Aldi plans to open 180 US stores in 2026 as shoppers seek value

As Americans of all incomes look to trim their grocery budget, Aldi plans to open more than 180 stores in the United States this year — including in the traditional territory of rival supermarkets and department stores.

The German grocery stores’ recent growth plans follow already strong expansion over the past decade. Aldi, known for its low prices, smaller stores and focus on private label brands, has become the country’s third-largest grocer by number of stores, trailing only Walmart and Kroger. Last year, Aldi saw its largest expansion since it opened its first U.S. store in Iowa in 1976 by opening nearly 200 locations. It had 2,614 stores in the United States as of December 31.

Along with opening more locations, Aldi said it will relaunch its website and enter Maine, its 40th state, this year. The company will also add new distribution centers in Florida, Arizona and Colorado in the next five years.

Grocery in the United States has long been a fragmented industry, with business segments divided between regional grocers, specialty players, supermarket operators, department stores, and membership-based clubs. However, Aldi’s growth demonstrates the fierce competition traditional players face, as discounters entice shoppers and win more weekly grocery deals.

“Consumers now aren’t really looking for luxury stores, tens of thousands of different items to choose from,” said Atty McGrath, Aldi US CEO. “They’re really savvy shoppers. They know that private label can save them money without sacrificing quality.”

“Increasingly, people are protecting their resources, whether it’s their wallet or their time,” she added.

In a recent survey of grocery shoppers conducted by consulting firm AlixPartners, the percentage of key shopper groups that said they spend most of their grocery budget in the traditional grocery channel declined per group compared to 2024. The survey was conducted in September and included 1,635 people.

These declines were steepest among wealthier households and younger shoppers, with a 7 percentage point year-over-year decline among households with an annual income of more than $100,000 and a 6 percentage point year-over-year decline among shoppers ages 25 to 34, according to the survey.

In particular, supermarket chain operators such as Kroger, Albertsons And the parent company of Stop & Shop Ahold Delhaize They lost ground with their opponent like Aldi, Walmart and Costco Offering produce, meat and other staple foods at a lower price.

“American customers have learned that if you go to a discount store, you don’t buy things cheap,” he said. “You’re buying good quality fresh food, good quality private label brands. It’s in stock. It’s local to you. And it’s convenient.”

Additionally, he said U.S. shoppers have become more accustomed to buying private label brands because of their success with larger companies like Costco.

Despite its rapid growth, Aldi’s share of the U.S. grocery market remains small. Walmart is the nation’s largest grocery company by market share at 21%, according to market researcher Numeritor, followed by Kroger, Costco, Albertsons and Publix to round out the top five. Aldi has 2.8% U.S. market share, according to Numerator data, which runs through the beginning of October 2025.

Aldi, a private company, does not share financial results, but market research shows it is attracting more shoppers to its locations. Store traffic rose more than 50% from 2019 to 2024, according to Placer.ai — an analytics firm that uses anonymized data from mobile devices to estimate visits to sites — and commercial real estate firm JLL.

Aldi’s store traffic gains outpaced both the grocery sector overall and its major competitors in 2025, according to Placer.ai. Its store visits were up 8% year-over-year in 2025 from the previous year, compared to Costco’s 5.9% growth, Albertsons’ 1.6% increase, Kroger’s 0.8% rise, and Walmart’s 0.5% growth. Store visits for the overall grocery sector increased 3.1% year over year.

The results of some of Aldi’s competitors reflect the challenges they face. Last week, Albertsons gave a weak full-year outlook, and its CEO, Susan Morris, said on the company’s earnings call that even high-income shoppers are “becoming more price and value conscious.”

Kroger also acknowledged there are more competitive pressures. On an earnings call in early December, Ron Sargent, Kroger’s interim CEO, emphasized ways the company is trying to “strengthen our competitive position,” such as accelerating capital investment in new stores and lowering prices. He did not call out Aldi or other discounters by name.

He said on the call that the retail environment has always been “very competitive,” but said that’s “particularly true today when consumers are looking for great value.”

