Hillcrest Town Center Revitalized and Renamed
Annette mentioned in the comments of the previous post about the ALDI supermarket opening up on the Golden Mile. I meant to write about it earlier this week and just forgot. The store is going into the former Hillcrest Town Center at Rte 40 and Hillcrest drive where the Shopper’s Food Warehouse used to be. The entire plaza is being renovated and has been renamed Vista Shops at Golden Mile. From the FNP business section:
The multi-million-dollar project will include an 18,000-square-foot Aldi supermarket. Aldi built a $27 million, 450,000-square-foot distribution center on Gas House Pike last year, but this will be the first Aldi supermarket in Frederick. The retail center is at Hillcrest Drive and West Patrick Street, where the former Shoppers Food Warehouse was located.
Aldi typically carries one brand of most items, displayed in open cartons; customers must deposit a quarter (which is returned) when they use a shopping cart, and must bring their own bags or pay for a long-lasting reusable bag. Aldi supermarkets do not have in-store banks, pharmacies, photo processing or other services, which the company doesn’t consider grocery- related.
I had never heard of ALDI’s before hearing about the new distribution center that they built last year. Then I drove past one when I was in Ohio last month. The revitalization is part of the city’s tax break offered to businesses that re-use buildings along the Golden Mile. The project is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Other businesses in that plaza:
Other stores in the 110,000-square-foot retail center, will include an 18,000-square-foot Planet Fitness and 10,000-square-foot Deals, a subsidiary of Dollar Tree.
The center also will include Play It Again Sports, Mi Pollo and Stride Rite Shoes.
Those will join existing shops that include California Nails and Day Spa, Rappongi’s Restaurant and Capone’s Pizza.
I bet they will do well. They have large potential customer base with all the residential areas right around the shopping center. Glad to see an existing shopping center revitalized instead of a new one built.
We had Aldi’s in WI. Their schtick is offering very low prices, without having to buy foods in bulk (like Costco). They don’t carry brand names, and you have to pay cash. They don’t carry organic/natural foods (at least, not the store that was nearest me). It’s a great alternative grocery store for many people, but not for everyone.
In Germany (where Aldi is coming from) ALDI has been offering their own organic brand for the last couple of years. As more people get into buying organics over here in the US I’m sure they’ll offer it here, too… just a matter of time. For now customers over here will still have to get used to bringing their own bags and putting a deposit quarter into their carts (which is a great idea – they won’t end up in the neighborhoods that easy)
Oh, and to add to Jessica’s comment: They do take credit/debit cards. The also have some brand name foods/ some of their assortment changes weekly.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DQA/is_2001_June_21/ai_76427280
Organics @ Aldi in Europe
http://aldi.com.au/au/html/product_range/productrange_justorganic_709.html
And Australia
You Have A Great Blog Keep Up The Good Work ..Cheers
There is an Aldi in Hagerstown. My husband was in Hagerstown yesterday and stopped by. He came home with 2 gallons of milk..$2.00 each, and 1-lb hotdogs… .65 cents each, bread .65 cents each!!! The trick is, they only stock what sells, no loss-leader stuff. That’s what keeps the prices low.
An Aldi just opened up in Charles Town WVA. They do have a limited selection and almost everything is private label. Very cheap but no frills. Not for everyone, but a good place to go for the basics.
Here is more about the shopping center:
http://www.streetsense.com/lease.asp?project_type=listings&project_id=21497603
Aldi in Germany (actually there are two Aldi chains, Aldi and Aldi Sud) rocked. Lived there for six years, ’02-this past March. We shopped there frequently even when the dollar tumbled. Veg was still fresher and cheaper than at the on-post commissary, and they offered excellent deals on many items for household cleaning and maintenance. Even decent clothing, from time to time. Got a couple of winter technical coats there (zip-out liner, pit vents, etc) and lots of our outdoorsy hiking/x-country skiing apparel was good quality and much cheaper than anywhere else. Usually had decent consumer electronics.
Popped into the Aldi in Hagasrtown a ew weeks back and was pleasantly surprised at how similar it was. Haven’t visited the Charles Town store yet, but will be there in a couple of weeks, so I’ll stop in.
Looking forward to having one here in Frederick!
Chuck…sounds cool! My mother hits the one in Hagerstown and gets great deals.
I’ve shopped at Aldi for years in VA, PA, IL, and MD. Soon I won’t have to drive to Hagarstown or Randallstown either.
I bet I save a third on my grocery bill. Best $.99 spaghetti sauce you’ll ever taste. Generic brands, sometimes the quality is not the best, it’s kind of trial and error. Eggs, butter, bread, cereal are as good as name brands IMHO.
The two Albrecht brothers( ALbrecht DIscount) are among the wealthiest men in the world, they also own Trader Joe’s and a big chunk of Albertson’s. Each store is an extremely lean operation. When I shop I’ve rarely seen more than 3 employees total. Cashiers run the registers and the managers stock the shelves. No slackers smoking out front when you walk in, however it can make for annoyingly long checkout lines. Still, the time spent in line is more than made up for by the time saved by the limited choices. Rather than checking labels or prices for this or that brand of pasta, there’s one choice, take it or leave it.
Aldi is not for everyone. Some are put off by the skewed socioeconomic spectrum, but low prices will do that. I find the experience much better than Costco, and I don’t need a semi-trailer to get my groceries home.
IS IT OPEN YET?
The article says it should be open by the end of the year.
ALDI will be opening December 15th.
ALDI clearly isn’t Wegman’s or even a Super Giant, but during this deep recession (and possibly impending depression), Frederick’s hard-pressed many need an Aldi far more than a Wegman’s.
Had Wegman’s opened now–as originally planned–I think business would have been way off.
Matthew I am sure all expansions are on hold for Wegmans and other company’s in the critical time. however, I think had they opened you might have been suprised. I think they would have done very well.
You might be right, Darrell.
How’s the recording sessions going? Any appearances in the Frederick area in the next few months?
Hey Matthew. I am supposed to have seesions the weekend of the Inaugurations to hopefully finsih a track. then in late January or early February I plan to go in again with yet another porducer. this dude is hooked in with Disney. I was on the cover of the Next 72 Hours on Christmas. I will be on two compilations being released this year I LA on two different labels. I have no dates set yet, but I did do an impromtu serenade at a reception at Ceresville Mansion on January 2nd. I was a little under the weather, but a capella “Unchained Medody” brought the house down.
VERY late to this discussion, but I finally tried Aldi today after initially writing it off, and so far, so good. Once I realized (as pointed out earlier in the discussion), that this is the same company as Trader Joe’s, it was time to give it a chance. I’ll have to see what the quality of these brands is, but the produce they had looked very good and the best price on milk in town! Very clean in there- I imagine I’ll be back.