Valley Stream Aldi opens to much fanfare

Dozens of shoppers flocked to the Green Acres Commons annex early on Feb. 27, lining up outside for the grand opening of Aldi supermarket, the first location of the German chain to open in Nassau County.

People braved the cold that morning, some waiting two hours for the chance to be first inside the supermarket, which, Aldi officials say, has lower prices than its competitors, as well as a six-aisle layout intended for easier navigation.

“We are very excited to open an Aldi store right in Valley Stream,” said Brendan Gerrity, operations director for the new location. “We hope to focus on providing low prices, and we’ve got a great team on board to serve customers.” 

Representatives of the Valley Stream business community were on hand for the opening, and Chamber of Commerce President Dominick Minerva said the new store would diversify business offerings in the area.

“This specialty grocery store will provide additional food offerings to Valley Stream residents, which will help differentiate the business market,” Minerva said. “We have a diverse and very populated community, so I feel that the company thought Valley Stream would be a good market for them.”

Aldi, which is short for Albrecht Discount, was founded by the Albrecht family, led by brothers Theo and Karl. Together, they opened the first Aldi in 1961, which was the first discount grocery store of its time, according to the company. Since then, the chain has grown to include thousands of locations around the world, including more than 1,600 in the United States.

The company said that the 12,000-square-foot Valley Stream Aldi is part of an aggressive expansion planned in the United States. By the end of 2022, company officials hope to become the third-largest grocery retailer in the country by store count. It now has nearly 2,000 stores in 36 states. The other location planned for Long Island is in North Babylon.

Aldi opened its first supermarket on the Island in 2011, with locations in Suffolk County, as well as in Queens and Brooklyn. The Valley Stream store is the first Aldi opened in the area since 2016.

Company officials said Valley Stream was chosen because it was looking for locations with high shopper traffic volume. “We want to open stores in convenient locations for our customer base, and the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream naturally met this requirement,” Aldi South Windsor Division Vice President Bruce Persohn said in a statement.

The Valley Stream opening came with great fanfare, with store, local business and government officials gathering for a ribbon-cutting as customers filed in.

Many said they looked forward to a different kind of food shopping experience.  “I will be able to afford more organic produce,” said Valley Streamer Shanika Sutherland, who had waited online for nearly two hours to enter. “This is exciting because I will be able to eat healthier.” 

“So far, shopping here has been great because the prices are good,” said Queens resident Anne Jernigan, as she pushed a cart full of water bottles, Gatorade and muffins. “I think people from other communities will come here.”

Another Queens resident, Etasha Johnson, said she looked forward to shopping at the Valley Stream Aldi, which is closer to her home than Aldi’s other nearest location in Brooklyn.

“Long Island really needed one,” she said. “I’m really excited for the low prices, quality of food, and I only have to travel 20 minutes to get here.” 

“I like to compare prices,” Queens village resident Karen Smith-Davis said. “I only have to pay 40 cents for a can of beans to make my chili, in comparison to other supermarkets, where beans that are on sale cost at least a dollar.”

When Lynbrook resident Karen Woessner heard about Aldi’s grand opening, she said she immediately wanted to attend because she had heard good things about the food. 

“I heard the red bag chicken cutlets are good, and I want to try those,” she said, as she browsed the food aisles. “I used to shop at Walmart, and food here seems more quality than Walmart.”

With a young daughter at home to take care of, Shayla Cruz, a resident of Springfield Gardens, Queens, said she hoped find cheaper organic food for her family.

“I know that most foods have preservatives in them, but I think organic food might have less,” she said. “I want to make sure my little girl is getting her nutrients and keeping toxic chemicals away from her as much as I can.”

Cruz is also pleased with the proximity of the Aldi to her home. “This is 10 minutes from my house in comparison to the 40 minutes I would have to drive to get to other supermarkets,” she said.   

The opening was not without controversy. The commons annex in which the Aldi is located is the subject of an ongoing payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement made in 2015 with the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency and the mall’s California-based owner, Macerich.

The PILOT resulted in sharp property-tax increases for both District 30 and Central High School District home and business owners. The hikes were later revealed in a 2017 audit by the state comptroller’s office to have been caused by a budgeting error in which the two districts under-budgeted the PILOTs they would receive by as much as $1.8 million.