As Americans of all incomes look to trim their food budgets, Aldi plans to open more than 180 stores in the United States this year, including in the traditional turf of competing supermarkets and big box stores.
The German grocer’s latest growth plans follow an already aggressive expansion over the past decade. Aldi, known for its low prices, small stores and emphasis on private brands, has become the nation’s third-largest grocer by number of stores, trailing only Walmart And Kroger. And last year, Aldi marked its biggest expansion since opening its first U.S. store in Iowa in 1976, opening nearly 200 locations. It had 2,614 stores in the United States as of December 31.
In addition to opening more locations, Aldi announced it would relaunch its website and enter Maine, its 40th state, this year. The company will also add new distribution centers in Florida, Arizona and Colorado over the next five years.
Grocery shopping in the United States has long been a fragmented industry, with segments of the business divided among regional grocers, specialty players, large supermarket operators, big box stores, and membership clubs. Still, Aldi’s growth illustrates the fiercer competition traditional players face as discounters lure shoppers and win more weekly shopping trips.
“Consumers are no longer really looking for fancy stores and tens of thousands of different items to choose from,” said Atty McGrath, CEO of Aldi US. “They’re really savvy shoppers. They know private labels can save them money without sacrificing quality.”
She added: “More and more people are actually protecting their resources, whether it’s their wallet or their time.”
An Aldi grocery store pictured on May 2, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images
In a recent survey of grocery shoppers by consulting firm AlixPartners, the percentage of key shopper groups reporting spending the majority of their grocery budget in the traditional grocery channel decreased for each group compared to 2024. The survey was conducted in September and included 1,635 people.
These declines were sharpest among wealthier households and younger buyers, with a 7 percentage point year-over-year decline among households with annual incomes over $100,000 and a 6 percentage point year-over-year decline among buyers aged 25 to 34, the survey found.
Matthew Hamory, co-head of the global grocery practice at AlixPartners, said in particular that large supermarket chain operators such as Kroger, Albertson and the parent company of Stop & Shop Ahold Delhaize have lost ground to discounters like Aldi, Walmart And Costco offer produce, meat and other staples at lower costs.
“American customers have learned that if you go to a discounter, you don’t buy cheap crap,” he said. “You buy good quality fresh food, good quality private labels. They’re in stock. They’re local to you. And they’re convenient.”
Additionally, he said U.S. shoppers have become more accustomed to buying private brands because of their success with big players like Costco.
Despite its rapid growth, Aldi’s share of the U.S. grocery market remains small. Walmart is the nation’s largest grocer by market share at 21 percent, according to market researcher Numerator, followed by Kroger, Costco, Albertsons and Publix to round out the top five. Aldi has a 2.8% market share in the United States, according to Numerator data, which runs through early October 2025.
Aldi, a privately held company, doesn’t share its financial results, but market research shows it is attracting more customers to its locations. Store traffic grew more than 50% between 2019 and 2024, according to Placer.ai — an analytics company that uses anonymized data from mobile devices to estimate site visits — and commercial real estate company JLL.
Aldi store traffic gains have outpaced both the overall grocery industry and its major competitors in 2025, according to Placer.ai. Its store visits grew 8% year over year in 2025 from the previous year, compared to Costco’s 5.9% growth, Albertsons’ 1.6%, Kroger’s 0.8% and Walmart’s 0.5%. Store visits for the entire grocery sector increased 3.1% year over year.
An Aldi grocery store on May 2, 2025, in Washington, DC, United States
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The results of some of Aldi’s competitors reflect their challenges. Last week, Albertsons gave weak guidance for the full year, and its CEO, Susan Morris, said during the company’s earnings conference call that even higher-income shoppers are “becoming more conscious of price and value.”
Kroger also acknowledged increased competitive pressure. In a conference call in early December, Kroger interim CEO Ron Sargent highlighted the company’s efforts to “strengthen our competitive position,” including accelerating capital investments in new stores and lowering prices. He did not mention Aldi or other discounters by name.
He said on the call that the retail environment is still “very competitive,” but that’s “especially true today as consumers look for great value.”
