Aldi Advances Network Automation: Unveils First US Robotic Facility

This would be the largest investment in warehouse distribution in Aldi’s network and part of the first wave of automated warehouses in the United States.

Amid aggressive expansion plans to open another 800 grocery stories in the United States, Aldi has announced plans to invest $560 million in a distribution center at the Blue Diamond Park off U.S. Route 13.

The state’s investment board, the Council on Development Finance, signed off on $4.8 million in capital expenditure grants as well as $543,600 in job performance grants for Aldi to build and hire staff for a warehouse and distribution center in the New Castle business park. Construction would take place over the next five years with a targeted opening date in 2030.

This would be the largest investment in warehouse distribution in Aldi’s network and part of the first wave of automated warehouses in the United States, according to Aldi Director of Warehouse Development Adam Castle.

At 800,000 square feet, it would include automated technology to store and retrieve grocery items.

Once complete, Aldi plans to hire 225 people with positions ranging from distribution, management, technicians, engineers and quality control.

“We’ve found that the vast majority of our employees work at our facilities within 10 miles of those places of businesses,” Castle told members of the CDF on Monday. “We are thrilled at the potential to call the Blue Diamond Business Park our home.”

The Blue Diamond Business Park has been one of the state’s highest profile locations, as Pennsylvania-based developer Stoltz Real Estate Partners quickly landed a massive Amazon warehouse as one of its first tenants. Over the years, the concept has evolved and was last planned for 2.1 million square feet in industrial space in four warehouses.

Aldi Director of Warehouse Development Adam Castle., right, told the Council on Development, about the next generation of Aldi distribution centers. He was joined Monday by Aldi National real Estate Manager (center) and Barnes & Thornburg LLP attorney Shawn Tucker. | DBT PHOTO BY KATIE TABELING

The site has also received significant support from the Council on Development Finance in the past three years. In 2022, the project received $1 million in Site Readiness Funds and another $4.5 million last year. The newest grant awarded on Monday morning through the CDF means the site has been approved for a total of $10.8 million over three years through the three grant applications.

Castle told the CDF that one of the intriguing aspects of Blue Diamond Business Park is that the land is entitled and considered by-right projects, meaning they are unlikely to face permitting issues.

“Our team has been appreciative of the supportive business environment that we have experienced here in the state, inclusive of the incentives as reference, and look forward to creating the jobs and actively engaging within the community,” he said. “We believe that being a partner is more than just business operations, but we would also like to be involved in the community.”

Aldi announced at the end of last year it would invest $9 billion to open 800 locations across the nation by the end of 2028. Last month, it was announced that the company would open 225 new stores, including converting Winn-Dixie and Harvey Supermarkets in the Southeast, according to Fox Business.

With consumers looking to save money as inflation raised prices at the cash register, Aldi said in previous media statements that 1 in 4 Americans shop at its stores. Castle declined to comment to the Delaware Business Times about business revenues.

Castle explained that the proposed distribution site in New Castle would complement existing warehouses in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia to capture more of the rural market, reaching 150 stores. He later told the DBT that the distribution center would target more stories in Delaware as well as the adjacent region.

Aldi currently has 10 locations in Delaware, as far south as Rehoboth Beach and as far north as Wilmington. The grocery chain has 68 stories in Maryland, 166 in Pennsylvania and 74 in Virginia — the three states easily accessed through the three major highways that cross through Delaware.

Rep. Ed Osienski (D-Newark) pressed Castle on whether Aldi would be hiring local subcontractors during the two-year construction period. Aldi has partnered with design-build firm A M King since 2004, but Castle said that they would be open to bidding out projects for subcontractors, with the idea of hiring between 500 to 700 construction workers.

“We want to make sure that we don’t see a construction parking lot full of out-of-state tags,” Osienski said.