Opening date for new Aldi store in Abingdon is announced

Construction work on the new budget store in Wootton Road is moving forward and the chain said earlier it could be ready to open by December.

The building is now in place, and the entrance can be seen from the road, where construction traffic is often seen entering and leaving the site.

A big new sign has just gone up announcing that the supermarket will open on December 15 - in good time for Christmas bargains.

Last year Vale councillors approved plans for the new Aldi after 290 residents wrote in to support the plans.

Read again: See what the new Aldi in Abingdon will look like 

Previous objections to the budget supermarket included concerns over the location of the shop, and a suggestion that it should be located instead at Fairacres retail park off Marcham Road.

Fairacres is where rival budget chain Lidl opened a new store in April last  year.

An Aldi spokesman said earlier: "Construction for our new Abingdon store is progressing well as we move towards opening in December.

"This will create up to 40 jobs for the community and enable local people to shop and save closer to home."

Read again: Eynsham Foodbank launches Christmas appeal 

The new supermarket will be convenient for residents living at the 200-home new Kings Gate estate opposite.

The Aldi chain is based in Germany and was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946 when they took over their father's store in Essen.

Aldi has about 10,000 stores in 18 countries and each store has a similar layout.

As the cost of living crisis continues, budget supermarket chains like Aldi and Lidl have been taking away customers from other chains, including Waitrose, which has a store in the town centre.

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This story was written by Andy Ffrench, he joined the team more than 20 years ago and now covers community news across Oxfordshire.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Andy.ffrench@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @OxMailAndyF