Aldi opens fourth area store as Pace/Pea Ridge location opens for business
A fourth area Aldi store opened Thursday as the Pace/Pea Ridge store held its long-anticipated grand opening.
The new location at 4470 U.S. 90 W is the latest in a series of stores to open in the area over the last year.
Aldi's first store in the area opened in Navarre on March 10 at 8816 Navarre Parkway.
The first ALDI store in Pensacola opened at 2950 S. Blue Angel Parkway on April 7. A second Pensacola store at 4830 Mobile Highway opened just weeks later.
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The stores are part of the company's aggressive nationwide growth in recent years, including the opening of 150 new stores this year, approximately 20 of which will be in Alabama, Mississippi, the Florida Panhandle and Louisiana.
The area's Aldi expansion has been driven in part by a new distribution center opening soon in Loxley, Alabama, that provides opportunities for stores to pop up in the surrounding areas.
The Pace/Pea Ridge store will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
"Our stores are designed to make grocery shopping smarter, faster and easier, and we've been voted the price leader for five years running," said Heather Moore, division vice president for ALDI, in a press release. "We offer easy access to affordable fresh food and household essentials, as well as a great selection of regional items. Our new Gulf Coast locations will carry local favorites such as Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, Crystal’s Hot Sauce, Blue Plate Mayonnaise, Blue Bell Ice Cream and Luzianne Sweet Tea."
Aldi layout
In 2018, Aldi gave each of its 1,800 stores across the nation a makeover. Improvements included offering more fresh foods, more on-the-go food options and a general revamp of the store's interior.
Still, Aldi store layouts differ from run of the mill grocery store. First off, they're much smaller than what shoppers might typically be used to. Aldi offers a smaller number of products than people might be used to seeing in stores. This helps shoppers find what they're looking for faster and keeps overhead costs down.
Items are typically stacked on the display boxes that they're shipped in. Sometimes entire aisles will be display boxes. Sometimes there are no aisles at all. These boxes can be used as makeshift shopping baskets, too.
Aldi deals
While Aldi is already known for having low prices, paying attention to the days you shop and product signage can lead to even greater savings. Similar to Walmart, Aldi advertises many of its products as "everyday low prices," but these aren't the sales you're looking for.
Aldi Finds, Aldi Savers and Red Hot Deals are phrases to keep an eye out for to find the best deals. Aldi Finds, for instance, are typically things like furniture, apparel, household items and more.
Aldi Savers items are products that go on sale every each week. These are your everyday items that are slashed even lower.
Finally, Red Hot Deals are leftover Aldi Finds that are discounted even more than they were before.
Aldi does not accept manufacturer coupons.
Bring bags and a quarter
Why would someone want to grab a display box and start shoving items into it? Aldi doesn't offer bags to its customers, so shoppers should plan ahead and bring their own bags. Did we mention you have to bag your own groceries?
Thinking about grabbing a shopping cart to peruse the aisles? Make sure you bring a quarter with you. Aldi carts are free to use, but there's an asterisk next to the word "free." Inserting a quarter into a cart will unlock it for use. When you're done using the cart, you put it back and get your quarter back. Occasionally, Aldi will have special deals on Aldi quarters.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Aldi Pace Pea Ridge store opens Thursday, fourth in Pensacola area
