Discounter Aldi is planning to open its first Italian supermarket in Rovereto, in the northern region of Trentino Alto Adige.
According to a report in daily Trentino, the building that will host the Aldi supermarket will have a maximum area of 1,500 square metres and will be built from scratch.
Aldi did not comment on the press reports, simply stating that it '[did] not want to disclose details of the negotiations in progress' and that it is 'still evaluating various possibilities about potential locations of stores'.
On its website, Aldi Italia specifies it is seeking property or land in municipalities with a catchment area of at least 30,000 inhabitants. These include parcels of undeveloped land of at least 5,000 square metres, with the possibility of building a covered area of at least 1,000 square metres, as well as a retail area of up to 1,500 square metres.
Aldi will enter an already crowded market; its main competitors are expected to be Eurospin, Penny Market, MD and LD and, to a lesser degree, Lidl.
Aldi’s Italian operations will be based in Verona and the group plans to open the first stores during 2017, initially in the northern regions. These openings should be followed by others throughout Italy.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up for ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
