The Garner area gets a new grocery option next week —and its fans are fiercely loyal
The Garner area’s second ALDI store opens next week, but this is the first from the German grocer to open in Johnston County.
The store is at 5142 N.C. 42, in a cluster of retail establishments and restaurants just off of Interstate 40 in an unincorporated area of Johnston County. The ALDI is at the Son-Lan Parkway and N.C. 42 intersection, near Walmart.
The location will open at 9 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, with curbside grocery pickup beginning Feb. 4. Store hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The other Garner ALDI is at 750 Timber Drive.
The latest store is part of ALDI’s expansion plan to become the third-largest U.S. grocery retailer (by store count) by the end of 2022.
ALDI has 13 other locations in Wake, Durham and Orange counties, most recently opening a Holly Springs store at 7400 GB Alford Highway in December 2020, and a Raleigh store at 6300 Creedmoor Road in April.
The Germany-based grocery chain emphasizes “simplicity and efficiency” along with “affordable groceries and a safe shopping experience.” The stores are much smaller than most U.S. chain grocery stores, such as Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Publix and Wegmans.
ALDI stores sell mostly private-label goods and have earned a fiercely loyal fan base.
In a News & Observer survey of grocery prices in the Raleigh area, conducted in October 2019, ALDI was among the lowest-priced stores in the Triangle, on par with supersized Walmart and Lidl, another German chain.
A 2018 MarketForce industry survey showed that shoppers ranked ALDI top in the nation in the category of “value for money.”
