The hanging of the Aldi sign begins. Photo by Max Bolotov
The new Aldi Food Market (3785 Nostrand Ave) is coming alive. Photographs reveal that the low-cost food market, a sister company to Trader Joe’s, has begun to hang up their storefront signs.
Last October Sheepshead Bites was first to report on the construction of the new Aldi Food Market being built on the same spot that once occupied a Pathmark. The new food market will only be half the size of the Pathmark at 18,000 square feet and is expected to employ less people, but it’s still another shopping option for those lamenting the loss of the supermarket.
“Now I can walk the neighborhood without people asking when and where we’ll have a new supermarket,” Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein told Sheepshead Bites last October.
Thanks to Erica Sherman, Bart E. and Max Bolotov for the latest photographs of the construction efforts at the Aldi spot.
Photo by Bart E.
A Peek Inside The Construction of Aldi’s Interior. Photo By Erica Sherman
A Look At Aldi’s Customer Parking Lot. Photo By Max Bolotov
A Coming Soon Sign Pasted In The Store Window. Photo By Erica Sherman
Aldi Food Market, slated to replace the defunct Pathmark at 3785 Nostrand Avenue next October, will be only half the size of its predecessor, but local pols say that it will still fulfill their promise of bringing in a notable anchor tenant to revitalize the commercial corridor, restore shoppers’ options and revive jobs in the community.
Sheepshead Bites has learned that the former Pathmark location, which occupied 35,000 square feet, is being subdivided into two storefronts, with Aldi filling 18,000 square feet of the property. The second tenant has not yet been signed. Both will have Nostrand Avenue storefronts (as opposed to Pathmark, which had its entrance on the south side of the building), and rooftop parking will remain at the location.
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, Councilman Lew Fidler and Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo joined with representatives of the Lefrak organization and Aldi market today to announce that the German-based grocer has signed on to replace Pathmark at 3785 Nostrand Avenue.
The storefront has sat empty since April 2011 as local elected and the landlord, Lefrak, scrambled to find a supermarket replacement – one of the top constituent demands, the pols said.
“This is a location that has hundreds of thousands of people desperate for a store they could walk to. I know because when I walk around and talk to residents, that’s the only question they want to know,” said Weinstein. “They don’t want to know what’s happening in Albany, they don’t want to know what’s happening in the budget. They just want to know, ‘When can I walk with my cart to go to the store and buy something?’”
YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Neighbors who want a Trader Joe’s to replace Pathmark at 3785 Nostrand Avenue may be happy to learn that Aldi, a low-cost food market owned by Trader Joe’s parent company, will soon serve up fresh produce and other groceries from the currently defunct storefront beginning late next year.
A customer service representative for the international company confirmed to Sheepshead Bites that Aldi is slated to open at 3785 Nostrand Avenue in October 2013.
Aldi, based in Germany, operates more than 1,200 stores in the United States, and is owned by the same parent company as Trader Joe’s. The company has been growing, with plans to add 80 stores this year to its roster of 75 existing operations. They opened their first two New York City locations in 2011 – first in Queens and a second in the Bronx. And, earlier this month, they celebrated the grand opening of a Manhattan location.
