Retail Property - Aldi begins expansion push in Ireland with press campaign

German discount supermarket Aldi has launched a major advertising campaign in Ireland to find 80 new stores.

Aldi's in-house property department is looking for sites of more than 4,000 sq m, fronting main roads that can house a 1,200 sq m supermarket and 100 parking spaces. Catchments of more than 30,000 people are being sought.

The ultra-secretive German retailer has produced a site acquisition brochure and is running ads in the Irish Times publicising its requirements.

Aldi has set its sights on freehold green or brownfield sites, as well as edge-of-centre locations across the Republic. The retailer is also interested in leasing space in retail parks and district centres, or acquiring existing retail premises.

More Dublin stores are high on Aldi's shopping list. It operates two stores in the capital and a further eight across Ireland.

Aldi opened its first Irish supermarkets in 1999. Rival German food discounter Lidl, which also entered the Irish retail market in the late 1990s, has made stronger progress and now operates 36 supermarkets in the Republic. Unlike Aldi, Lidl is also active in Northern Ireland.

Both Aldi and Lidl have started seeking planning permission for gyms, creches, medical centres and retail units alongside their supermarkets, in the belief that Irish planning authorities are more likely to back mixed-use schemes.

Aldi, which operates 5,000 stores worldwide, has begun work on a new distribution centre 20 miles west of Dublin. It turns over an estimated EUR 130 million (£93.1 million) a year in Ireland and employs 900 staff.

Prices are up to 30 per cent lower than conventional supermarkets for mostly own-brand products imported from Germany. Only a small range of items, including milk, bread, fresh vegetables and meat, are sourced in Ireland.

Aldi and Lidl account for between 4 per cent and 6 per cent of the Irish grocery market. Recently, Irish Food and Drink Federation director Ciaran Fitzgerald warned 20,000 jobs could go if Aldi and Lidl are able to boost their market share, or the ban on supermarkets selling goods below cost is lifted.