ALDI building larger grocery store

What: A new 18,000-square-foot ALDI grocery store to replace the existing location at 711 Business Loop 70 E.
Where: 807 Business Loop 70 W., next to the Interstate 70 ramp
Contractor: Crossland Construction Company; Columbus, Kan.
Cost: Undisclosed
Status: Began construction in mid-October. The new store is scheduled to open in mid-April. The building should be complete by mid-March.
Why: ALDI Real Estate Director Martin Florie said the company “needed a bigger facility.” Its existing store is about 14,800 square feet, and the new store’s larger floor plan is part of the company’s push to operate larger stores that can better hold and display inventory.
“That’s our prototype store now throughout the country,” Florie said about the soon-to-be-completed grocery store.
Florie said the company originally looked at adding onto its existing facility, but building a new location was a better option. Traffic counts are slightly higher at the spot farther west on Business Loop but not significantly, he said.
The old building at 711 Business Loop 70 E. is listed for sale. The new store will open the day after the old store is closed, Florie said.
ALDI has grocery stores in 17 countries. In the United States, there are more than 1,000 ALDI stores in 31 states; the first one opened in Iowa in 1976, according to the company website, www.aldi.us.