German grocery chain plans local store as part of 2016 expansion

BY JOHN COX

WEDNESDAY, DEC 2, 2015

Aldi, a German discount grocery chain with ambitious expansion plans in California, is working on opening a store next year near Panama Lane and Highway 99.

The company said Wednesday it is looking to hire shift managers to help run a market it wants to open between March and July on undeveloped property at 2120 Panama Lane. A local hiring event is scheduled for Saturday.

Aldi owns several thousand European groceries and more than 1,300 U.S. stores in 32 states. Aldi announced in June it will open 25 locations in California by July of next year and expand to 45 by the end of 2016.

Seen as a competitor to Walmart’s growing grocery business, Aldi controls costs by limiting selection and offering its own brand of assorted products. Its stores typically employ about 20 workers and measure 10,000 square feet, though the Bakersfield location is expected to cover some 18,000 square feet.

Bakersfield broker Duane Keathley, whose firm Cushman & Wakefield | Pacific Commercial Realty Advisors represents Aldi locally, said the grocer may eventually open half a dozen stores in the area.

WANTED: SHIFT MANAGERS

A large, international grocery chain named Aldi says it wants to hire an undisclosed number of shift managers in the near term to help run a new store it will open next year at 2120 Panama Lane.

The company has scheduled a hiring event for 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Bakersfield Marriott at the Convention Center, 801 Truxtun Ave.

Aldi said it pays its shift managers $18 per hour, or up to $23 per hour with tenure.

Retail experience is preferred but not required. In a “job requirements” list, the company said applicants must:

• be at least 18 years old;

• have a high-school diploma or have passed a GED equivalency test;

• be available to work between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m. Monday through Sunday;

• pass a drug screening and background check, and;

• be able to lift 45 pounds.

The company does not see itself as neighborhood-focused, Keathley said, noting the Panama Lane store’s easy freeway access.

“They don't want to be (a) neighborhood (store) like, let's say, a Vons,” he said. “They want to be a little bit more regionally located.”

He drew a distinction between Aldi and a store like Trader Joe’s, which caters to wealthier customers.

“They (Aldi) want to hit the mass and they want to be the low-price leader,” Keathley said.

Aldi prides itself on paying higher wages and offering better benefits than other grocery stores.

The company said in a June news release its associates receive starting wages of $13 per hour, and that long-standing workers earn up to $21 per hour. It said employees work 33 to 40 hours per week on average and are eligible for health insurance, dental coverage and the opportunity to participate in a 401(k) retirement savings program with matching contributions by the company.

“We recognize and value the excellent customer service that our employees at every level deliver each day, and we know that we would not be growing at this accelerated pace without them,” Aldi CEO Jason Hart said in the release.

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