Aldi To Open Store In Fairfield

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield is getting a new grocery store.

Aldi will be one of two retailers to occupy the space that was home to Kohl’s for about 20 years before the department store closed this fall.

The affordable grocery chain will share the building at 290 Tunxis Hill Road with Atlanta-based flooring retailer Floor & Decor, according to Community & Economic Development Director Mark Barnhart.

“Location matters in real estate and this is a great community with a lot of things that retailers would want to see in a location,” Barnhart said.

Aldi will take over 20,000 square feet of the roughly 100,000-square-foot building, while Floor & Decor will occupy the rest, according to Barnhart, who said the plan was approved last week by the Town Plan and Zoning Commission.

While some retailers have fallen on hard times amid the coronavirus pandemic, Barnhart said both the Aldi brand and the entire home improvement sector have continued to prosper.

“Aldi’s has been looking for locations in this area for some years now,” Barnhart said. “I know they have a lot of loyal customers in the area that are very excited about the prospect of not having to travel so far.”

Floor & Decor, a specialty retailer that sells hard-surface flooring, is in the process of expanding to the East Coast, according to Barnhart.

The new businesses likely will not open until the middle of 2021 at the earliest, Barnhart said, as a dividing wall must be installed and improvements are planned for the building’s facade.

Barnhart was unsure how many jobs the two retailers would bring to town, but said he expected the businesses could replace the positions lost by the closure of Kohl’s.

“It’s very exciting news,” he said. “We’re happy that things worked out.”

This article originally appeared on the Fairfield Patch