Other value-focused grocers are also growing. Lidl, another discounter that specializes heavily in private labels, relaunched in the United States in 2024 and has more than 190 stores in nine East Coast states.
Walmart, for its part, has talked about attracting more affluent shoppers from households earning annual incomes of more than $100,000 a year, by adding more fashion-forward and trend-driven brands. One is Bettergoods, a chef-driven private label grocery line launching in 2024 with most items costing less than $5.
An Aldi supermarket in Alhambra, California on June 27, 2024.
Eric Thayer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Smaller stores, fewer items
Aldi stands out from its competitors on several key points. It has smaller stores, a smaller merchandise selection, and a strong emphasis on its own brand. More than 90% of its assortment and about as much of its total sales come from private-label items, a stark difference from other grocers and big-box retailers that typically rely on national brands and household names like Heinz ketchup or General Mills Cheerios.
Nearly every aspect of its stores and strategy is designed to be efficient: It places multiple barcodes on each item to speed up checkout and requires customers to bring or pay for their own bags. He is also famous for requiring customers to deposit a quarter for a cart, which they get back when they return it. Some items are stored on shelves in boxes or on wooden pallets.
Scott Patton, chief commercial officer of Aldi US, said the smaller stores and curated merchandise save shoppers time and allow them to avoid walking down a large aisle with different types of ketchup or other items.
Aldi stores are approximately 10,000 square feet. That’s a tiny fraction of the average size of a Walmart supercenter of 178,000 square feet, according to Walmart’s annual report.
Still, Patton said Aldi’s smaller assortment includes creative flavors and trendy items, such as collagen-infused drink mixes, avocado oil and freeze-dried banana snacks. Plus, it offers a fun “treasure hunt” experience, he said.
In the middle of the store, Aldi shoppers can browse “Aldi Finds” – a mix of merchandise available only for a limited time. For example, earlier this month, the Aldi store in New York’s Harlem neighborhood sold a glass electric kettle for $19.99, an air fryer for $39.99, and a Valentine’s Day-themed plush blanket for $7.99. The items also included some recognized food brands, such as a 20-pack of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers and a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing.
Still, Aldi’s strategy of emphasizing private labels and a rotating selection of random items can have drawbacks, as it may not carry every product a shopper has on their list.
“You may have to shop at another store and that’s totally fine with us,” Patton said. “What we want our customers to do is shop Aldi first.”
The company has also faced lawsuits over its packaging. Last year, Mondelez, parent company of Chips Ahoy and Oreo, sued Aldi, alleging that the discounter copies its competitors’ packaging to confuse shoppers. Some of the boxes for its branded items have colors and fonts almost identical to those of competing national brand products.
Last year, Aldi revamped its store packaging – a move that Patton said “was independent of any lawsuit or infringement claim.”
Almost every aspect of Aldi stores is designed to be efficient. Some items on sale in stores are still in boxes or on wooden pallets.
Melissa Repko | CNBC
Aldi loyalists
For some loyal customers, Aldi’s no-frills approach and emphasis on private brands is an attraction. Emily Curtis, an actress and barista who lives in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York, visits Aldi every week to do her shopping. She and her husband battle traffic for at least 30 minutes each way during a commute to and from the Aldi store in Harlem.
Curtis, 27, said she grew up in a frugal family where cereal choices were usually off-brand rather than Lucky Charms. She started shopping at Aldi while she was a student at the University of Alabama.
“When I was at school I ate beans and rice, it was Aldi beans and rice,” she said.
Even when she moved to Georgia and then New York, she continued to visit Aldi regularly. When she and her husband first moved to New York, they found that they saved money shopping at Aldi across town — even tackling Instacart delivery fees — compared to shopping at neighborhood grocers like D’Agostino and Gristedes.
“Prices are the main attraction and that’s why we go all out,” she said.
But Curtis said she also likes the rotating items she finds in Aldi’s center aisles. In her closet, she has Aldi sweatpants and even Aldi-themed Christmas sweaters. She stores her kitchen utensils in a rack from Aldi. And she stocks up on a pumpkin-tomato marinara sauce every year for a limited time.
“It has become a personality trait, for better or worse, my undying dedication to the brand.”
— CNBC’s Natalie Rice contributed to this report.