The town of Gilbert may soon see a new addition to its retail landscape as global grocery chain Aldi seeks to establish a new location where a car sales lot currently stands dormant. Deliberations resumed last week when Gilbert's Planning Commission was presented with plans for a 19,423-square-foot store at the southeast corner of Arizona Avenue and Desert Lane, as reported by ABC15. This location finds itself nestled just south of the U.S. 60, a stone's throw away from a sanctioned 257-unit multifamily project primed to rise four stories into the desert sky.
Aldi Arizona LLC, a subsidiary linked to the German grocery juggernaut, is the listed owner of the 3.63-acre plot, the Maricopa County Assessor's Office disclosed, as the Business Journal details. In a bold move to expedite the process, Aldi has requested to be able "to fully start construction" before the overall case review is complete, a strategy known as submitting construction documents "at-risk." The planning commission approved this request during the August 7 meeting, as relayed by the Business Journal.
Though no precise date has been stamped for the proposal's next appearance before the commission, the grocer isn't new to the site; a previous application was approved back in 2018 but expired, necessitating a fresh submission. With more than 2,000 stores spread across the U.S., Arizona has seen a growing number of Aldi establishments, particularly after the company's plans to open 40 stores in Phoenix's greater area were made public in 2018.
In the East Valley alone, five Aldi stores have taken root with the potential for more to follow. The chain, which last year raked in $78.9 million in sales within the Phoenix locality, commanded a 0.4% market share per Chain Store Guide, as the Business Journal relayed. Further expansion plans include a pre-application for a distribution center in Goodyear that "could create 120 jobs" with an expansion capacity to house up to 700 employees, the company conveyed in a meeting with city officials, as initially reported by the Business Journal.
