Aldi looking to expand by opening new store in Wigan

The budget supermarket giant released a list of 30 UK locations where it wants to expand, including Wigan.

And they are even offering a “finder’s fee” for agents who recommend a suitable site. It said it was on the lookout for freehold town-centre or edge-of-town sites that are around 1.5 acres and can accommodate a 20,000sq foot store with around 100 parking spaces.

Ideally, each location would be near a main road with good visibility and access.

Aldi already has a number of stores in the Wigan area, including Scot Lane in Newtown, and Preston Road in Standish.

The German discount retailer – which recently overtook Morrisons to become Britain's fourth-largest UK grocery chain – currently has more than 990 stores but has a target of 1,200 stores across the UK to reach more shoppers.

Giles Hurley, chief executive officer at Aldi UK, said: “Demand for Aldi has never been higher here are still some towns and areas that either don’t have access to an Aldi or have capacity for additional stores.

“To meet that demand, we need to open more stores and it’s our mission to keep driving our ambitious expansion plan to achieve that.”

New industry data revealed this week* that Aldi remains the fastest-growing supermarket. As well as growing sales by over 26% year-on-year, during the last three months Aldi attracted 1.3m more shoppers.

Anybody who has a site that may fit Aldi’s requirements should contact [email protected].