Aldi plans more than 3,000 US stores by end of 2028

The 2028 target

Bloomberg's projection would take Aldi from 2,614 US stores at the end of 2025 to more than 3,000 by the end of 2028. That would put it ahead of every US grocery chain by store count except Walmart.

Aldi's own $9bn US expansion plan, announced after it bought about 400 Winn Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets in 2023, called for nearly 800 new stores by the end of 2028, Bisnow reported. The two figures are not directly comparable: the 2,614 count is a year-end 2025 base, while the 800 figure is a gross opening target over five years that includes stores already opened since 2023.

Openings in 2026

Aldi said in January it would open more than 180 US stores in 2026, after nearly 200 in 2025, CNBC reported. The 2025 openings marked its biggest expansion since it opened its first US store in Iowa in 1976. The company said the 2026 sites will include locations on the traditional turf of rival supermarkets and big-box stores. The January plan also includes entry into Maine, its 40th state, a website relaunch in 2026 and new distribution centers in Florida, Arizona and Colorado over the next five years.

Store count and market share

Aldi had 2,614 US stores as of 31 December 2025, CNBC reported. By store count it ranks third, behind Walmart and Kroger. By market share it is far smaller: Numerator put Aldi at 2.8% of the US grocery market in data through early October 2025, with Walmart at 21%, followed by Kroger, Costco, Albertsons and Publix. The BBC reported that Aldi held 2.9% of the US grocery market, while Walmart controlled about 20%. NPR put Aldi's 2024 US sales at about $29bn, more than Trader Joe's.

Traffic and shoppers

Aldi's US store visits rose 8% in 2025 from the prior year, compared with 5.9% growth at Costco and 0.5% at Walmart, according to Placer.ai data cited by CNBC. Store traffic had already risen more than 50% from 2019 to 2024, according to Placer.ai and real estate firm JLL.

Placer.ai data cited by the BBC showed Aldi drawing households with incomes between $75,000 and $125,000. Aldi said it brought in 17 million new US customers in 2025, NPR reported in May.

An AlixPartners survey of 1,635 grocery shoppers found the share spending most of its grocery budget in the traditional channel fell in every key group compared with 2024. CNBC reported that households earning more than $100,000 dropped 7 percentage points and shoppers aged 25 to 34 fell 6 points. Atty McGrath, chief executive of Aldi US, said consumers are "not looking for fancy stores, and tens of thousands of different items to choose from." Matthew Hamory of AlixPartners said Kroger, Albertsons and Ahold Delhaize have lost ground as discounters sell produce, meat and staples for less.

How Aldi keeps costs low

Aldi is privately held and does not share financial results, CNBC reported. More than 80% of Aldi products are private-label versions, NPR reported, and the chain stocks a limited selection of items, often just one of each rather than a variety of brands, sizes and versions. Phil Lempert, a grocery industry analyst quoted by NPR, said budget stores tend to be smaller than a typical 40,000-square-foot supermarket, carry fewer items and run with smaller staffs. Aldi does not unpack boxes of canned goods, he said, but has staff tear off the tops and put the boxes straight on shelves.