Aldi customers definitely weren't waiting around for Thursday's advertised grand opening for the new store in Frazer.
Dozens were already taking in the sights during the store's “soft opening” on Wednesday.
The parking lot was packed by lunchtime. Inside, people could be seen bustling around picking items, pushing grocery-laden carts and bagging their own groceries.
“We've been waiting for this store to open,” one woman said.
The store, which is at the former OfficeMax space at the Pittsburgh Mills shopping complex, is part of a $3.4 billion investment plan Aldi recently announced.
It intends to expand to 2,500 stores nationwide by the end of 2022. Aldi has more than 1,600 stores in 35 states and serves more than 40 million customers each month.
The store is at 1040 Village Center Drive and is part of the mall's Village shops, among them Lowe's, Best Buy, a new state liquor store and Ross Dress for Less.
Nathan Reed, director of operations for the Saxonburg Division of Aldi, said the company is remodeling existing stores, and the Frazer store is one of the newer models.
“The whole look of the store is different than our older stores,” he said. “If (customers are) used to shopping in one of (our) other stores in the area, this one is going to feel a little bit bigger. We've had a lot of customers commenting on how wide the aisles are.”
There are other Aldis in the area. One is on Leechburg Road in Lower Burrell, and there are two in Penn Hills — one on Federal Drive and one on Saltsburg Road.
Cari Shaffer, 42, and her daughter Lexi, 3, both of Springdale, were among the customers checking out the Frazer store during its soft opening.
Shaffer said she recently started shopping at Aldi in Lower Burrell.
“The prices are amazing,” Shaffer said.
Aldi touts that customers can save up to 50 percent on grocery bills by shopping there compared with other grocery stores.
Shaffer said she has noticed those savings. She uses a lot of coupons while shopping at other stores, and is happy she doesn't have to worry about doing that at Aldi.
“To get deals at other places, I have to do triple coupons,” she said. “It saves time, which is really valuable having a 3-year-old.”
Bill Landman, 66, and his wife, Renee, 58, of Penn Hills are frequent Aldi shoppers.
Though there are Aldi stores in Penn Hills, the couple said they had been planning on going to the Frazer store since it was first announced. Bill Landman coincidentally wore a pin on his hat that read: “Kiss me, I'm German.”
“It's a German company,” he said. “Plus, I'm German.”
Wendy Wilton, 46, of Oakmont said the location will complement stores such as the nearby Sam's Club.
“A lot of people shop at Sam's, but you can't get the day-to-day stuff there,” she said.
She said the location of the store is convenient because she can also go to Sam's. She normally travels to Penn Hills or Lower Burrell to shop at Aldi.
“The store's really nice,” she said. “It's bigger than some of the other ones.”
The advertised grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for 8:25 a.m. today.
After the ceremony, the first 100 customers will receive a Golden Ticket containing Aldi gift cards of various amounts.
Customers also can enter an on-site sweepstakes to win a year's supply of Aldi produce.
Madasyn Czebiniak is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-226-4702, mczebiniak@tribweb.com or via Twitter @maddyczebstrib.
