Aldi has opened its 700th UK store and confirmed it is on track to notch up 1,000 outlets by 2022.
The 700th store opened last week in Whitstable, Kent. The discounter said it was one of 70 stores it plans to open this year and brings the total number of Aldi stores in the South East to 100, with 30 of these within the M25.
Aldi said it was investing £450m this year to add capacity to its stores and distribution network. This includes a £60m distribution centre in Cardiff, which is set to become fully operational early next month. It will be the retailer’s ninth UK distribution centre.
The 460,000 sq ft site is the size of 11 football pitches or 36 Olympic swimming pools. The facility will serve Aldi stores across Wales and the South West of England and will create 400 jobs.
Aldi is also investing £150m to increase capacity in the North of England and Scotland by enlarging existing distribution centres in Darlington and Bathgate.
“During the last five years we have invested £1.7bn in new stores and distribution centres to bring Aldi to the 14 million customers that now regularly shop with us,” said Aldi UK and Ireland CEO Matthew Barnes.
“But there are many more potential customers who don’t shop at Aldi because there isn’t a store near where they live. We want to change this by having a store in every major town and city across Britain.
We remain committed to meeting the strong demand across the country for new stores and will continue to invest in our operations so that we can introduce millions of new customers to Aldi’s great products and low prices.”
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