Aldi's Next Minnesota Target: Waconia

Discount grocer Aldi has its sights set further west for another Minnesota location.

The German retailer wants to open a 22,000-square-foot store in Waconia at the southeast corner of Highway 5 and W. 10th St., according to documents submitted to the city.

Excelsior-based Oppidan Investment Co. purchased the 1.8-acre parcel of land in March and will work with Aldi to develop the store. Construction is slated for the late fall, pending city approval. Mankato-based ISG Group Inc. is listed as the project architect.

“Waconia continues to be a growing community with a population in excess of 12,000 and jobs within the city that bring people in every day,” Paul Tucci, Vice President of Oppidan Investment Co., said in a statement.

Oppidan is also nearly done with the adjacent Waconia Crossings development, which will have tenants like Dollar Tree, Starbucks, Culver's and a Holiday store.

Aldi is in the midst of an aggressive expansion. It has over 1,600 stores in the United States and wants to have 2,000 locations by the end of 2018.

Aldi will also spend over $30 million to update 28 stores for the Minneapolis-St. Paul and the surrounding metro areas by the end of 2018. It's part of a $1.6 billion investment by the Germany-based discount grocer to bolster its U.S. locations.

As grocery competition heats up in the Twin Cities, companies have scrambled to remodel their stores to compete with new entrants like Hy-Vee and Fresh Thyme. Despite being a low-price competitor, Aldi is no different.

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Posted in: Press Releases