Fresh off the back of opening its milestone 1,000th UK branch in Woking last month, Aldi has now published a list of 12 locations nationwide where it will be opening brand-new stores before the end of 2023.
Part of the supermarket retailer‘s nationwide expansion plans of opening an average of one new store a week, every week, before Christmas is here, also adding to the long-term target of having a total of 1,500 stores serving in the UK, the Greater Manchester town of Oldham is set to get itself two new Aldi stores in the coming weeks.
Aldi revealed where 12 new stores will open in the UK before Christmas / Credit: Aldi
One of them, on Lees Road in the busy Lees area of the town, is even set to open its doors this month – with another on Broadway Green in Chadderton coming before the new year.
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The locations of 12 new Aldi stores
Chip Lane, Taunton
Lees Road, Oldham
Pompey Centre Retail Park, Portsmouth
Portrack Lane, Stockton
Fforestfach Retail Park, Swansea
Farnborough Gate, Farnborough
Becket Way, West Bridgford
Causeway Park, Staines-upon-Thames
Gateway Retail Park, Reading
Alvis Retail Park, Coventry
Broadway Green, Chadderton
Westway Retail Park, Cumbernauld
Each new store opening will create around 40 new jobs on average.
Aldi currently has 1,000 UK stores and employs more than 36,000 people – with its starting pay for Store Assistants currently being an industry-leading £11.40 per hour nationally, and the retailer still remaining the only supermarket in the UK to offer paid breaks too.
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Each new store opening will create around 40 new jobs on average / Credit: Aldi
The news that Oldham’s set to get itself two new Aldi stores comes after the retailer launched a massive recruitment drive last month, and revealed that it’s looking for a whopping 3,000 new staff members, both temporary and permanent, to join its teams at stores right across the UK ready for the busy Christmas period.
“We’re welcoming more and more customers through our doors each week,” Aldi’s Real Estate Director, George Brown, explained, “Which is why we’re investing in new stores up and down the country to bring our great value groceries to even more people and meet the growing demand for Aldi.
“Shoppers know they’ll always get more for their money when they shop with us, and we’re confident Aldi’s success will continue to grow.”
Featured Image – Aldi
Shopping
One of Manchester’s biggest vintage shops to close after a decade
Daisy Jackson
One of the biggest and best vintage shops in Manchester has announced its imminent closure.
Thrift Shop, which is part of the legendary Cow Vintage family, has said that the landlord of its store has ‘chosen not to renew our lease’.
The beloved vintage shop has been in its spot just off Piccadilly Gardens for a decade, with colourful rails stuffed with pre-loved denim, coats, dresses, accessories, and more.
Ahead of its closure this week, Thrift Shop has announced details of a major closing down sale, aiming to get rid of all its stock.
Initially touted as two for £10 on all thrift items, they’ve now slashed prices even further and are offering three items for £10.
That does exclude their ‘premium’ items, where you can snap up big labels like Carhartt and Levi’s.
Sharing the sad news of its closure online, Thrift Shop Manchester wrote: “We are gutted to announce the closure of beloved Manchester store.
Thrift Shop Manchester is throwing a huge closing down sale
“Last week we found out our landlord chose not to renew our lease after over ten years in this unit.
“To bid our farewell, we’re doing a MASSIVE closing down sale to get rid of all stock !!!! All Thrift items will be 2 for £10 until our last trading day on 30th May!!
“We’ve absolutely loved serving you for all these years, so long, farewell and, as always, get thrifty.”
In the comments, fellow independent retailer Thunder Egg – which just had to move out of its Oldham Street store (but is still in Afflecks) – commented: “So sorry to hear this, retail landlords in Manchester are absolutely in their sh*tbag era right now.”
Thrift Shop Manchester will close for good on Saturday 30 May.
Demolition and regeneration plans for former Manchester shopping centre to begin next month
Emily Sergeant
Plans to demolish and regenerate a former shopping centre in a Manchester suburb are set to kick off from next month.
Following planning approval at the end of 2025, major plans to transform the former Chorlton Cross Shopping Centre into a ‘thriving’ new destination to live and shop are set to commence with demolition in the next couple of weeks.
If you’re unfamiliar with the plans for the new Chorlton neighbourhood, they include 262 one, two, and three-bedroom apartments, all with access to outdoor space through balconies and gardens, 53 affordable homes – with 49 of them being available for social rent – and around 3,500 sq metres of public open space with fully walkable routes and outdoor seating areas.
A mix of flexible retail spaces, including a new ‘Makers Yard’ suitable for smaller start-up businesses will also be included, alongside new tree planting.
Phase one of the project will involve the dismantling the former shopping centre and neighbouring Graeme House buildings.
According to developers, the first step will be to close the precinct car park at the end of this month, before new hoardings are installed around the site to close the area off to pedestrians and vehicles for safety reasons.
The demolition work is expected to begin in mid-June, and be completed by August.
Where possible, materials from the existing buildings will be reused during construction of the new neighbourhood in a bid to help reduce the number of vehicles needed to remove materials from the site.
“Demolition marks another major milestone for the project, which will completely transform the former shopping centre,” commented Georgina Lynch, who is the managing director at Manchester-based developers, PJ Livesey.
“Our demolition contractor will carefully manage any issues throughout the work, and we will continue to stay in regular contact with local residents and businesses as the demolition progresses.”
Emily Sergeant -
19th October 2023 
