Is Aldi coming to San Francisco or Northern California? (full guide)
The beautiful city of San Francisco is known for its picturesque bay area, stunning bridge views and very expensive cost of living.
In fact, current data shows that the average rent in San Francisco is actually more expensive than real estate nightmare New York City!
Clearly, not everyone in San Francisco and Northern California is a millionaire, so how do they lower their daily utility bills like grocery bills?
Unfortunately, they don’t have the help of German discount grocer Aldi yet. Will Aldi come to San Francisco or Northern California? continue reading.
Is Aldi coming to San Francisco or Northern California?
Unfortunately, according to their announced plans, none of the Aldi stores are planned for San Francisco or Northern California. While it did open a new store in California, it was in Torrance, near Los Angeles. Aldi is on track to expand along the Gulf Coast, with a focus on states like Florida and Alabama.
To learn more about why Aldi isn’t coming to the San Francisco area, where stores can go if/when they decide, and where budget-conscious shoppers can go, see below!
Why isn’t Aldi entering San Francisco or Northern California?
Instead of building a factory in San Francisco or Northern California, Aldi is turning its attention to different parts of the U.S.
While we don’t know the thought process behind how the company came up with its plans, we can trust that Aldi has a team of marketing experts who can analyze everything from population density, discount grocery market competitiveness and potential building locations.
Aldi announced their US expansion plans back in 2017, when the chain had less than 2,000 stores in the US, but clearly, the company has heard the call to add more stores.
They’ll be focusing on two things: building new stores in California, Arizona, and especially Florida and the Gulf Coast, backed by a new distribution center that broke ground in Locksley, Alabama in the winter of 2021, and Renovation of the existing storefront area in the Northeast.
It follows Aldi’s first store opening in California’s Moreno Valley (outside of San Bernardino) in 2016; the expansion plans have focused new stores in Southern California rather than moving north in the giant state.
At the time of writing, Aldi has yet to share their plans, so who knows – they could be in any number of new cities or states in the near future!
If Aldi came to San Francisco or Northern California, where might the Aldi store be located?
Obviously, San Francisco would be an area where Aldi would very much like to open its first NorCal store — lots of people, but I think it’s going to be tricky to find enough real estate.
Sacramento would be another good city to see an Aldi store, along with Modesto, San Jose and Redding.
Keep in mind that California is close to some of the larger non-Aldi states, such as Nevada and Oregon, which will benefit from NorCal’s location; Nevada’s capital, Carson City, is just a two-hour drive from Sacramento.
Then Aldi in NorCal will benefit Californians; it could be a boon to neighboring states that don’t have any Aldi goodness.
Where is the closest Aldi to San Francisco and Northern California?
In a city like Seattle, where shoppers have to drive nearly 500 miles to get to Aldi, San Francisco folks don’t have to travel that far: It’s just 160 miles to its Fresno, Calif., location.
While not ideal, it’s not beyond the scope of a day trip.
Where can shoppers go instead of Aldi in San Francisco or Northern California?
Bay Area shoppers looking to take a break from the retail side can try grocery stores like Raley’s, Safeway and Lucky Supermarkets.
NorCal is also home to Costco and WinCo Foods, which offer more of a warehouse experience but with plenty of options, perfect for larger families on a budget.
If you want to learn more about Aldi, you can also read our related articles on whether Aldi is coming to Utah or Salt Lake City, whether Aldi is coming to Seattle or Washington, and whether Aldi is coming to Las Vegas or Nevada.
in conclusion
While San Francisco and NorCal residents won’t see Aldi stores in their area anytime soon, the discount supermarket is a two- to three-hour drive away.
I can’t imagine a world where Aldi doesn’t end up expanding into the Northern California area; we’ll all be eagerly anticipating the next move Aldi announces beyond 2022!
