By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
More than 100 customers lined up in on dank, grey, rainy morning to be the first to see the bright new interior of the Aldi store in Bowling Green.
The supermarket reopened Wednesday (Oct. 12) morning after having been closed for a remodeling since Aug. 14.
All Aldi stores in the United States are getting upgraded said district manager Nathan Terhark. “It’s all part of accompany initiative to improve the look of every store.”
The store features a brighter look, with new signs, and wider aisles. The store’s footprint remains the same. “We made it a better customer experience to be able to maneuver through the store,” he said.
Store Manager Maria Croninger said she especially liked that the store now has refrigerated produce area, the major addition to the product line. Also, wine will have a new display area.
The store, said Terhark, focuses on efficiency. It carries a wide variety of items and brands, but only in a couple types of packaging.
He said the chain tried to work with customers to help them while the store was closed. Other area stores in Rossford, Sylvania, and Findlay did see a bounce in customers from the Bowling Green area.
Just before the ribbon cutting, Terhark stood in the rain and thanked the customers for their patience and for coming up to celebrate the reopening of the store.
The first customers through the doors on opening day got golden tickets good for discounts, Customers coming in throughout the day were entered in a drawing for free produce for a year.
Diane Petteys, Bowling Green, said she was glad the store was reopening. She lives close by so she does all her shopping here. While it was closed, she did shop at another local chain, but she found it “too big, too crowded.”
Last week she did venture to the Rossford Aldi.
“I like the convenience, the smallness,” Petteys said. “You’re not walking through a great big store, and I really like their prices.”
Paula Watson, who was sharing an umbrella with Petteys, agreed with her friend’s assessment. She was particularly “excited” at the news that the produce selection would be expanding.
While it was closed she tried an ordering system from another chain and found that convenient. But she’s committed to Aldi, except for a few bath product brands that she has to find elsewhere. Otherwise “the products are just as good as the name brand,” she said.
