Aldi said early last year it would carry out an immense store growth strategy through a combination of new openings and store conversions. Now, in 2025, that tactic is in full swing as the Winn-Dixie stores it’s rapidly converting play a pivotal role.
The discounter has made over 100 new store announcements and opened roughly 70 of those locations since the start of this year. This puts it on track to debut more than 200 stores across the country in 2025, an Aldi spokesperson confirmed via email, adding that Aldi’s store count will reach around 2,600 in the U.S. by the end of this year.
Aldi has stores across 24 states and Washington, D.C.
Here’s a breakdown of Aldi’s expansion so far this year, and what’s fueling it based on a Grocery Dive analysis that included reviewing opening announcements since the beginning of this year.
Aldi’s strategy
Aldi’s rampant growth isn’t simply a bout of good fortune, but rather the payoff of some strategic acquisition moves.
In 2023, Aldi announced it had agreed to acquire Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket from Southeastern Grocers in a deal that included around 400 grocery store locations. Come February of this year, though, Aldi said it had sold more than 40% of the Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores it acquired along with the Southeastern Grocers business.
Aldi said it planned to convert the remaining 220 Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores still in its possession to Aldi locations, but did not give a timeline for these conversions.
So far, Aldi has successfully converted more than 40 Winn-Dixie stores to the Aldi format with “dozens” more anticipated to open before the end of this year, according to a company spokesperson.
Florida accounts for nearly half of Aldi's store announcements so far in 2025
Because of Winn-Dixie
Aldi’s expansion has stretched across the U.S., with the discounter entering Nevada this spring and solidifying its presence in the West by opening new locations in Southern California and Arizona, an Aldi spokesperson said.
But it’s the Southeast that has been the star of Aldi’s expansion, with Florida alone representing around half of all 2025 store announcements and openings. Of the nearly 50 locations Aldi has announced in the state over the past eight months, all but one are former Winn-Dixie locations that the grocer is converting to its own brand.
Aldi's expansion in the Sunshine state is expansive, stretching across numerous regions
And this trend continues throughout the region. Of the locations Aldi has announced or opened this year in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, more than half were once Winn-Dixie supermarkets.
