German discounter Aldi is targeting Scotland as it continues to drive its ambitious store roll-out programme.
It has just opened three new stores, in Stirling, Carluke in Lanarkshire and Berwick. It has also acquired the site of a former Safeway in Hamilton.
Aldi has 295 stores in the UK, 24 of which are in Scotland. A spokeswoman said: “Aldi is undertaking a UK-wide expansion plan targeting 1,500 stores. Scotland will play a part, but the emphasis is no different to elsewhere in the UK.”
However, Aldi is believed to be investing heavily in Scotland and is looking at further sites in the Central Belt focusing on retail parks and district centres.
Meanwhile, Aldi and fellow discounter Lidl are both following the trend towards mixed-use developments.
One of Aldi’s two planning applications for the Hamilton site contains plans for housing at the




The fallout of the closure of Golden Wonder became clearer as The Grocer went to press. Administrator Kroll said most own label and Golden Lights production would be transferred to Scunthorpe, with the loss of 197 staff. The Corby site was sold to Tayto on January 13, saving 195 jobs.
General retailer Woolworths has reported flat sales for the Christmas and New Year period, with like-for-like sales down 0.8%.Total group sales for the 50 weeks to January 14 were down 4.1%, with like-for-like sales in Woolworths Mainchain, including multi-channel retail, down 3.9%.
Credit card spending has recorded its first year-on-year decrease, credit card company Visa has revealed. Visa said credit card spend had decreased by 3% to £85.2bn as more consumers used debit cards to pay for purchases.
Specialist chocolate retailer Thorntons’ total company sales fell 6.2% to £112.3m for the 28 weeks to January 7. Thorntons also revealed a 6.4% decrease in sales in its own shops to £80m for the period, with like-for-like sales down 4.8%.
Mexican and regional American food maker Discovery Foods has won a £2m-a-year contract to supply Swedish supermarket chain Axfood with its products, which include wraps, tortillas, seasoning and sauces. They will be available in more than 200 supermarkets in Sweden.
Tesco has named the disabled children’s charity Whizz-Kidz as its charity of the year. It will launch the partnership on Monday (January 23), with the aim of raising £1.5m to buy customised wheelchairs.
Golden fallout
Woolies’ sales flat
Credit spend down
Thorntons down
Mexican spread
Tesco chooses kids