German discount supermarket Aldi aims at 1,200 outlets in Britain
Bad news for rivals as Aldi UK shows no signs of a let-up in either expansion or sales growth
London — The British arm of German discount supermarket Aldi aims to have 1,200 stores in Britain by the end of 2025 as it seeks to grab more market share from its bigger listed rivals. Aldi UK, which reported its first rise in annual operating profit for four years on Monday, now has about 775 stores and had been aiming to exceed 1,000 by 2022. Aldi UK is Britain′s fifth biggest supermarket with a 7.6% market share, trailing market leader Tesco, which has more than 3,400 stores, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons. The new stores add pressure on established chains to respond. Sainsbury′s is seeking to buy Walmart-owned owned Asda, arguing that the rise of discounters opens new fronts in competition, while Tesco launched a budget chain, Jack′s. Aldi UK CE Giles Hurley said the firm opened 70 stores in Britain in 2017 and was on track to open 70 more in 2018 and 130 between 2019 and 2020. After that, it planned to open 50-60 stores a year to reach 1,200, focusing on towns where Aldi was...
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