Aldi planning to open 500 new UK stores

(Sharecast News) - Discount grocer Aldi unveiled plans to open 500 new outlets in the UK on Thursday, as it opened its 1,000th store in the country, in the Surrey town of Woking. According to the Evening Standard, the plans came amid a surge in demand for Aldi's offerings, as consumers gravitated towards more cost-effective shopping choices given the prevailing cost-of-living challenges.

Recent data from Kantar placed Aldi as the UK's fastest-expanding supermarket, with the chain currently ranking fourth in terms of market share.

Its competitor in the discount space, Lidl, was also experiencing a similar uptick in market share.

The Standard said a substantial investment of £1.3b would fund Aldi's ambitious growth plans over the next two years.

By the end of this year, it said it was expecting to open 20 stores.

The news came on the heels of Aldi's recently-announced plans to reinforce its workforce, in the form of a recruitment drive aimed at bringing more than 1,700 new employees into its distribution centres.

"Our popularity is growing, and there is huge demand for people to have an Aldi store near to them to increase shoppers' access to our unbeatable prices," Aldi UK and Ireland CEO Giles Hurley was quoted as saying.

"The next phase of our expansion will involve another 500 new stores over the coming years.

"It is a long-term target and is not a ceiling to our ambition to have an Aldi store close to everyone in the UK."

Aldi UK and Ireland is a subsidiary of the privately-held German company Aldi Süd.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.