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Algonquin Aldi eyes move to Oakridge Court

The Algonquin Aldi is looking to relocate to 1100 S. Randall Road as part of an expansion that will include more offerings for customers.

Currently on 425 S. Randall Road, the grocery store would move to Lot 7 in Oakridge Court also in Algonquin.

Chris Stair, head of real estate for Aldi Inc., said the store is updating itself. This means increasing offerings, as the Aldi corporation goes through a nationwide remodeling.

For some stores, this has meant an expansion. Stair said because Aldi's current Algonquin location is "pretty much landlocked," and cannot be expanded, company officials started looking for other opportunities in the area.

"One of the things with this growth is the fact that we're rolling out probably about 1,650 additional items," Stair said. "We're focusing a lot on 'fresh;' fresh produce, organics, gluten-frees, things of that nature."

John Schoditsch, of Kensington Development Partners, said "in a perfect world," they would start construction on this development in the spring and open some time toward the end of this calendar year.

Kensington will redevelop the building shortly after the new location opens, Schoditsch said, and will work with Aldi on the plans. Once the new store is open, the old store will close, he said.

Ben Mason, senior planner for Algonquin, said the developer will look to find a new user for the building being vacated.

"They don't have any sort of plan for that just yet, but they would try to find a user for the property," Mason said. "Whether they keep the building, that's to be determined."

The current Aldi location is about 15,000 square feet. The new location would be 21,750 square feet. Also in Aldi's plans is a potential 2,000-foot expansion if they have more products to sell, Mason said, although this is not something they would do at the start of the project.

Schoditsch said they have been working with village staff on the project for about nine months, and there were a lot of "moving parts" to the project, as there were things that needed approval from the Aldi Corporation and the landlord.

The relocation was approved, 6-0, by the village's planning and zoning commission at a meeting on Monday. A couple members of the commission said they were happy to see Aldi would remain in the village for its expansion.

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