ALDI Just Reopened a Store Weeks After Closing Others
ALDI is best known for low prices on off-brand items, but this summer has been a turbulent one. Since the Fall of last year, the company has been dealing with closures—some abrupt and some reportedly temporary—because of poor performance, employee shortages, and even insect infestations. Luckily for shoppers, one that has been shut down is back open.
City records show that an ALDI store northwest of downtown Chicago reopened in August after failing two inspections, according to Block Club Chicago. The Chicago Department of Public Health found last month that the location had hundreds of small flying insects near containers of produce, in a storage facility, and near indoor dumpsters because of food waste on the ground and lids not being fully closed, as well as a leak in the women's restroom, and numerous areas in need of cleaning, among other violations.
It's the second time the location has faced inspection issues this year. In April it also failed a health inspection but passed a subsequent follow-up. However, it isn't the only ALDI store to shut down temporarily or permanently—even in the Windy City.
Last October a location in West Garfield Park shut down without much notice to shoppers or employees. the company blamed "Poor sales performance and increased expenses [that] have simply made it unsustainable to keep the store open," according to Block Club Chicago, and said that they "have been proud to serve the residents of the West Garfield Park neighborhood over the past 30 years, and we thank our customers for their loyalty."
Then in May a store closed without warning in Memphis after 15 years of serving locals there. It was robbed a few days before the closing, an occurrence ALDI said attributed to the closing. But they weren't done—a few weeks later another Chicago location, this time in the South Side Auburn Gresham neighborhood, shut its doors for good, too.
In a similar statement to the one given about the closing of the West Garfield Park store, ALDI said that "Our decision was based on several factors, including repeated burglaries and declining sales. Out of concern for our employees and customers, keeping this store open was no longer a sustainable option. All of our employees have been given the option to continue working at one of our other ALDI locations in the immediate area," according to local news station ABC7 Chicago. It ultimately has created a food desert—leaving shoppers in the area without a supermarket.
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It's a situation ALDI shoppers in one New York town could face at the end of the summer. The Adirondack Daily Enterprise recently reported that the ALDI near Saranac Lake could shut its doors when schools start back up due to a staffing shortage. Right now the store is able to stay open, but many of the employees are moving away or returning to school. Eat This, Not That! has reached out for ALDI for more information about all of these closings.
