Aldi | Woodlyn, PA

1300 MacDade Blvd.

Welcome to the Woodlyn Aldi!

Welcome back to The Retail Connection! On today's post, we'll be taking a tour of the Woodlyn Aldi, which had its soft opening on February 22 and grand opening earlier this month on March 2. It's in part of a former Raymour & Flanigan Outlet store, which has downsized to half of the building, and was previously a Hechinger. Let's say goodbye to the horrible weather and get inside!

This was the best picture I was able to get of the produce section, which is the first thing you see when you enter the building. There were a lot of customers in this area during my visit.

This was my first time in an Aldi, and I was especially impressed with how clean and well-stocked the shelves were. As much as I love Lidl, their shelves rarely look this nice.

Meats, seafood, and some dairy items are in these multi-deck cases along the back of the store. Aldi stores do not have any service grocery departments.

Here's the produce section from the opposite direction.

Baked goods are along the far wall past the produce section.

The frozen food section is past the checkouts in this small alcove on the left wall.

And just past it are the dairy refrigerators.

Checkout lanes are, of course, along the front wall. I've never seen a store that has the self checkouts in between regular lanes. I guess it's an Aldi thing.

Thank you!

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2019

Obviously, there are no signs of Aldi in this picture. The store takes up the space to the left, starting about where the Sealy Clearance Center signage is.

Nearby competition

1.3 miles away: Lidl of Folsom

This Aldi's biggest competition is undoubtedly the Lidl in nearby Folsom, which opened in 2018. The two stores are very similar, but Lidl does have four years on Aldi so they might be better off for now.

That's all I have today on The Retail Connection! This was my first time in an Aldi and I was very impressed. I still prefer Lidl but Aldi might be giving them a run for their money now. Anyway, see you next time on The Retail Connection: It's a The Retail Connection thing.

Amazon Fresh | Broomall, PA

2924 Springfield Rd.

Welcome to the Broomall Amazon Fresh!

Thanks for stopping by The Retail Connection again! In today's edition, we'll be taking a tour of Amazon Fresh's second location in Pennsylvania: the Broomall store, which opened on September 8. This store was a former GIANT that closed in December 2019. The building dates back to the early 60's when it was a Two Guys department store. Inside, this store has the "Just Walk Out" system, which allows you to shop without actually having to check out. Let's step inside and take a look at this brand new supermarket!

There are separate gates to enter depending on if you're using the Just Walk Out feature or if you're shopping the traditional way. Both entrances lead into the produce section.

As you can see, there are dozens of cameras hanging from the ceiling. I'm assuming this is because of Just Walk Out.

Meat and seafood are in the back corner, past the produce section.

Dairy is along the back wall.

I do like the aisle markers used with this décor. Overall, everything is very simple (and dark), but it looks nice. As you can see, this store has split aisles.

The deli and prepared foods section, or "fresh kitchen", is along the left wall. They sell pizza, sushi, sandwiches, and other hot foods. There's a small seating area, but nothing significant.

 The salad bar and olive bar are also in this department.

Frozen foods are in aisle 6.

In our final interior shot, we see the checkout lanes (only one was open), the seating area for the fresh kitchen, and the customer service section. These stores also have Amazon lockers and take Amazon returns.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2018

This store was a GIANT until they relocated down the road in December 2019. I'd say Amazon Fresh probably goes up to where the GIANT logo is on the façade.

That's all for today's post! Let me know what you think about Amazon Fresh. It's certainly a different kind of grocery store. I did notice that the product selection could've been better. Anyway, thanks for reading The Retail Connection: Just walk out!

Walmart | Eddystone, PA

 

1570 Chester Pike

Welcome to the Eddystone Walmart!

We're back in Eddystone on The Retail Connection. On today's post, we'll be taking a quick tour of the Walmart in Eddystone, PA. This store opened on January 24, 2001 as the anchor to the shopping center. It is located next to a ShopRite which we toured in January. This store has the Project Impact 4.0 décor inside. The photo above is from January, while the rest were taken today. Let's step inside!

Past the foyer, we can see Customer Service and Money Services along the left wall.

This store's dining options are Subway and Auntie Anne's. This may have originally been a snack bar or Radio Grill. I doubt it was a McDonald's since they're in the parking lot.

Menswear, boys wear, and baby products take up the left part of the store. The women's section is closer to the front, across from the checkouts.

You can't see it here (it's pretty hard to see even in-person), but there are names of retired associates on the blue tiles in this photo. I thought that was interesting. I've never seen a Walmart have that before.

This store does still have a photo center, but there wasn't anybody working it and it's kind of hidden away in the back of the store. I doubt there are that many people still developing their photos, anyway.

The back right corner is taken up by sporting goods and the auto center. The next closest Walmart Auto Care Center is on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia; nearby stores in Glenolden and Springfield don't have one.

And here's a quick look at the grocery aisles. This location is a Division 1 store, which essentially just means it doesn't have the grocery service departments a Supercenter has. I don't see this location ever becoming a Supercenter unless they move to a new store or ShopRite closes. They still have a pretty decently sized grocery section, though.

Here's the grand grocery aisle, with packaged meats, seafood, and baked goods, as well as fresh produce. All this store is really missing is a service bakery and deli.

Pharmacy and HABA are along the front, next to the checkout lanes.

And we close out this tour with a wide shot of the store. The weather was definitely much nicer back on January 1...

Other Images of Interest

Street View images

2018

The store still looks about the same here.

2017

And here.

2007

There's the Wal-Mart we all know and love! Satisfaction Guaranteed.

That's going to do it for this edition of The Retail Connection! Tune in next week to take a tour of the Amazon Fresh grocery store in nearby Broomall! Thanks for shopping TRC - We Sell For Less!