Discount Grocery Chain Looks into Coming to Town

Stop and Shop. Waldbaum's. King Kullen. Best Yet. Wal-Mart. Target.

With all these retailers - most of which are predominately grocery stores, the latter two of which have made groceries a smaller part of their much bigger retail space - in mind, an article from the Riverhead News-Review indicates that a German grocery store chain may be the next to come to town.

The report states that an Aldi representative met with members of the Planning Department at a work session on Tuesday morning.

Aldi, a discount supermarket originally started in Germany, is reportedly spotting three locations on Route 58. The company is also in the process of , and hopes to be open by the summer, making it Long Island's second Aldi. A location in Riverhead would be the third, joining Hauppauge and Bay Shore.

According to a New York Times article written last spring, the grocer has inched ahead of the competition particularly in urban areas, as better-known retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target have often come up against fierce opposition.

For customers at Aldi, however, “There is a little bit of an education that comes along with shopping the store,” an Aldi regional director is quoted as saying.

According to the company's website, about 95 percent of the stores' inventories "are sold under exclusive Aldi select brands." The obscure labels allow for lower prices.

Other practices unfamiliar to many customers include charging a quarter deposit to rent a cart – so they're not left in the middle of the parking lot and retrieved by paid employees – and unabashedly charging for shopping bags. The stores also do not accept credit cards.

The article notes that as of 2009 – the most recent figures available – Aldi was the world's eighth largest retailer, behind Costco and ahead of Home Depot and Target.

Click here to read more details on the Riverhead News-Review.