country include four each in California, Michigan and Missouri; two each in Marylan and Massachusetts, and one each in Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, South Carolina and South Dakota.

A recent report from professional services firm JLL said Aldi opened more stores than any other grocery retailer last year, at 49 new locations, finishing the year with 2,270. Nearly half of those stores were in the Southeast, JLL said in the report.

“At a time when inflation is putting pressure on American wallets, we believe our mission to save people money on the food and products they need is more important than ever,” said Heather Moore, Aldi divisional VP for the Loxley region. “We are thrilled to see so much customer love for the 20 stores we’ve opened in the Gulf Coast area in the last year alone.”

Aldi held a groundbreaking at the site in February 2021, at the time saying it represented a $100 million investment, according to local news website AL.com. The warehouse side of the facility opened last July, and the headquarters side was completed this week, the website said.