Aldi names the 16 London locations where it is looking for sites to open new stores! B
Aldi has confirmed that it will open four new stores in London by the end of this year and is actively searching for sites in 16 other locations around the capital as part of major plans to expand even further. This comes as part of the supermarket giant’s record £800m investment programme this year.
As part of the investment plans, the retailer will open 23 new stores, including the four in London, and renovate 100 other stores before the end of the year. In the long term, Aldi plans to increase its number of UK locations from just over 1,000 to 1,500, despite scrapping its target to operate from 1,200 stores by 2025.
Aldi, a German retail group which entered the UK market in the 1990s, is currently ranked as Britain’s fourth largest supermarket chain, behind Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda. The discount retailer employs over 45,000 staff members, and recently reported a massive increase in its annual profits, tripling its pre-tax profits from £152.6m in 2022 to £536.7m in 2023.
The chain also posted record sales in 2023, which rose by just under 16 per cent to £17.9bn, from £15.5bn in the previous year. This persistent growth comes despite Aldi’s market share suffering a reversal over the past months, as it faces competition from rival discount retailer Lidl.
In a previous MyLondon article, it was reported that three London Aldi stores – in Leytonstone, Muswell Hill, and Fulham Broadway – would be delivered by the end of 2024. The retailer has also confirmed plans to open the doors to a fourth London store in Beckton before the end of this year.
In addition to these upcoming store openings, Aldi is actively seeking to acquire sites in Woodford, Surbiton, Bromley, and Barnet for future store development. The supermarket chain has also identified 12 other ‘required towns’ within London as part of its long-term plans for expansion:
- Chiswick
- South Ealing
- Notting Hill
- Kensington
- Chingford
- Hackney Central
- Highbury & Islington
- Beckenham
- Lewisham
- Sidcup
- Chessington
- Twickenham
As part of the same long-term strategy, Aldi is looking to develop stores in the commuter towns of Watford, Crawley, Reigate & Redhill, Slough and Maidenhead. Richard Thornton, Communications Director at Aldi UK, said about the retailer’s plans for expansion: “With more than 1,000 stores across the country, our footprint is definitely growing, but we know there are still a number of towns that either don’t have an Aldi or have shown demand for more stores.”
