Aldi expands Hispanic food for Texas launch
March 16, 2010
New Aldi stores in Texas follow the company's latest prototype, one that is airier and designed to draw more sunlight into the building, brightening the shopping experience.
On March 18, Aldi, Batavia, Ill., opened its first store in Texas, and the company offered an updated assortment of Latino-oriented products including chill-case items to help tailor its offering to the local market.
The Lone Star State, where it will open 27 of 100 stores slated to debut this year, represents Aldi's major geographic expansion for 2010. All other stores will open in states where the company already operates, Heather Tarczan, an Aldi spokesperson said.
Aldi will bow with 11 stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth market this week, then it will add nine stores in April and seven in May, primarily located in North Texas. A 500,000 square foot distribution center in Denton, Texas, will service the stores.
The company also has been refining its product assortment for the push into Texas and the Southwest.
“Given the region we are in, we will offer a couple dozen Hispanic products that are not typically carried at our other stores,” Tarczan said, although she cautioned not to expect any radical shift in the 1,400 SKU, 95% private label product assortment Aldi carries.
In addition to products such as tortillas, the company has added refrigerated and freezer case products including panela and cotiha cheese under Aldi’s Benita label, and chorizo and tamales in chicken, beef and pork varieties under the store’s Las Mas brand.
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