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STORE PROFILE ALDI MAKING ITS MARK IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA ALDI opened its 37th South Australian store at Mawson Lakes in Adelaide’s north at the end of August. round 160 tables of Special Buys are displayed at ALDI’s new Mawson Lakes store every Wednesday and Saturday. The promotion has become “incredibly popular”, ALDI Managing Director of South Australia Viktor Jakupec says. “It’s just one way we distinguish ourselves from other supermarkets,” he said. “Customers can stay up to date on Special Buys on the ALDI website or print catalogue.” Mr Jakupec says customers at the 1,246sqm store will find a “number of innovations that offer an enhanced shopping experience, with better product displays, improved navigation and a modern interior store design”. Features include redesigned shelving, improved point-of-sale displays and store signage, and a new dual-chute register design allowing for more room when customers move through the checkouts. He points out that partnerships with many South Australian businesses are key. These include Zarella Fresh in Northern Adelaide Plains (carrots, onions and potatoes), AG & HC Mason from Forest Range (fresh apples), and Spring Gully (gherkins and pickled onions). Mr Jakupec says that in 2018 alone, ALDI contributed more than $168 million to the South Australian economy through local business partnerships, operations and tax. The store, which forms part of a community hub where retail is mixed with cafes and health services, offers 174 parking lots for customers. “Mawson Lakes is seeing an urban renewal boom, with a steadily growing population upwards of 10,000,” Mr Jakupec said. “The revitalisation of the neighbourhood has drawn young families to the new housing available, and students visiting the nearby university campus, making it the perfect spot for ALDI to open the new store.” Sustainability has its place The refurbished store features expanded wooden produce bays and extended energy efficient chillers. “As energy management remains a key priority for ALDI, the store has energy efficient LED lighting,” Mr Jakupec said. “ALDI has also led the industry on a number of environmental programs, including being the first and only supermarket to offer a national battery- recycling scheme, the first supermarket to eliminate phosphate from our entire laundry range, and the first to eliminate microbeads storewide.” Last year, the retailer committed to reducing its plastic and packaging in-store by 25 per cent by 2025, which aligns with its decision to never offer single-use plastic bags, which it claims has diverted 40,000 tonnes of plastic from landfill. “As a business we want to minimise unsold food going to waste,” Mr Jakupec said. “Mawson Lakes, as with other ALDI stores, is linked to one or more food rescue partners, such as OzHarvest, Foodbank or SecondBite.” ALDI says it donated more than 10 million meals and 34,000 kg of non-food items to charity partners in 2019. The Mawson Lakes store follows ALDI’s ‘Good different’ approach instead of “sales slashes”, Mr Jakupec says, which means “customers can expect to find consistent and reliable everyday value at our checkouts”. “Every year, our impact on South Australia becomes more significant as our store network grows, with Mawson Lakes adding to the momentum,” he said. “Going forward, our focus is to continue to support local communities through new store openings, employment and food charity partnerships while enabling more South Australians to save on their grocery shop through top quality products at incredibly low prices and strong and enduring relationships with customers and business partners. “We’re pleased to bring our shopping experience to the local community and welcome all residents to come and visit us and provide feedback on their experience.” 16 RETAIL WORLD OCT, 2020