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(CNN) – A new neighbor is installed less than one kilometer from Walmart 's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas: the German
Aldi discount grocery store
.
Aldi opened a store in Bentonville in October. This is part of Aldi 's $ 5 billion plan to expand 2,500 stores in the United States by the end of 2022, up from 1,900 today. Aldi is on the verge of becoming the third largest grocery chain in the country behind Walmart and Kroger.
"The new Aldi store is generating a lot of interest in northwest Arkansas," said Annibal Sodero, a former assistant professor of supply chain management at the University of Arkansas. l & # 39; Arkansas. Aldi represents a "significant threat" for Walmart and appears "very well placed to gain market share in the short term," she said.
On a sign in his Bentonville site, Aldi cited a survey of his clients that said he was the "value leader" in front of Walmart and Kroger.
Kroger, Albertsons, Costco and other large grocery stores have avoided
The hometown of Walmart
. Sam Walton set up Walmart's headquarters in Bentonville nearly five decades ago and the retailer's footprint is visible throughout the city. From distribution centers and superstores to Walmart service stations, Bentonville revolves around Walmart.
But Aldi hopes to seduce Walmart customers in Bentonville with unbeatable prices, a small shop of about 22,000 square feet and its own private labels: Clancy Pretzels, Chicken Soup and Noodle Chef's Cupboard looking like Campbell and the sparkling water Belle Vie. is similar to LaCroix.
More than 90% of the brands sold by Aldi are its own brands and the store only offers
1,400 different articles
– compared to around 40,000 in traditional supermarkets and over 100,000 in Walmart supercentres.
Aldi also presents several quirks that are not typical of other American grocery stores.
Customers need a quarter to rent a basket that they recover once they are returned. Plastic and paper bags are available for a fee. And at checkout, the cashiers dispatch the customers, expecting them to bring their own shopping to a separate place, away from the cashier. These tactics help Aldi reduce labor costs.
Despite these minor inconveniences for customers, Aldi seems to be gaining ground in Bentonville. "The store occupies a very convenient location, with significant pedestrian traffic in a northwestern part of Arkansas that is experiencing tremendous growth and is very strategic," said Sodero.
Walmart executives take Aldi seriously and have lowered prices in some markets to counter Aldi.
During a visit to Walmart's head office this week, Aldi was one of the brands on a sign showing where low-budget customers go shopping alongside Walmart, Family Dollar and Dollar General.
But Aldi does not just conquer low-income customers. Aldi has attracted richer buyers looking to save on their grocery bills.
"I have never underestimated them," US Walmart chief Greg Foran said at a retail conference in March. "I have been competing with Aldi for more than 20 years, they are fierce and good."
Aldi and his German rival Lidl, who is also trying to break into the US, "are very good competitors and keep us extremely honest about our pricing position," added Foran at a call. phone to reporters in May. "We are following them closely."
About 40 people – including a woman with a blue tote bag from the Walmart Museum – had been shopping at the Aldi store in Bentonville on Thursday night in the middle of Walmart's annual shareholder week.
Vegetables and fruits greet guests when they enter the store at low ceilings with gray tiled floors. From there, Aldi has a few large aisles containing packaged food and canned soups, which are displayed in their original cardboard shipping boxes, to allow employees to store much less time. Refrigerators containing frozen milk, orange juice, meat and fish line the sides of the store, while the beef and poultry sections are at the back.
Bentonville Aldi also has a section dedicated to wine and craft beer. You will find items such as notebooks, greeting cards, flowers and seasonal items such as lawn and garden tools.
Montinique Davis, 42, who was shopping at Aldi in Bentonville with her daughter Thursday, said she had gone to the store after coming from Walmart.
"It's not as lively at Aldi," she said, adding that she thought "prices are generally better" than Walmart's. And it did not bother Davis could not find some of his favorite brands at Aldi either.
"I do not need a brand as long as it tastes good," she said.
The-CNN-Wire
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