New supermarket adds to Memorial Drive corridor
Date: 10/10/2012
By G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.comCHICOPEE — In a retail corridor with three supermarket chains almost within walking distance, one retailer entered the fray last week: Aldi.
About 200 shoppers were waiting patiently with their carts for the store's 9 a.m. opening on Oct. 5 at its new store on Memorial Drive.
Inside they found a bright, clean store that featured a wide selection of food items, almost all of them featuring the Aldi in-store brand names.
The store is the third to open in the western Massachusetts and the eighth in the state, according to Bruce Persohn, the vice president of the South Windsor Division. The Aldi website reported there are now more than 1,000 stores in 31 states.
The stores feature about 1,400 items, less than the superstore models of many markets. The store hired 10 people, mostly full-time employees, Persohn said.
Persohn said the company store brands are manufactured by national brand companies and meet or exceed those brand's quality standards. He added the design of the stores in which everything is stacked in ready to display cases is one way it keeps operations costs down.
In addition to that measure, Aldi stores are built with energy conservation in mind, Persohn noted, which is another way to save money.
Shoppers should see savings up to 50 percent on comparative items, Persohn said.
Walking around the store, Persohn pointed out a section in the middle of the aisle dedicated to non-food special sale items that ranged from a counter-top deep fry cooker to an electric chain saw to a generator. Persohn said the items on sale are rotated weekly and also include many Aldi house brand items.
Mayor Michael Bissonnette said the store was a $2 million investment in the city. Near it, he added, a Firestone Tire store is scheduled to be built.
Bissonnette praised state officials for funding an additional traffic light on Memorial Drive, which he said made this retail development possible as well as those being built across the street.
