The Aldi location in Clovis is seen on its opening day October 2019. File Photo

The Aldi grocery chain wants to open a new store in Visalia but is facing some pushback.

The German retailer is appealing a city planning staff ruling that it does not meet the classification as a specialty food store allowed in current zoning on South Mooney Boulevard. The appeal will be heard by the Visalia Planning Commission March 23.

Aldi wants to locate in a future master planned development within the C-R (regional commercial) zone/land use district. The development is located on the southeast corner of South Mooney Boulevard and West Visalia Parkway. The vacant site is within the city limits but is part of a 40-acre development that seeks annexation into the city.

The development is south of the Packwood Creek shopping center and across Mooney from a proposed CarMax project that is on the same agenda March 23. That project also faces rules that limit auto dealers on Mooney.

Regarding grocery stores, the existing City of Visalia rule does not allow supermarkets or grocers in regional commercial zones, but there is an exception for specialty stores.

 

Aldi has been rumored to want a Visalia location for more than a decade. It has already opened stores in Porterville, Hanford and Clovis, but never pulled the trigger in Visalia — until now.

With more than 11,000 locations worldwide, the Aldi grocery business is owned by a German chain that also owns Trader Joe’s, but has a different model than its sister firm. Known as a no-frills store with extremely low prices, Aldi has more than 1,600 stores in the United States and is on track to become the third-largest grocery chain in the US by store count by 2022.

The average store is about 12,000 square feet — much smaller than a full-size 50,000 square-foot supermarket. The company does not appear to mind going head-to-head with Walmart or Costco, as this location is just blocks from both in Visalia.

Aldi may be getting a good deal from the property owner since the majority of the proposed shopping center acreage at the site needs annexation approval — not always a sure thing considering the amount of existing, available retail space in Visalia. City staff suggests they will approve the annexation. However, it will then be up to the city council.