Discount Retail Chain Aldi Nord Poland (German family owned) wants to have about six hundred stores in Poland within 5 years. Ultimately over a thousand. In the coming weeks, the network will open several new outlets across the country. The discounter is also open to takeovers. Aldi is interested in facilities with an area of approx. 1,000 sqm.
Annual expenditures on the development of Aldi in Poland increased by 50%. compared to PLN 500 million (US$ 111million) last year. Following the opening of new stores, the chain plans to build two more warehouses that will ensure efficient logistics and optimize transport costs. Let us recall that in September this year, Aldi opened its second warehouse in Lisi Ogon near Bydgoszcz, to ensure stocking of stores in the northern part of Poland, which is a natural consequence of the chain's development in this area. For Aldi, expansion is a priority. It prioritizes organic development, but the network is open to various possibilities.
Increase in the number of stores and expansion of logistics
'Our ambitions are quite clearly defined, in the next five years we want to have 500 - 600 stores. This will provide us with the appropriate scale, enable further development with profitability, taking into account the amortization of certain investments and the expansion of the logistics network', says Wojciech Łubieński, President of the Management Board of Aldi in Poland.
'The expansion of logistics is a key element of Aldi's strategy at the moment, taking into account distribution costs and expansion plans. With our scale, until recently, the cost of transport did not matter much, but now it has changed. All the more so when we are dealing with such a large increase in energy prices, the most important cost-generating element, it is necessary to work on optimizing this process. Reaching the number of 500 - 600 stores is a short-term, five-year goal for us. We also have a ten-year perspective to plan over a thousand stores. We assume organic growth, which may change if there is an acquisition. However, this is an element that we cannot predict at the moment. As a company, we are ready for takeovers if the opportunity arises,” adds Wojciech Łubieński.
120 new stores 2 years
Within two years, Aldi wants to grow by 120 outlets with an area of approx. 1,000 sqm, with car parks for approx. 80 cars. The standard for the chain is the area with a sales room of about one thousand square meters. This is the benchmark on which Aldi is based, although it also allows slightly smaller and larger outlets. Big cities are a priority for the chain, this is the first group of locations on which the brand focuses. A natural direction is also to fill in the blanks on the map of Poland and start commercial activities where Aldi is not yet present. The network also does not exclude smaller towns.
Despite the pandemic and the economic crisis that affects all business entities, for over two years Aldi has been opening several dozen stores a year, increasing the level of employment and expanding its structures. With the current scale of the network's operations, this is an increase in organic development by approx. 50%. Only in the coming weeks, the discounter will open several new stores, both in smaller and larger towns, including Rawicz, Świdnik, Lublin, Kraków, Wieluń, Smolec, Sosnowiec, Białystok, Słupsk, Puck, Legionowo, Żyrardów, Suwałki and Poznań.
ALDI in Poland has 233 stores and employs nearly 4,000 people.
See here for more: https://omnichannelnews.pl/2022/11/30/wojciech-lubienski-aldi-chcemy-miec-500-600-sklepow-w-polsce-w-perspektywie-5-lat/
