If you haven’t noticed an Aldi pop up in your area, don’t worry. It’s probably coming.
As grocery bills eat up a greater share of Americans’ wallets, the Germany-based chain — known for its no-frills stores stocked with low-priced name-brand products — isn’t letting off the gas in its U.S. expansion. That’s because the company knows Americans need the store now more than ever, said Chad Lusk, a managing director in Alvarez & Marsal’s consumer and retail group, a global consulting firm.
“Aldi’s business model is basically engineered for this moment in time,” he said.
Grocery prices have surged30 percent since the start of the pandemic, outpacing overall inflation’s increase of about 26 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And it’s not slowing down: The cost of food in December increased 0.7 percent month-over-month and about 2.4 percent year-over-year.
Facing these pressures, consumers are more willingto trade down for dupes or private label brands. Spending data and executives’ comments on earnings calls indicate that more Americans are prioritizing price and value in lieu of national brand loyalty. During the first 10 months in 2025, unit sales of store brands increased 0.3 percent while national brands fell 0.7 percent, according to the Private Label Manufacturers Association.
“Everyone’s under pressure, so we’ve seen a lot of channel shift over the last number of years where customers are reporting leaving traditional grocery for nontraditional,” said John Clear, a partner in the retail practice at consulting firm AlixPartners. “There is a whole cohort of categories where the national brand incumbent doesn’t really have a very strong value proposition. … And they are really ripe for people like Aldi and Lidl and Costco to take them.”
Aldi, which is celebrating its 50th year in the U.S., is seizing the opportunity. The grocer announced this month it will open 180 locations across 31 states this year, including in new markets in the Southeast and West, making its total store count close to 2,800 by the end of the year.
The expansion is part of Aldi’s plan to spend $9 billion in store openings and three distribution centers to reach its goal of 3,200 stores by the end of 2028. In comparison, Kroger and Albertsons have about 2,800 and 2,200 stores, respectively, in 35 states and the District of Columbia under various banners. There are more than 600 Costco’s and more than 3,500 Walmart Supercenters in the U.S.
In a statement, an Aldi spokeswoman said the value the chain offers is “fueling our expansion” and that the company has opened about 100 stores per year over the past decade “to meet shopper demand.” In recent years, the company has also acquired regional chainsand converted them into Aldis.
Aldi is widely recognized as the fastest growing chain across the grocery sector. Real estate services firm JLL reported Aldi outpaced competitors in both openings and square footage added from 2019 through 2024, the latest year with available data.
“That kind of strategic expansion really changes the landscape of grocery,” Lusk said.
Shoppers are responding. The company’s U.S. sales in 2024 — the most recent data available for the private company — reached $54.16 billion, a 14 percent increase over 2023, according to the National Retail Federation and Kantar. One in three U.S. households shopped at an Aldi last year, according to an Aldi spokeswoman.
Meanwhile, store visits in 2025 increased 8 percent year-over-year and 9.7 percent in the fourth quarter alone, the foot-traffic analytics firm Placer.ai reported. In comparison, foot traffic at Albertsons and Kroger — not including their stores under different names — increased only 1.6 percent and 0.8 percent year-over-year, respectively, while their fourth quarter growth also lagged behind Aldi’s, at 3.4 percent and 2.4 percent.
Aldi’s main draw is its below-market prices, a key advantage over its big box and supermarket competitors. Although Walmart, Target, Albertsons and Kroger have all increased their private-label offerings, about 90 percent of the products in an Aldi store are deeply discounted offerings from its house brand. This innovation shaves down the middleman costs from distributors and consumer goods companies.
Aldi also has a smaller store footprint than the traditional grocery stores, requiring less product assortment and fewer staff members. Stocking shelves takes a fraction of the time, since most products are displayed in the boxes they were shipped in, and shoppers bag their own groceries.
Finally, Aldi is ruthless at undercutting its competition, said Katrijn Gielens, a professor of economics and marketing at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. The chain is known for reducing prices when it enters a new market to entice customers to try them out. And once they’ve shopped at Aldi, they’re more willing to stay, she said.
“What [Aldi] tries to do is really make sure that whatever product they put on the shelf is very good and high in quality,” Gielens said. “It’s not just about offering something at a very low price … they really have to change attitudes.”
It’s a playbook that Aldi, and fellow Germany-based value grocer Lidl, employed during their expansions in Europe, Gielens said. As they opened new stores in the U.K., Aldi and Lidl set off a price war against regional chains like Tesco and Sainsbury that’s ongoing today.
“People are still underestimating how competitive and how impactful [Aldi] can be,” Gielens said. “People have to remember that they can really, from a retail point of view, destroy an entire market.”
For their part, U.S. supermarket giants have pointed to Aldi’s aggressive price cutting as one of their biggest threats. During their attempt to merge, Kroger and Albertsons cited Aldi’s expansion in legal proceedings with the Federal Trade Commission to support their argument that there’s increasing competition in the grocery space. A federal judge ultimately blockedthe merger, and as part of the ruling noted Aldi isn’t a direct competitor since it’s a different shopping experience than a traditional grocery store.
It’s that distinction that could deter some customers from trying Aldi — it isn’t a one-stop shop. The very attributes that make it nimble also force customers to make multiple stops for their grocery hauls. For that reason, the company often strategically places its stores near other grocers to make it convenient for shoppers to buy staples at Aldi and the rest at competitors.
“There’s this classic quote the people at Aldi used to say: ‘Our most optimal location would be Walmart’s parking lot,’” Gielens said.
But its reduced selection is also a welcome reprieve for some shoppers, Clear said: “U.S. grocery customers are now realizing that they don’t need as much choice as they thought they did.”
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