Aldi looks set to continue its worldwide expansion as it set €5bn on revamping its stores across large parts of Europe, according to press reports in its native Germany.
The programme by Aldi North would be its largest investment project ever, according to revelations in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper at the weekend, which said it had spoken to company sources planning a massive new phase of expansion.
Last month, sister company Aldi South, which includes Aldi’s operations in the UK, announced its own plans to invest $3.4bn to expand its US store base to 2,500 by 2022.
Aldi North, which operates in Denmark, France, the Benelux countries, the Iberian Peninsula, and Poland, is upping the ante with an even bigger expansion to be financed by existing cash, according to Bild am Sonntag. However, the project still needed the approval of one of the three foundations that control the company, it reported.
Aldi UK declined to comment on the reported plans.
The speculation comes amid fierce competition in the UK driven by Aldi and Lidl. In May, Aldi told The Grocer it could almost quadruple its UK store estate to 2,600 stores - and claimed it could open as many as eight stores in some towns and cities.
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