Aldi Sets Opening Date for First Centre County Store

Discount grocery store chain Aldi plans to open its first Centre County location on Oct. 28, the company confirmed on Thursday.

The 20,422-square-foot store at 1798 N. Atherton St. is the first building at the Patton Crossing development, the 30-acre commercial and residential development on the site of the former Penn State Mobile Home Park site.

“We look forward to serving the State College residents and providing them the best grocery shopping experience,” Aldi Saxonburg Division Vice President J.R. Perry wrote in a statement.

Plans approved by Patton Township last year show 101 paved parking spaces for the store. Access to the property will be from the new driveway off of Atherton, opposite Woodycrest Street.

Aldi is known for discount prices on custom-branded groceries and household items, and driving down costs through efficient store design and practices such as charging a quarter to rent a shopping cart and making bags available only for a fee.

Like other Aldi locations, the North Atherton Street store will have 15 to 20 employees.

“At ALDI, we streamline our approach to staffing, creating cost-saving efficiencies that are passed onto our customers,” Perry wrote.

Aldi has more than 2,000 stores in 37 states and is on track to become the nation’s third largest grocer by next year.

While its first Centre Region store is just getting ready to open, Aldi already has a second in the works. Construction is under way for an Aldi store on the former on the former Krentzman Supply property at the corner of Benner Pike and Shiloh Road in College Township.