Halfmoon Aldi debuts new look at reopening

PHOTOGRAPHER: Ethan Travis

Customers shop Thursday in the reopened Halfmoon Aldi.

HALFMOON — The Route 9 Aldi reopened Thursday following an overhaul aimed at providing customers with a sleeker, more modern grocery store.

The shop, at 1681 Route 9, had been closed for about five weeks. It will now be open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Just before the opening, customers began to congregate outside the store, many carrying reusable grocery bags. Several talked about how much they missed the grocery store while it was closed.

The Route 9 Aldi opened 16 years ago, and the update added a 10,000-square-foot sales floor with five newly widened aisles. The parking lot has also been freshly paved.

The new store offers a fresh fish section, along with an upgraded selection of organic meats. The freezer section was also expanded, and an updated, clean-energy cooling system with LED lighting has been installed throughout the store.

The remodel was part of Aldi’s $1.6 billion effort to upgrade more than 1,300 stores nationwide by 2020. Aldi took input from local customers into consideration when designing the new store.