Aldi to open four new stores in Scotland

Aldi is to open a further four stores in Scotland next year, taking its number of outlets north of the border to triple figures and creating 600 jobs.

Aldi is to open four new stores in Scotland.

It said it is also to introduce its Click & Collect service in Scotland for the first time.

The supermarket is set to invest £20 million in new stores over the next 12 months, which include Hermiston Gait in Edinburgh, Thornybank Industrial Estate in Dalkeith, Portlethen Retail Park in Aberdeen and J24 Retail Park in Govan, while a new store in Gateside Commerce Park, Haddington will open to replace the existing store.

Aldi also plans to create a further 600 jobs including 150 roles in its new stores.

A further seven stores will also be refurbished as part of the Project Fresh programme, creating more in-store space for fresh, chilled and food-to-go ranges as well as simpler layouts, improved fixtures and brighter aisles, a further four extensions to existing stores will also be completed.

The supermarket has also announced that after a successful trial in England, the first Aldi Click and Collect service will launch in Scotland next year. This will be in addition to its Deliveroo partnership, which offers its on-demand delivery of Aldi products and is currently available at eight stores across Scotland.

Richard Holloway, regional managing director for Scotland, said: “During an unprecedented year our Aldi colleagues and thousands of suppliers rose to the challenge of feeding the nation with tremendous skill and courage.

“As we look forward to 2021, our commitment to investment and expansion in Scotland continues, and we are excited be to opening a further four Aldi stores next year, and of course reaching our significant 100th store milestone. While our focus very much remains in bricks and mortar shopping, the launch of our Click & Collect service in Scotland is perhaps one of our most significant initiatives yet, expanding our existing eCommerce business to bring our full range of groceries online for the first time.”

He added: “Our success has been driven by the customers who put their trust in Aldi every time they shop with us. This is what enables us to keep investing in Scotland- in our products, our prices, our people and in the communities we serve. We are excited through our continued store expansion to be able to serve even more customers, offering them quality Scottish produce at exceptional prices.”

Aldi is Britain’s fifth largest supermarket with over 900 stores and more than 36,000 employees.

Aldi and rival Lidl have fared particularly well during the coronavirus crisis. Figures released last week by Mintel showed that sales at the German discounters rose by 11 per cent over the past year. Across the sector, grocery sales have risen by around five per cent, driven by the closure of non-essential retailers during the peak of lockdown and beyond.

The pair have performed well, despite not offering a full online shopping service, which many people have turned to during the pandemic.

Next year, a new range of Scottish Specialbuys from eight Scottish suppliers as the winners of the ‘Aldi’s Next Top Product’ competition, which ran for the third time in 2020, will be available in Aldi stores.

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