Business

IT’S GOING TO BE AN ALDI: SAFEWAY MYSTERY SOLVED

The Burn has confirmed that the former Safeway grocery store space in Ashburn is slated to become an ALDI supermarket.

After many months of speculation, tonight The Burn confirmed that the former Safeway grocery store space in the Broadlands Village Center is slated to become an ALDI supermarket.

“We do have plans to open an ALDI Ashburn store at the Broadlands Center Plaza location at the end of this year or the beginning of next year,” said Jeff Baehr, Frederick division vice-president for ALDI, in a statement to The Burn, “We are looking forward to joining the Ashburn community and bringing customers the highest-quality groceries at affordable prices.” (The street address of the space is technically on Broadlands Center Plaza.)

aldi

If you’re not familiar, ALDI is a major international grocery store chain based in Germany with more than 10,000 locations in 18 countries.  ALDI first debuted in the U.S. in 1976 and has more than 1,500 locations around the country. Currently, the nearest ALDI locations to Ashburn are in Sterling and Chantilly. ALDI also owns the popular Trader Joe’s brand.

It’s going to be an fascinating time in Ashburn (if you find supermarkets fascinating) because internationally, ALDI’s main competitor is Lidl, which has just started making a major push into the U.S. market. Regular readers of The Burn know that a Lidl store is scheduled to open directly across Claiborne Parkway from the soon-to-be ALDI space.

Meanwhile, reports that the former Safeway was going to be divided into two or three spaces (with ALDI taking one spot) still haven’t been confirmed by the center’s owner. Stay tuned as there is surely more to come.

19 Comments
  1. cassie 7 years ago

    That’s disappointing. We already have plenty of grocery stores around. We surely don’t need two right across the street from each other.

  2. Tina H. E. 7 years ago

    Thanks for revealing the big secret. Too bad the news isn’t better.

    Great. Two crappy grocery stores in the same area. Yuck.
    I have tried shopping several times at Aldi’s but the quality of the food just isn’t there. Organic? hah. yea right. NOT.
    Unlike Trader Joe’s, Aldi’s is primarily interested in dumping really bad food, really cheaply, on people that don’t read labels, or care about food origins.

  3. D Rohr 7 years ago

    I agree completely with other comments. Aldie is not the type of store we need here. It won’t last two years trust me.

    • RohrKnowsItAll 7 years ago

      Thanks Trump.

  4. The Burn 7 years ago

    Not saying any of you are right or wrong, but I have been reading a series of recent articles that ALDI is redesigning and refocusing their stores to be more like Whole Foods. This is supposed to be completed for all stores by the year 2020, so we would assume a new store here would already be built in that mode. It will be interesting to see.

  5. Jim A. 7 years ago

    I am actually glad that Giant is getting some competition as they used to be the our go to grocery store but Giant has slipped so badly over the past few years that we go to Wegman’s for meats and veggies, basically anything fresh because anything you buy at Giant goes bad in a day or two now and it didn’t used to be that way.
    While we like Wegman’s we just don’t go there for small grocery runs as it is a pain getting in and out of the parking lot (the Sterling location on Waxpool).
    Aldi sounds like a Shopper’s Food Warehouse type place, which is not a compliment but maybe it will wake Giant up.

  6. JES 7 years ago

    A quick Google News search for the two companies confirms what a few folks here have stated. Clear strategy by Aldi, and likely new US market entrant Lidl, to pursue more upscale, affluent markets. Anticipating more upscale store specs and product offerings than your typical Aldi. Some organic food, but also low prices.

  7. Nick Poliskey 7 years ago

    I would be 100% fine not having another “organic” nonsense place around here.

  8. Nan 7 years ago

    Not a fan of aldi chantilly one is gross. Didn’t find one thing I wanted there

  9. Rob 7 years ago

    The Aldi in Sterling was recently upgraded, and they have items that are available elsewhere for less. It’s not my primary grocery store, but I go there knowing what I want, and can get a lot of groceries for $20. They also now take credit cards, which used to not be the case.

  10. Debbie 7 years ago

    I really like the Aldi store in Sterling. The quality of their store brand items is very good in most cases.

  11. Jim 7 years ago

    Too bad it’s not a Trader Joe’s or Balducci’s.

  12. TinaHasABadAttitude 7 years ago

    Tina H. E. Has never shopped at aldi before – as she sates. Just because you get lower prices, by major food manufacturers, packaged under a different lables does not mean it is “rally bad food”. Typical Ashburn snooty state of mind . I hope they succeed. Aldi is a great addition to the area!

  13. RohrKnowsItAll 7 years ago

    Rohr sounds like teump. “Trust me” know it all….

  14. Davyd Ramirez 7 years ago

    Had lunch at Wegmans today with 50 other families. Yaaaawn… Wake me up when you bring some real competition. BTW … The rent is so high in that strip mall there is no way Aldi is making any money. That Safeway was known for high prices. I expect more of the same. There is another story about why Safeway left!!

  15. JD 7 years ago

    If you check, US ALDI stores and Trader
    Joe’s are not actually run by the same company.

    • philbiker 7 years ago

      Correct. They are closely related and share many suppliers. If you look at the nuts, candies, and many other products at Aldi and Trader Joe’s it’s easy to see that in many many cases they are exactly the same thing. In Germany Aldi Markt often sells Trader Joe’s brand. I love Aldi this will be most welcome to me. Most of their stuff is good quality (the few exceptions I just don’t buy again). They are the H&M of grocery stores.

  16. M Ford 7 years ago

    What a dissapointment to the area. A matter of time… Aldi will not succeed here, Aldi does not fit here! Trader Joe’s or Balducci’s would have been an excellent addition. Last time I checked Aldi doesn’t stand a chance in McLean or Bethesda. What makes them think it will work here? Just a test market for Aldi in higher income geography. What a shame…

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