Aldi supermarket to open at former IGA store site in the Kensington Park Shopping Centre
A GROCER giant is taking over a deserted shopping centre space in Adelaide’s east: but will it be enough to revive the local strip that’s lost a string of shops?
- Where have all the shoppers gone?
- Kensington Park Shopping Centre to shut by end of June
- Long-standing Adelaide hardware store to close
- Why discount grocer Aldi isn’t setting up in east
A GROCER giant is stepping into a deserted shopping centre space in Adelaide’s east — the area’s lost a string of local shops over the past few months.
It’s been revealed the discount chain Aldi hopes to breathe new life into the Magill/Glynburn corner.
It plans to move into the vacant Kensington Park Shopping Centre as soon as early next year.
Aldi revealed this week it had bought the centre from Joe Noto — for $6.38m — and work to strip the old IGA ahead of its transformation has began.
The revived Kensington Park shop will become Aldi’s first outlet in Adelaide’s east.
The global discount supermarket chain’s move comes as a lifeline to a neighbourhood reeling from losing its anchor IGA and a string of local shops — and fresh news that the Home Hardware store was also about to close.
An Aldi spokesman said the company would be making “significant changes to the site … to ensure our customers have the best possible in-store shopping experience”.
He said the supermarket would open once development approval was granted from Burnside Council.
A development application for a refit and new signs was yet to be lodged.
The IGA closed in May and other shops in the complex closed in June, in some cases because of their failure to pay rent, Mr Noto said at the time.
The centre had suffered from increased competition from nearby Coles and Woolworths supermarkets and rising taxes, council rates and insurance, according to Mr Noto.
The bad news kept coming when Home Hardware announced last month it would also close.
Aldi had previously said zoning restrictions limiting competition between supermarkets had prevented it from opening in the eastern suburbs.
But the restrictions did not apply to sites already approved for a supermarket.
The closest already announced Aldi supermarkets are at Gilles Plains and Hawthorn.
The company’s Regency Park distribution centre is due for completion in November.
It will service up to 50 Aldi stores in Adelaide and country areas.