Other value-focused grocers are also seeing growth. Lidl, another retailer that offers deep discounts on private brands, relaunched in the U.S. in 2024 and has more than 190 stores in nine states on the East Coast.

Walmart, for its part, has talked about attracting more affluent shoppers from households earning annual incomes of more than $100,000 a year as it adds more fashionable and trend-oriented brands. One such company is Bettergoods, a chef-run specialty grocery line that launched in 2024 with most items priced under $5.

Aldi stands apart from its competitors in several key ways. It has smaller stores, a narrower selection of merchandise and a heavy focus on its own brand. More than 90% of its assortment and about the same total sales come from private-label merchandise, a sharp difference from other grocers and big-box retailers that typically rely on national brands and household names like Heinz Ketchup or General Mills’ Cheerios.

Almost every aspect of its stores and strategy is designed for efficiency — it places multiple barcodes on each item to speed up the checkout process and asks customers to bring their own bags or pay for their own. They are also famous for asking customers to deposit a quarter for their shopping cart, which they get back when they return it. Some items are stored on shelves in cardboard boxes or on wooden pallets.

The convenience stores and curated merchandise save shoppers time and allow them to skip the fatigue of browsing the wide aisle containing different types of ketchup or other items, said Scott Patton, Aldi’s US chief commercial officer.

Aldi stores are approximately 10,000 square feet. That’s a fraction of Walmart’s average mall size of 178,000 square feet, according to Walmart’s annual report.

However, Patton said Aldi’s smaller lineup includes creative flavors and trendy items, such as collagen-infused drink mixes, avocado oil and freeze-dried banana snacks. In addition, it provides a fun “treasure hunt” experience, he added.

In the middle of the store, Aldi shoppers can browse ‘Aldi Finds’ – a mix of merchandise available for a limited time only. For example, earlier this month, an Aldi store in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood sold an electric glass tea kettle for $19.99, an air fryer for $39.99, and a plush Valentine’s Day-themed blanket for $7.99. The items also included some well-known food brands, such as a 20-pack of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers and a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing.

However, Aldi’s strategy of focusing on private label and periodically selecting random items can come with downsides, as it may not contain all the products a shopper has on their list.

“You may have to shop at another store and that’s a good thing for us,” Patton said. “What we want our customers to do is shop Aldi first.”

The company has also faced lawsuits over its packaging. Chips Ahoy and parent company Mondelez sued Aldi last year, alleging the discounter was copying its rivals’ packaging to confuse shoppers. Some boxes of store brand items have nearly identical colors and fonts as competing product from national brands.

Last year, Aldi revamped its store packaging — a move Patton said was “independent of any lawsuit or any claims of infringement.”

For some loyal customers, Aldi’s no-frills approach and focus on private label is an attraction. Emily Curtis, an actress and barista who lives in New York City’s Washington Heights neighborhood, heads to Aldi every week to buy groceries. She and her husband battle traffic for at least 30 minutes each way while driving to and from Aldi’s Harlem store.

Curtis, 27, said she grew up in a frugal household where cereal options were usually off-brand rather than Lucky Charms. She started shopping at Aldi while she was in college at the University of Alabama.

“When I was in school I ate beans and rice, it was Aldi and beans and rice,” she said.

Even when I moved to Georgia and then New York, I continued to make regular visits to Aldi. When she and her husband first moved to New York City, they found they saved money when shopping at Aldi across town — even when incurring Instacart delivery fees — compared to buying at neighborhood grocery stores like D’Agostino and Gristedes.

“Prices are the main attraction and that is why we are doing our best,” she said.

But Curtis said she also likes the rotating items she finds in Aldi’s middle aisles. In her wardrobe, she has Aldi sweatpants and even Aldi-themed Christmas sweaters. She keeps her kitchen utensils in a rack from Aldi. Every year she stocks the pumpkin tomato sauce for a limited time.

“It has become a personal trait that, for better or worse, my lifelong loyalty to the brand.”

— CNBC’s Natalie Rice contributed to this report.