The long-awaited new Aldi store in Biddulph opened its doors to customers, with Team GB Olympic slalom canoeist Joseph Clarke cutting the all-important red ribbon, alongside pupils from Knypersley First School.
The Tunstall Road store has replaced a store on Mountbatten Way in Congleton and will be run by store manager Rob Ferrari Wade, along with a team of 30 colleagues.
Mr Clarke gave away complimentary bags of fresh fruit and vegetables from Aldi’s famous Super Six range to the first 30 customers in the queue before delivering an “inspirational” assembly for pupils at Knypersley First School, as part of the supermarket’s initiative, Get Set to Eat Fresh, which aims to inspire children aged 5-14 years about the benefits of cooking fresh, healthy food with their families.
Aldi has been fuelling Team GB with fresh food since 2015, and the gold medallist from Rio 2016 focused on the benefits of eating healthy food and the importance of exercise and self-belief. He also talked to pupils about his experience of competing as an Olympian and shared his challenging training regime.
In addition, Aldi Biddulph offered pupils at the local primary school the opportunity to win a £20 gift voucher to spend at the new store.
Children at Knypersley First School were asked to create a poster to show what healthy eating meant to them. Mr Clarke announced the winner, Lily Bedson, during the school assembly and she was presented with the £20 voucher.
Mr Ferrari Wade said: “It’s been a wonderful morning! It was lovely to welcome our customers into the new store, and I look forward to meeting more of the community in the coming weeks.
“I’m also thrilled that we’ve been able to support Knypersley First School through our partnership with Team GB.”
Mr Clarke added: “I’ve had a fantastic time opening the new Aldi. It was an honour to officially open the store and welcome customers inside for the first time.
“It was great to speak with the children at Knypersley First about the importance of eating healthily and how it can be fun to plan and prepare meals as a family. Hopefully, I’ve also managed to inspire the pupils to keep active and try different sports.”
The opening means Biddulph shoppers get to walk down the famed Aisle of Aldi, for the legendary special buys, available every Thursday and Sunday.
During opening week, the store also offered a range of toy characters from Aldi’s new Christmas advert, including Kevin the Carrot, Ebanana Scrooge and Marcus Radishford. Aldi will donate £10,000 to Magic Breakfast from the sales of the Marcus Radishford toys.
Additionally, the new Aldi store is calling on local charities and food banks in Biddulph to register with Neighbourly, a community engagement platform that links businesses to charitable organisations in the local community.
Local charities that register will be able to collect surplus food and perishable products, such as fruit, vegetables and baked goods, up to seven days a week. Any charities in the area that would like to partner up with the new Aldi store should email aldi@neighbourly.com.
The new store is located at Tunstall Road, Biddulph, and will be open Monday-Saturday, 8am–10pm, Sundays 10am–4pm.
Aldi is Britain’s fifth largest supermarket with over 940 stores and around 38,000 employees.
It has been named as the UK’s best supermarket by consumer champion, Which?, based on a survey of more than 3,000 shoppers across the UK. Aldi was the only supermarket to score five stars for value.
Research released by Which? in November showed that for a basket of 22 essential items throughout October, Sainsbury’s was 14% more expensive than the same shop at Aldi. The same shop was also 18% more expensive at Tesco.
Aldi has announced plans to increase the amount of food and drink it buys from British suppliers by £3.5bn a year within the next five years.
