Discount Retail Chain Aldi Spain maintains its ambitious pace of openings to extend its presence in Spain. The German discount grocery operator plans to open a total of 50 new stores during 2024, in line with those opened in 2023. With them, it will approach half a thousand stores in the country, after having closed 2023 with a total of 435.
According to the company, the bulk of the new stores will be concentrated in Andalusia, the Community of Madrid, the Valencian Community and Catalonia, regions that will absorb more than half of the openings. These are the priority markets for the operator, both in terms of current presence and the number of potential buyers it can reach.
Aldi is also planning openings in the Canary Islands, where it arrived in the summer of 2022, and strengthening its position in the north of the country, with openings in the Basque Country, Galicia, Cantabria and Castilla y León. It also points to Extremadura, Murcia and the Balearic Islands among the regions where it will also open some time.
These new stores will also be accompanied by a new logistics centre in Miranda de Ebro, which the company plans to open in the first half of the year. It will have 40,000 square meters and will support its growth in the north of Spain. This is in addition to the centres in Masquefa (Barcelona), Dos Hermanas (Seville), Pinto (Madrid), San Isidro (Alicante), Agüimes (Gran Canaria), and Sagunto (Valencia), which opened at the end of 2023 and which Aldi expects to be fully operational in February.
"Years ago we activated an ambitious expansion plan that we maintain and that is allowing us to increase our presence in Spain in a continuous and sustained way," said the CEO of Aldi in Spain, Valentín Lumbreras, in a statement.
The balance of 2023 resulted in 46 new supermarkets. According to the company, it was the year with the highest number of openings since 2019, and allowed it to close the year with a network of 435 stores and a sales area of 480,000 square meters, 11% more. Its rival in supermarket format and model, Lidl, has about 670 and aims to exceed 700 by 2024.
Aldi has a market share in Spain of more than 1.5%, still far from its rivals, although constantly growing. After having covered practically the entire Spanish territory, the key to making a leap in share will be to consolidate that presence with more openings. According to the company, during the last year it has gained more than one million customers, and already has more than seven million in Spain.
Read more: Aldi se acercará a las 500 tiendas en España con 50 aperturas en 2024 | Empresas | Cinco Días (elpais.com)
