Aldi's new standalone Peel Street store is finally open.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A crowd of dozens lined up early on Thursday morning to await the 8.30am opening of the enormous new store at 194 Peel Street.
Planning for the new premises has been underway since before Tamworth Regional Council gave the development the signoff, in 2017.
Shoppers immediately hit the isles after the brand-new building finally threw opened its doors to the public for the first time.
READ MORE:
Among the first were fervent Aldi fans Di and Don Wyatt, who said they were on the lookout for a specific steal.
"To get our granddaughter a cordless vacuum cleaner actually, because she really needs one," Mrs Wyatt said.
They turned up first thing to make sure they got the specialty item, which was on sale.
"Those special buys don't always last!"
Few would have travelled further than the Phillpott family, who had driven all the way from Barraba to Tamworth for a flight to Japan - but found themselves in Aldi instead.
"Because of a snowstorm, our flight was cancelled," Wade Phillpott said.
"So we came here and now we're heading back to Barraba."
Mr Phillpott said the family come back to Australia once a year or so, and always hit up Aldi because the store has good deals, gluten free food and inexpensive kids' books to help the children learn English in Japan.
Architect Marcelo Locane said the store is a huge contrast from their earlier windowless shopfront in Centerpoint Shopping Centre.
"This is the new concept that Aldi is going to, implementing this sort of more open, industrial look," he said.
"These high levels windows are obviously a different feeling, that really makes a difference."
Brendan Brosnan Executive Manager of Property, who ran the build, said it was better to have a freestanding store, for convenience sake, among other benefits.
Aldi is certain the new site will prove a success. At 1200 metres square, it's much bigger, just for starters.
"It's a big milestone for us," he said.
"For everybody's that's been involved in the project, today's the big day. When it opens, everything goes right, feels really cool. It's been a long time coming with this one. It's been really good."
Kim Wilcox, who turned up on Thursday for her everyday groceries, said the new digs are both bigger and in a more convenient spot.
"The site's much better," she said.
"It's great! It's really open and airy."
The old store in Centerpoint closed on Wednesday.
The project cost about $6.4 million.
The supermarket will be supported by a team of up to 30 permanent full and part-time employees.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark northerndailyleader.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News