Charlotte grocery options expand yet again as Aldi sets date to open new store
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- ALDI will open its new University City store in Charlotte on September 4, 2025.
- Grocery competition increases as over 729 stores vie for $10.4B Charlotte market.
- Grocers like Publix, Wegmans, and Trader Joe’s continue aggressive regional expansion.
ALDI is expanding again in Charlotte, the latest move to compete for a piece of the $10.4 billion market share. for grocery stores in the region.
The discount German grocer will open its University City store at 9609 N. Tryon St. on Sept. 4, according to the company’s website. ALDI officials have not responded to repeated requests for comment from The Charlotte Observer.
In 2023, The Press Box Bar & Grill closed on the endcap of the Terraces at University Place, followed by other nearby stores, to make way for development, CharlotteFive reported. ALDI is the new anchor of the center.
ALDI has 33 stores in the Charlotte region, according to sales tracking firm Chain Store Guide.
ALDI is competing with many other grocers to grab a piece of the market share among 729 grocery stores in the Charlotte region.
Just last week, Sprouts Farmers Market debuted its third Charlotte store at One NoDa Park in the mixed-use development by Avery Hall Southeast. Crowds lined up around the block when it opened Friday.
In 2023, the Phoenix-based specialty grocery chain opened its second store at 14124 Steele Creek Road in Steele Creek, five years after making its Charlotte debut at 15121 Ballancroft Parkway in Ballantyne.
In February, ALDI said it plans to open more than 225 new locations this year as part of the next phase of its five-year national growth strategy.
Back in 2020, the grocery chain said it would add three more stores in the Charlotte region as part of the company’s plan to become the third-largest U.S. grocer. That same year, ALDI opened stores in Gastonia, Cornelius and Indian Land, S.C.
Grocery store competition in Charlotte
Even as new grocery stores open in Charlotte, some are closing.
Last month, specialty grocer Earth Fare confirmed it was closing its store at 8885 Christenbury Parkway in Concord for a second time, citing “unacceptable” lease renewal terms. In January, the Asheville-based specialty grocer also closed its Ballantyne store citing the intense grocery store competition as one of the factors.
Still, more grocers are expanding in Charlotte, which is seeing a record number of people moving into the region on a daily basis.
- Last month, Publix said it would open a 50,000-square-foot store to anchor the 82-acre Cadia Matthews mixed-use development at Stallings and Idlewild roads. In May, Publix opened its nearly 47,000-square-foot store at Clear Creek Crossings on Albemarle Road in east Charlotte. In March, The Lakeland, Florida, supermarket opened a 55,477-square-foot store at 11525 Carmel Commons Blvd. Publix also plans to open more stores at The Arboretum, the 10 Tryon building in uptown, at the corner of Sharon and Colony roads in South Park and in Wesley Chapel in Union County.
- In January, Food Lion opened at 155 Crosstie Lane in Troutman, about 35 miles north of uptown Charlotte in Iredell County. The Salisbury grocery chain has opened 11 stores in four states since 2022, including 2201 West W. T. Harris Blvd. and 5939 Weddington Road in Charlotte and 11745 Statesville Blvd., in Cleveland.
- Lowes Foods expects to open an Indian Land, S.C., store in September and a Waxhaw location early next year. Last August, Lowes opened a Concord store in Christenbury Village shopping center, near the Earth Fare that is closing.
- Next year, Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans is expected to make its Charlotte debut with a 110,000-square-foot grocery store on the east side of Ballantyne in south Charlotte. Construction is underway.
- In 2027, Harris Teeter will open two 60,000-square-foot stores in York County, South Carolina — a Fort Mill store on Fort Mill Parkway and one in Lake Wylie at 5366 Hwy. 55 E., according to The Herald.
- Trader Joe’s specialty grocer will open its fourth Charlotte-area store in Matthews.
- California-based grocer Spangler’s will build an 8,000-square-foot store at Kohler and Statesville avenues, north of uptown.
- Historic West End Partners is planning a 15,000-square-foot cooperative grocery store in partnership with Weaver Street Market, which has four stores in the Raleigh region.
- The West Boulevard Coalition is opening Charlotte’s first cooperative grocery store, Three Sisters Market. The full-service grocery store will debut in an area that has been without a traditional supermarket for over 30 years. The opening was expected this year but has stalled due to lack of funding.
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This story was originally published August 26, 2025 at 5:37 AM with the headline "Charlotte grocery options expand yet again as Aldi sets date to open new store."
