Aldi confirms relocation of Lower Burrell store to New Kensington
Aldi confirmed Friday that the discount grocer will close its Lower Burrell store in favor of a new building nearby in New Kensington.
New Kensington earlier this year approved plans for a grocery store identified as Aldi and a ModWash car wash to be built in Riverview Plaza along Tarentum Bridge Road, where a closed Kmart was torn down last year.
The location is not far from the Aldi store in the Crossroads Plaza on Leechburg Road. It was built about 15 years ago.
“We can confirm we are planning to relocate the Aldi store located in Lower Burrell to New Kensington by the end of this year,” said J.R. Perry, vice president of Aldi’s Saxonburg Division.
The company would not provide further information at this time.
As shown in plans submitted to New Kensington, the 21,000-square-foot grocery store will be attached to the existing plaza. Parking spaces will be within part of the Kmart building’s former 90,000-square-foot footprint.
It’s one of two new stores Aldi is building in the Alle-Kiski Valley.
The company also is working on a location on Freeport Road in Harrison.
The township’s zoning hearing board in March approved variances needed for the development at what is now Harbison Nursery, at 4024 Freeport Road and across from the Highlands Mall. They were sought by APD Engineering & Architecture for Aldi.
The land development proposal will next go to the township’s planning commission. A date for that meeting has not been set, Harrison Commissioner Charles Dizard said.
“They would like to move forward as quickly as they can,” he said.
If approved by the planning commission, no other reviews or approvals would be needed from the township, Dizard said.
Aldi opened its first store in the Pittsburgh area in Butler in 1995. That location was remodeled and reopened in September, Perry said.
There are now 49 Aldi stores in the Pittsburgh region, with 25 in Allegheny County, six in Westmoreland County, three in Butler County and one in Armstrong County.
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a TribLive reporter covering news in New Kensington, Arnold and Plum. A Pittsburgh native and graduate of Penn State University's Schreyer Honors College, Brian has been with the Trib since December 2000. He can be reached at brittmeyer@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.