Aldi plans to relocate one of its south St. Louis grocery store later this year into an old Shop ’n Save location in Tower Grove South.
Aldi will take up nearly 27,000 square feet of the vacant grocery store in Gravois Plaza, situated at 3865 Gravois Avenue. The rest of the store, approximately 42,000 square feet, will remain vacant and available for lease.
The Shop ’n Save store closed in November.
The property is owned by Kimco Realty, which according to building permits issued by the city of St. Louis, plans to invest more than $500,000 retrofitting the building to fit Aldi’s specifications.
Aldi owns the location it will be leaving at 3721 South Grand. Aldi Division Vice President Rob Jeffries said that although the company preferred to own its own stores, the new space would allow the grocer to introduce area customers to an upgraded Aldi experience.
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“The new store’s convenient layout will focus on what people love most: fresh food, dairy and baked goods,†he said. “It will also feature open ceilings, natural lighting and environmentally friendly building materials.â€
Aldi is in the process of renovating dozens of its St. Louis area stores as part of a $1.6 billion nationwide overhaul of its properties. Roughly $49 million is being pumped into 37 St. Louis area stores.
Aldi, which entered the St. Louis market in the late 1970s, is also opening several other locations across the region. The grocery chain is planning a new store in Kirkwood, at 1125 South Kirkwood Road in the space previously occupied by Petco, and is also scouting locations in St. Peters. Those familiar with the deal say Aldi has zeroed in on the former ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Authority space at 4025 Veterans Memorial Parkway.
Aldi has rapidly expanded across the U.S. as it seeks to grow market share. By the end of 2018, Aldi said it plans to have nearly 2,000 U.S. locations, up from more than 1,600 currently.
In St. Louis, the grocer has expanded its market share over the last several years. Schnucks holds the largest share in the St. Louis area.
The Gravois Plaza store is at least the second Shop ’n Save location to find new life after Supervalu, Shop ’n Save’s parent company, based in Minneapolis, announced it would sell the Kirkwood-based chain. Shop ’n Save has most of its stores in the St. Louis area and the northeast.
Earlier this month, Schnucks announced it would open in the recently closed Maplewood Shop ’n Save space at 7355 Manchester Road. The announcement came roughly a month after Shop ’n Save closed the store.