German discount grocer Aldi intends to open at 6060 Fort Caroline Road in Arlington on Oct. 9, preceded by a “sneak peek” Oct. 8.
Stores.Aldi.us says a ribbon-cutting is scheduled at 8:45 a.m. Oct. 9. It posts that the sneak peek starting Oct. 8 will allow customers to “fully shop the store and find all your favorite ALDI products.”
There are giveaways Oct. 9, including that “the first 100 customers will receive a bag of ALDI goodies. An ALDI employee will hand out a free eco-friendly bag stuffed with ALDI products.”
Aldi operates from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The Fort Caroline Road location is one of the 13 former Southeastern Grocers stores that Aldi bought in Northeast Florida among the 220 SEG Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket grocery stores it acquired for conversion.
Stores.Aldi.us shows there are 17 stores in Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties, of which at least five are former SEG banners.
Aldi, with U.S. headquarters in Batavia, Illinois, downsized the Fort Caroline Road Winn-Dixie space from 47,188 square feet to 21,985 square feet.
Winn-Dixie anchored the roughly 80,000-square-foot Fort Caroline Trading Post that was built in 1984 east of University Boulevard.
Aldi uses less space than traditional markets because of its streamlined layout and the fact it does not offer services such as pharmacies; bakeries; meat, deli and seafood counter service; floral services; or money orders, for example.
In March 2024, Aldi bought Jacksonville-based Southeastern Grocers Inc., which operated about 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Aldi then started converting some stores to its banner.
A group led by former Southeastern Grocers LLC CEO Anthony Hucker bought 170 of stores back from Aldi this year and said it would continue to operate others targeted for an Aldi conversion until they closed for the construction.
It appears that Aldi will about double its pre-purchase presence in Northeast Florida to 25 locations.