New Aldi opens soon in the Northland

Aldi, a discount grocery store chain, plans to open its new Northland store on Dec. 15.

The first 100 shoppers in line at 8:45 a.m. will receive a “golden ticket.” After entering the store they exchange the ticket for an envelope containing a gift card worth up to $100.

Aldi also will be handing out an eco-friendly bag to customers and they will be able to sample products. They also will have a chance to enter a sweepstakes for free produce for a year (a gift worth $525) through 8 p.m. that day.

The new Aldi store, at 8780 N. Ambassador Drive, will be the 20th area store for the company. Aldi operates nearly 1,600 stores in 34 states.

At Aldi, customers bring their own bags or buy one of its reusable ones at checkout. The company said its brands are made “of the same, or even higher, quality than national brands.”

While a typical supermarket can carry about 30,000 items, Aldi says it carries only the weekly basics, which leads to lower rent and electricity costs, and it can pass those savings on to customers.

This story was originally published December 5, 2016 at 9:38 AM with the headline "New Aldi opens soon in the Northland."