A new Aldi grocery store is scheduled to open on Airport Boulevard in Mobile on Wednesday, Sept. 21, marking the discount grocer’s third location in the city and its latest expansion across the region.
The German-owned chain, known for stripped-down store layouts and heavily discounted private-label products, has been rapidly building out its footprint across south Alabama and the surrounding Gulf Coast over the past two years. The Airport Boulevard location will join two other Mobile County stores that opened earlier this year, one on Schillinger Road that debuted June 30 and another in Tillmans Corner that opened March 3.
Aldi’s shopping model differs from many traditional grocery chains. Customers typically bag their own groceries and pay a small deposit to use a shopping cart, which is refunded when the cart is returned to a corral. The company says the approach, along with a smaller selection of mostly store-brand products, helps keep prices low. Aldi operates more than 2,000 stores nationwide.
The company’s expansion into the Mobile area traces back to a $100 million distribution center it built in Loxley, first announced in July 2020 as part of a broader Gulf Coast growth plan. Construction on the facility began in February 2021, and the hub was designed to support as many as 100 new Aldi stores across Alabama, Georgia, the Florida Panhandle and Mississippi, with roughly 35 of those locations targeted to be open by the end of that expansion push.
The Loxley facility gave Aldi its first foothold in Baldwin County, and stores tied to the distribution center have since opened in Daphne, Foley and Pensacola in addition to the new Mobile County locations.
Ahead of the Airport Boulevard opening, Aldi has been advertising openings for both store and warehouse positions through its hiring portal. Store associates start at $15 an hour, while warehouse workers begin at $19 an hour, according to the company’s listings.
The new store adds to a growing cluster of Aldi locations serving shoppers across Mobile and Baldwin counties, giving area residents another option for grocery shopping as the chain continues to build out its presence along the central Gulf Coast.