Store Manager Logan White cuts the ribbon to celebrate the grand opening of ALDI in the Fair Lakes Shopping Center. Photo by Carlyn Kranking/The Connection
Not long after sunrise, more than 100 customers lined up outside the new ALDI at the Fair Lakes Shopping Center on Thursday, Aug. 23. It was the store’s grand opening, and in addition to celebrating with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the first 100 attendees received gift cards and hoped to be the lucky few who earned $100 “Golden Tickets.”
Among these early risers was Ashley Kirchmyer, a loyal ALDI customer who lives just down the street from the new store. She said she appreciates the convenience of having an ALDI so near to her home.
“Having something so close allows me to get the food I need for my family before work even starts,” Kirchmyer said.
This store is ALDI’s seventh location in Fairfax County and is part of a $3.4 billion investment to reach 2,500 stores across the country by 2022. It’s the second store in Fairfax for ALDI District Manager Kendra Bitner, who said she is excited about every new store.
“I enjoy working for a company that has the best interest of the customer in mind,” Bitner said. “I feel like we’re really here to make people’s lives easier. I get a lot of customers that really are thankful for what ALDI can provide to them and their family, which is definitely rewarding.”
ALDI seeks to provide customers with high-quality products for low prices. In addition to saving money, ALDI aims to save customers time with its limited product range and simple store layout that Bitner said “guides the customer through the store.”
As a result, customers demonstrate loyalty to ALDI. Besides getting up early to go to the grand opening, Fairfax resident Rita Carroll demonstrated this loyalty by continuing to shop at ALDI even after she moved.
“ALDI is a great store. We used to go to ALDI when we lived in Georgia, and now we go to the one in Chantilly,” Carroll said. She reached into her shopping cart and picked up a jar of coconut oil. “I would challenge anyone to be able to find cold pressed coconut oil for $4.99 anywhere in the state of Virginia. Deals like this you can get from ALDI.”