Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

ALDI's sixth San Diego County store

Encinitas first on moneyed coast

Grocery items are shelved directly in the product’s cartons or open boxes.
Grocery items are shelved directly in the product’s cartons or open boxes.

Encinitas grocery shoppers are about to get a little more European influence. A design review permit application with the city became public last month, for the opening of an ALDI supermarket. It will be the sixth German-based store opened in San Diego County in the last two years, but the first one along the upper-middle class coastline.

ALDI’s website identifies the chain as “discount grocery.” Grocery items are shelved directly in the product’s cartons or open boxes. Their stores do not have banks, pharmacies, or cash checks.

A few years ago, a friend of German decent, living in Indiana, where the stores are more prevalent, first alerted me about ALDI. I told him last week that ALDIs are mushrooming in his former home of Southern California, he said, "You'll save a lot of money shopping there. They’ll be lower than any other grocery store." He praised ALDI’s “no frills” business model, and said I won’t believe how cheap a quart of milk and a dozen eggs will be. He had just paid 99 cents for each.

Is Encinitas ready for ALDI? Or will this be another out-of–state grocery chain flopping in the highly competitive SoCal grocery market, like the Haggen Foods fiasco?

Sponsored
Sponsored

I interviewed shoppers coming out of the Encinitas Vons on El Camino Real, just one block away from where the new ALDI store will be built, in the now closed Big Lots store.

Nick is from the United Kingdom. ALDI has a huge presence in the UK. He was excited to hear the news.

“They’re a low cost, basic store. Everything is on pallets,” he said. When he was in college, he could buy a can of beans for nine pence (15 cents in U.S. currency.) “Students will love them,” said Nick, but it probably won’t change his shopping habits at Vons and other nearby stores.

From what Vons shopper Anita has already heard about the ALDI chain. “It looks cool,” she said. She looks forward to giving it a try, but only if they sell organic produce.

Yes, says Tom Cindel of ALDI. “ALDI does sell organic products including produce.”

Vons shopper Jordon said she knew ALDI’s secret that most SoCal shoppers don’t. ALDI owns Trader Joe's.

ALDI’s founder, Theo Albrecht, purchased Trader Joe's in 1979. At the time of his passing in 2010, Albrecht was labeled by Forbes Magazine as the 31st richest person in the world. But corporately, a family trust operates ALDI and Trader Joe’s like two separate companies, but using the same model of private label, exclusive in-store brands.

Jeff said he looks forward to checking out ALDI, but “if they are like a Costco (big sizes), then I won’t be shopping there,” he said.

The company has aggressively opened five San Diego County stores since 2016; Chula Vista, Escondido (2), San Carlos, and Vista. Company plans call for 200 new stores across the U.S. by the end of this year, which would make ALDI the country’s third largest grocery store chain (not including department stores that also sell groceries like Walmart, Target, and 99 Cent Stores.)

Neither ALDI's Cindel nor city planning officials could predict how long it will take ALDI to open its doors.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Grocery items are shelved directly in the product’s cartons or open boxes.
Grocery items are shelved directly in the product’s cartons or open boxes.

Encinitas grocery shoppers are about to get a little more European influence. A design review permit application with the city became public last month, for the opening of an ALDI supermarket. It will be the sixth German-based store opened in San Diego County in the last two years, but the first one along the upper-middle class coastline.

ALDI’s website identifies the chain as “discount grocery.” Grocery items are shelved directly in the product’s cartons or open boxes. Their stores do not have banks, pharmacies, or cash checks.

A few years ago, a friend of German decent, living in Indiana, where the stores are more prevalent, first alerted me about ALDI. I told him last week that ALDIs are mushrooming in his former home of Southern California, he said, "You'll save a lot of money shopping there. They’ll be lower than any other grocery store." He praised ALDI’s “no frills” business model, and said I won’t believe how cheap a quart of milk and a dozen eggs will be. He had just paid 99 cents for each.

Is Encinitas ready for ALDI? Or will this be another out-of–state grocery chain flopping in the highly competitive SoCal grocery market, like the Haggen Foods fiasco?

Sponsored
Sponsored

I interviewed shoppers coming out of the Encinitas Vons on El Camino Real, just one block away from where the new ALDI store will be built, in the now closed Big Lots store.

Nick is from the United Kingdom. ALDI has a huge presence in the UK. He was excited to hear the news.

“They’re a low cost, basic store. Everything is on pallets,” he said. When he was in college, he could buy a can of beans for nine pence (15 cents in U.S. currency.) “Students will love them,” said Nick, but it probably won’t change his shopping habits at Vons and other nearby stores.

From what Vons shopper Anita has already heard about the ALDI chain. “It looks cool,” she said. She looks forward to giving it a try, but only if they sell organic produce.

Yes, says Tom Cindel of ALDI. “ALDI does sell organic products including produce.”

Vons shopper Jordon said she knew ALDI’s secret that most SoCal shoppers don’t. ALDI owns Trader Joe's.

ALDI’s founder, Theo Albrecht, purchased Trader Joe's in 1979. At the time of his passing in 2010, Albrecht was labeled by Forbes Magazine as the 31st richest person in the world. But corporately, a family trust operates ALDI and Trader Joe’s like two separate companies, but using the same model of private label, exclusive in-store brands.

Jeff said he looks forward to checking out ALDI, but “if they are like a Costco (big sizes), then I won’t be shopping there,” he said.

The company has aggressively opened five San Diego County stores since 2016; Chula Vista, Escondido (2), San Carlos, and Vista. Company plans call for 200 new stores across the U.S. by the end of this year, which would make ALDI the country’s third largest grocery store chain (not including department stores that also sell groceries like Walmart, Target, and 99 Cent Stores.)

Neither ALDI's Cindel nor city planning officials could predict how long it will take ALDI to open its doors.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

How to Get Legal Assistance When Your Car Accident Insurance Claim is Denied?

Next Article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.