New Aldi store opens
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- A new Aldi grocery store in St. Clairsville officially opened its doors to the public Wednesday.
The occasion was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting by store officials, gift-card give-aways for customers and other promotions.
The ribbon was cut by store Manager Kayla Harkr. Roger Bombard, district manager for the site, and Carolyn Franco, director of store operations, as well as several district managers and store staff were in attendance to support the opening of the new store.
"This store is our new prototype. The ceilings are higher and the sales floor is larger. The aisles are broken up, so it is easier to get around. The goal here is to create room for a lot of the healthy options that customers are looking for. We've got over 70 fresh produce items for the customer daily, expanding with organics. We have a new gluten-free line that has been very well-received," said J.R. Perry, vice president of the Saxonburg, Pa., Aldi division.
The materials used in construction of the building are also "environmentally friendly,"according to Perry. The company used LED lights, energy-saving refrigerants and other eco-friendly materials.
Perry said there are 63 stores in the Saxonburg division, most of those stores being in western Pennsylvania and a few in Ohio, West Virginia and New York.
He said today's opening was well attended, considering the site is a replacement store. There were more than 160 people in line before the store opened at 9 a.m.
"The old store that we opened up in 1994 is closed now, and this will be the store we operate out of. There are a number of factors that go into why we chose this new location," said Perry. "Population density, proximity to competition, traffic patterns, access to the site, visibility to the site are all factors. This site checked all those boxes for us. We feel we are better positioned to serve the customer base here now and for years to come."
Perry added that the Aldi philosophy is that great quality products shouldn't have to come at high prices; they should come at everyday low prices.
"What smart and savvy shoppers are continuing to learn is that by trading off of national brands and switching to Aldi exclusive brands they can save up to 50 percent on their grocery bill on over 1,400 items commonly purchased at Aldi," Perry said.
Aldi has a "double guarantee" on every item sold. If the customer isn't satisfied with a product, the store will replace the item and refund the purchase price of the item.
"It's a win-win and just shows how much confidence we have in our products," Perry said.
Diane Thornberg from St. Clairsville was one of the shoppers at Aldi Wednesday morning after the opening.
"I shop at Aldi because the prices are great, the produce is nice, they are going organic, which I love. I don't need the gluten-free products because we don't have that issue in our family, but I think it's nice that they have that. This store is very impressive -- very beautiful, very well-lit, clean, lots of produce, much bigger than the old store. It looks really, really great. I will be shopping here regularly," said Thornberg.