Aldi to open first stores in Italy on March 1st, planning 45 openings this year | Progresiv
Aldi group, the German giant with over 5900 points of sale in 11 countries and 4 continents, pioneer of the discount format in the world, is serious in Italy. It took two years to prepare the debut, study the dynamics of our market and analyze the habits of Italian consumers. In the end, the company finally revealed information on what it intends to do in our country and how it intends to do it. 
Aldi's development plan - previewed in Castellanza, in the province of Varese, in the heart of the Po Valley - provides for more than 45 openings by 2018. The first 10 supermarkets, distributed throughout Northern Italy, will be inaugurated on the 1st March. In addition to the Castellanza store, the other 9 are in the municipalities of Bagnolo Mella (Bs), Cantù (Co), Curno (Bg), Peschiera del Garda (Vr), Piacenza, Rovereto (Tn), San Donà di Piave (Ve) , Spilimbergo (Pn) and Trento. Moreover, Aldi's arrival has already given a strong boost to employment: for the time being, the brand has hired over 880 employees, with the prospect of closing the year with more than 1,500 hires.
There is no comment on investments, the managing director of Aldi Michael Veiser. But all the rest is very clear: "Our supermarkets have an average surface area of between 1000 and 1500 square meters and we present ourselves with an assortment designed exclusively for Italian consumers, 75% composed of products that come from the collaboration with national suppliers ". There are not many references, 1900 in all of which 100 made up of fruit and vegetables and 300 from commercial brands. The hard core of the offer, that is 85%, is however represented by private, strictly selected labels. (www.repubblica.it)
