Aldi Opens Convenience Store

NACSOnline
April 8, 2013

The grocer is hoping to make inroads into the smaller store market. Meanwhile, U.K. convenience stores are snatching more wine sales.

​LONDON – Aldi is looking to grab a slice of the convenience store pie in the United Kingdom with the opening of a smaller store in North London, The Grocer reports. The new format measures a mere 7,000 square feet, a marked difference from the 10,000 square feet or larger stores the supermarket chain usually operates.

In a format ruled by Sainsbury’s and Tesco, Aldi is coming to the convenience store market a bit late to the game. Aldi said it would focus on high traffic areas in prominent locations for its smaller footprint stores. The new store will have longer hours than the typical Aldi locations, staying open from 7 am to 10 pm.

Overall, convenience stores are giving other retailers a run for their money when it comes to wine sales. New data from Nielsen shows that convenience store wine sales soared 3.4% to £1.6 billion.

“The convenience format is the fastest-growing part of the off- trade. It’s growing because of the way people shop. In this economic climate top-up shops are increasingly frequent,” said Shaun Heyes, customer marketing head for Treasury Wine Estates, which commissioned the study. “Rather than just doing one big shop at the start of the week, people do a smaller shop and top it up throughout the week.”​