I’ll start by admitting my own bias: I’m not a fan of Aldi. While they certainly know their business, I much prefer Joe V’s or WinCo (when available) in the discount grocer segment. While I could, and potentially should one day fill a post with my criticisms, for the purposes of this article, I’ll keep my bias to a minimum. Aldi hasn’t opened a new store in Houston in the past five years, putting them only behind Kroger in terms of new development. Prior to this 2020 pause, Aldi had been building on average 2-3 stores in the Houston area per year. The newest store in Houston is the location at 2550 Gessner, which opened in December 2020. The location was completed in 2020, with work presumably pausing during the lockdown. Along with this store, another was planned for the approximate location of the old Tomball Luby’s at FM 2920 and 249. Permits for the store were filed in 2019 and pulled in 2023. It’s not entirely clear why Aldi pulled back from a location in Tomball, but the property has sat vacant since.
In fairness to Aldi, they have had a lot of focus since their 2024 purchase of Winn-Dixie; they have been converting W/D locations. Logically, one would assume that some of this Florida growth has been aided by Aldi’s Rosenberg distribution center (which they insist on mispelling as Rosenburg). However, Aldi shows on its website that the local D/C serves only the Houston metro area. Aldi has also been expanding in Texas, with store openings picking back up in 2024. This new growth has focused on Austin and DFW, as well as a few fast-growing, smaller towns. In a statement that will likely cause more outrage than a German company misspelling a Swiss-born railroad employee’s last name. Aldi also seems to consider Austin a part of Houston, as stores like Cedar Park are served by our DC.
So what’s going on with Aldi? Well, in my opinion, they haven’t petered out. I think they’re instead playing the long game here. One of the things I do like about Aldi is that they’re tiny. Which means finding a plot for Aldi to develop isn’t that difficult. I do think some of this delay is due to the intense grocery wars going on in DFW. It does make sense that in the Lone Star State, Aldi tries to put its best foot forward in markets where HEB is trying to dominate, rather than in ones where it already does. HEB and, by extension, Joe V’s are dominant here. If Aldi is planning to compete effectively, they’ll need to carefully select locations. I think at some point we’ll see Aldi fill in specifically along the West side of town.
Henry Rosenberg was a lot more than a “Railroad employee”. He was the president of two different lines and an incredible businessman and philanthropist.