The day is almost here - the new multi-million dollar ALDI store will officially open at 8.30am this Wednesday.
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It has taken 25 weeks for the store to be completed and even with a few last-minute hiccups, everything is ready for a brief official grand opening ceremony.
Parkes Mayor, Ken Keith will cut a ribbon during a short ceremony, in the company of Shire General Manager, Kent Boyd and ALDI Regional Managing Director Andrew Tindal.
A large crowd of local residents are expected to be on site when the doors open for the first time.
It has taken several years to see the large store finally come to fruition.
Thousands of people applied for work with the store, and it came down to 12 local residents who will be on site on opening day.
Manager is Michael Brock who was raised in Parkes, attending Parkes East School before his family left Parkes for Newcastle.
Parents, Julie and Neil returned some years ago and now, after more than 12 years in retail - the last three with ALDI - Michael is thrilled to be given the opportunity to be in charge of his home town store.
ALDI acquired the site of the former Parkes Diggers Bowling Club more than five years and it has been vacant until early this year.
ALDI are delighted with the final result and believe Parkes residents will enjoy smarter shopping, increased employment opportunities and more retail options.
An ALDI Australia spokesperson said there has been a lot of excitement leading up to the opening and ALDI employees are gearing up for a busy day.
“We are excited to show the Parkes community why ALDI was voted Australia’s Supermarket of the Year for both 2011 and 2012 in Roy Morgan’s Supermarket Customer Satisfaction Awards and was named Australia’s Supermarket of the Year in 2011 and 2012 by Canstar,” she said.
“We also take great pride in the fact that in the last CHOICE Supermarket survey in 2009, ALDI was found to be 25 per cent cheaper than our competitors, a testament to the great value which we continue to offer to the community.”
Parkes residents are invited to take advantage of ALDI Parkes’ opening special buys with amazing low prices on a range of products including a 31.5” LED HD TV for $199, circular saws for $24.99 each and 4WD roof trays for just $79, amongst others.
WEDNESDAY’S edition will feature two pages of ALDI specials.