Aldi opened for business at 72 Pershing Drive in Derby Thursday, and the line outside to get in was 10 people deep.
In fact, Aldi held a ceremonial quick ribbon cutting a bit earlier than scheduled so the customers could get inside. It was chilly out there.
Mike and Joan Kapral were the first on the line to get in. Mike described himself as “Aldi’s number one fan.”
“Good deals. It’s clean, fast. My wife shops over at the one in Milford. We’re from Shelton, so this is nice and close,” he said.
Joan Kapral said Aldi has good prices on all the necessities — milk, eggs, bread.
“It’s a lot less expensive and the quality is fantastic,” she said.
Karen St. Clair of Seymour spoke highly of the store’s return policies.
“They’ll give you your money back,” she said. “If you’re not happy with an item, they’ll give you another item free.”
Aldi is an international brand. The company was founded in Germany and has more than 9,000 stores worldwide.
The company has 1,300 stores in 32 U.S. states. There are 22 stores in Connecticut, including Milford and Waterbury.
A company press release said they’ve been opening 80 new stores a year, on average.
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The company is known for its efficient operation.
Example — customers deposit 25 cents to rent a cart while they shop. That keeps down labor costs and cart repair costs for the company.
The store doesn’t accept credit cards — cash, debit and EBT/Quest cards only.
The Derby store is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.
The store is 1,700 square feet, a typical size for the grocer, but smaller than a typical Stop & Shop.
The vast majority of the items in the store are not name brand. Instead, the items are “exclusive” to Aldi, company officials said. The company promotes the stores as being stocked with what people want — the 1,300 most popular items in the grocery store business.
“We’ll carry a name brand every once in awhile, but for the most part they are our own brands,” said Bruce Persohn, a division vice-president with the company.
Lately Aldi has been promoting gluten-free and organic-labelled product lines (called “Simply Nature”), a trend in the industry.
“People shop at Aldi because the products are priced extremely competitively,” Persohn said.
The Derby Aldi employs 13 full-time employees, according to district manager Alex Palmer. The store had about 400 apply for those jobs. The store expects to hire a few additional part-time workers to provide some employee scheduling flexibility, Palmer said.
The Aldi opening is good for Derby because it will bring additional tax revenue to the city.
The store is at roughly the same location as the Valley Bowl, which went out of business in June 2010.
The immediate area is undergoing an extensive redevelopment.
Panera Bread, the popular sandwich chain, is in a separate building next to Aldi. Panera Bread hopes to open on Dec. 17, company officials said.
Red Raider Plaza, the shopping center at the corner of Division Street and Pershing Drive next to Panera and Aldi, is also being redeveloped.
A new building is under construction at the site of the former Xpect Discounts. Planet Fitness and Wayback Burger are among the tenants.
A spokesperson for Wayback said they hope to open in March.
Bill Purcell, executive director of the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce, noted that Pershing Drive is a busy road, with immediate access to Route 8 south.
“This a major thoroughfare. This is a major gateway,” Purcell said. “This is where one develops an image. To see this come back into productive use is really wonderful.”
Dignitaries on hand for the grand opening Thursday morning included Derby tax board chairman Jim Butler, state Rep. Theresa Conroy, state Sen. Joseph Crisco, Derby chief administrative assistant Henry Domurad, Derby Mayor Anita Dugatto, state Rep. Linda Gentile, Derby Alderman Peter Olenoski, former Derby Mayor Anthony Staffieri and Derby facilities inspector James Watson.
“It’s exciting,” Dugatto said. “It gives people another choice in the area. Derby is growing.”
