The chilly weather on the morning of Monday, March 2 didn’t keep curious shoppers away as Aldi officials opened the chain’s newest location. In fact, the crowds were so large that the officials decided to cut the ribbon a few minutes earlier.
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Until recently, the discount supermarket chain had its Niles location on Waukegan Road, near Jarvis Avenue. But the location was closed on March 1, and the newly built location at 6250 W. Touhy Ave. opened a day later.
Officials from Aldi’s Batavia division and Niles village officials were on hand to mark the opening. After the ceremonies were completed, officials were seen helping customers and pushing carts around, while Trustee Rosemary Palicki took the opportunity to get some shopping done. And while not everybody went away completely pleased, most customers that spoke to Niles Herald-Spectator said they liked the new location.
The new Niles store is located on a parcel formerly occupied by Landmark Ford dealership. Costco, which has a store in the area, purchased the lot to redevelop it. It sold a portion of the land to Aldi, using the rest to build new gas pumps. While the pumps have been operating since the fall of 2014, building a new Aldi from scratch took a few months longer.
The move has been in the works for the past few months. Scott Patton, the vice president of Aldi’s Batavia division, said that the chain wanted to move to a busier, more visible location.
“It’s near a stoplight on Touhy, and we got excellent visibility from the road,” he said.
The new location has other advantages. It is located within walking distance of the Leaning Tower of Niles and the Leaning Tower YMCA. The store has a larger parking lot and more public transit connections – Pace bus route 290, CTA route 85A and Niles Free Bus routes 411 and 413 stop near the new location.
Patton also said that the new location offered more space.
“We have products [in the new location] that we couldn’t carry in the old store,” he said. “We didn’t have a place to put them, so our customers didn’t know what they were missing.”
That included the expanded produce section, a larger wine selection and healthier food.
The ribbon cutting was originally scheduled for 9 a.m. But by 8:45 a.m., the line already stretched along the wall, and the officials decided to do the opening earlier. Ten minutes later, customers kept coming.
Bonnie Davidson, of Niles, was one of the customers waiting in line. She said she’s never been to an Aldi before and she was curious to see what the store was like.
“I’m glad to see it open,” she said.
Inside, employees handed out samples of products like cheese and chocolates, while kids got balloons. The first 100 customers got $100 store gift cards. All customers were invited to submit their names for a prize drawing that would earn them to discounts on produce.
Palicki was the only Village of Board of Trustees member to attend the opening.
“We are delighted to see the store open, and we are delighted to have it on Touhy Avenue,” she said.
After the ribbon cutting was completed, she and her husband, Len Palicki, took the opportunity to do some shopping. The trustee later said she liked the customer service and the selection of products.
But not everybody who came to the store was entirely pleased. Jim Dubrock, of Park Ridge, said he usually shops at an Aldi store further west, but he decided to check out the new Niles location out of curiosity. As he headed out the door, he said that he’d rather stick to his usual location.
“It was very difficult to navigate,” said Dubrock. “I’ve asked where things are so many times. I’m going back to my usual store.”
Igor Studenkov is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
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