If there’s a big gorilla amidst the 2024 Hot 25 Retailers, it has to be Aldi. “Far and away, Aldi is coming out of the shadows and showing just how big they are,” says Kantar Senior Vice President David Marcotte. “And that’s international. It’s not just the U.S. People woke up the other day and discovered that Aldi is a $130 billion company.”
A longtime schism in the family has been resolved, which has had an impact. But that’s not all. There’s the appeal of price, value and a sense of discovery. Consider the Aldi Finds section in the middle of the store with rotating limited-edition, typically seasonal, typically non-food items. The selection can be remarkable in its diversity; Aldi enthusiasts call it the “aisle of shame” for its ability to woo shoppers to lose their self-control — and budgets.
“I always tell people, if you really want to know how surprising Aldi can be, I bought my power generator from them,” Marcotte says. “I bought a $450 power generator that was probably $150 cheaper than anyplace else. That was seven or eight years ago, and it’s still running.”
Aldi has made an intentional move toward back-to-class offerings, “and they’ve actually been pretty aggressive with it,” he says. “Back-to-college has turned into a season for a lot of these retailers, in a way that back-to-school doesn’t quite deliver anymore.”
Between that Aldi Finds area, the selection of unique food items and the characteristically lower prices, Marcotte believes the company’s success will not be short-lived.
“It’s my expectation that they’re going to show up on this list consistently for the next couple of years,” Marcotte says. “They’re going to put a lot of money into growth.”
