Aldi to test lower prices in St. Louis area
Aldi, the German discount grocery chain, has chosen St. Louis as the test market for a price-cutting program aimed at bringing in new customers in a weakening economy.
Under the pilot program, Aldi will lower prices on more than 100 commonly purchased items at all 38 St. Louis area stores over a nine-week period. Customers can expect to see prices lowered from 12 percent to 27 percent on a range of items from macaroni to chicken breasts, the company said.
Costs will be cut on about 10 items in the first week, starting Sunday.
This is the first time that Aldi has launched a broad price-cutting program, and if it is successful, it will implement similar tests in other areas of the United States, the company said. The company defined success as increasing sales of the items and attracting shoppers.
St. Louis was chosen for the initial test because it is a highly competitive grocery market, said Paul Piorkowski, division vice president.
"It’s a leading indicator market for us," he said, adding that if the program is successful, it could lead to permanent price changes freecreditreport.
The price reductions are intended to increase store traffic and reward loyal customers, Piorkowski said.
"With the way inflation is pushing hard on our customers, we believe they will appreciate what we’re doing," he said.
Although St. Louis area supermarket chains have previously lowered prices out of concern over Wal-Mart’s expansion into this area, Piorkowski said that was not the reason for the Aldi action.
"We are ready to compete against Wal-Mart Supercenters, but we are not doing this in response to Wal-Mart," he said.
Aldi, which focuses heavily on its own private label, entered the U.S. market in 1976 and has almost 900 stores in 27 states.
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