ALDI has announced it wants to open a new store in Cradley Heath as part of expansion plans.
The discount supermarket has revealed a list of 18 new locations where it is looking for town-centre or edge-of-centre sites suitable for development.
Among the towns it hopes to open in are Cradley Heath, Dudley and Sedgley.
Cradley Heath councillor Julie Webb (pictured below) said she would like to see a new Aldi in the town.
She said: “Anything that brings people in is good.
“The former market hall site in the High Street would be a good location as it is next to two car parks.
“At the moment we only have Lidl and Tesco.”
German chain Aldi is the UK’s fifth largest supermarket and says it wants to have 1,200 stores open by 2025.
It already has 880 stores and more than 34,000 employees in the UK.
It says each site should be around 1.5 acres and able to accommodate a 20,000 sq ft store with around 100 parking spaces, ideally on a prominent main road and with good visibility and access.
Ciaran Aldridge, National Property Director at Aldi UK, said: “Aldi is growing rapidly and we are welcoming around a million new customers into our stores every year.
“But there are also hundreds of towns across the UK where there is not an Aldi, meaning there are hundreds of thousands of people who can’t easily access the high quality, affordable food our customers love.
“We are willing to explore all opportunities, including developer-led schemes or existing retail units.”
Aldi’s rates of pay are significantly higher than the Government’s National Living Wage and also above the Living Wage Foundation’s recommended national rates.
Store Assistants receive a minimum hourly rate of £9.40 nationally and £10.90 in London.
The full list of locations it is targeting in the West Midlands are:
• Aldridge
• Allesley
• Balsall Common
• Bilston
• Birmingham
• Bloxwich
• Cradley Heath
• Dorridge
• Dudley
• Knowle
• Sedgley
• Solihull
• Sutton Coldfield
• Walsall
• Walsall Wood
• Wednesbury
• Willenhall
• Wolverhampton
Aldi’s rates of pay are significantly higher than the Government’s National Living Wage and also above the Living Wage Foundation’s recommended national rates. Store Assistants receive a minimum hourly rate of £9.40 nationally and £10.90 in London.
