Aldi is extending the trial of its Local store fascia, following the success of its first such shop that opened in Balham earlier this year.

Retail Week understands the discounter will open a new Local store in Camden, north London, next Thursday and will begin converting existing stores in Archway, Eastcote, Kingston, Kilburn, Tooting and Romford to the new format.

A source close to Aldi said the Camden store will be 6,400 sq ft and will stock 1,500 of the grocer’s 1,800 SKUs – much the same as the Balham, south London, store, which opened in March.

The source said the six stores it will be converting are already smaller than a conventional Aldi store and will be slightly reconfigured.

Retail Week understands the initial Balham store has received very positive feedback from customers, and Aldi is extending the trial to evaluate the needs of customers living and working in different parts of London.

The discounter will then evaluate the results of the extended trial before deciding whether to permanently introduce the Local fascia across the rest of the capital.

The grocer opened its first UK store in 1990 and now has 830 across the UK and Ireland.

Topics