Several Aldi stores opening soon in Southeastern PA

The Mercury reported recently that Aldi plans to open stores in Pottstown and Malvern, with the Pottstown store slated to open at the end of this month, and the Malvern store coming in the fall. And last week The Delaware County Times reported that Aldi would open on June 14 in the former Giant supermarket space in Brookhaven.

In addition, Aldi will begin construction in Lansdale once the former Super Fresh space is knocked down.

Aldi currently has more than 1,750 stores in 35 states, and has been aggressively opening new stores and renovating existing stores. The company plans to open about 750 new stores in the U.S. by the end of 2022.

Overall, Aldi has over 10,000 stores in 20 countries.

Save-A-Lot planning six new PA/NJ stores

It was reported last month that Save-A-Lot, the discount grocer that Supervalu is looking to spin off, plans to open six new stores in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Two of these stores will open soon in Philadelphia, and one in Norristown, PA. The other locations are planned for Lebanon, PA, Pottstown, PA and Trenton, NJ.

Bottom Dollar, Giant opening stores; Weis to close a store

New Bottom Dollar stores opened today in Ambler, PA and in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. These stores represent the 42nd and 43rd stores in the Greater Philadelphia Market. Bottom Dollar now operates 62 stores in PA, NJ and OH. The discount grocery chain, a subsidiary of Delhaize, is still not profitable.

Giant Food is scheduled to open on November 6 in a former Genuardi's location in Edgemont Square Shopping Center, Newtown Square, PA. The store, which has been vacant since 2010, is 43,000 SF. Giant, a division of Ahold, has about 200 stores in PA, MD, VA and WV.

Weis Markets announced last week that it will close its Pottstown supermarket in the next couple weeks due to "continuing under-performance." The 45,228 square foot store opened in 1995 and is in the same shopping center as Walmart. A new Giant opened in the last couple years less than a mile away. Despite the closure, Weis seems to be opening and renovating several stores.

 

Friendly's files for bankruptcy, closes 63 stores

Friendly Ice Cream Corp., which began in 1935 as a neighborhood ice cream shop and grew to more than 600 restaurants, filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday and immediately closed 63 stores. Thirty of the closed stores are in the company's home state of Massachusetts. Three stores closed in the Greater Philadelphia area (Trenton, Doylestown and Pottstown).

In a press release, Friendly's said it was a victim of a challenging economy, high supply costs and changing customer preferences. In a phone interview reported yesterday by The Boston Globe, Chief Executive Harsha V. Agadi said the company already has $70 million in financing secured and hopes for a speedy restructuring.

I'm enthusiastically hoping for such a turnaround. Despite applying for a job at the Clifton Park, NY Friendly's as a teenager (didn't get it; ended up at Price Chopper), it was my go-to place after a movie during my high school and college years. There was nothing like a Reese's Pieces Sundae (the five-scoop kind with Cookies'n Cream ice cream) and a side of fries at 11pm. And it seemed I knew half the people in the crowded restaurant, which I once heard was one of the top performing Friendly's in the country.