UPDATE: This story has been updated with additional information, including a timeframe for development.
MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI – A new ALDI store is coming to a busy area of Muskegon County.
The discount grocery store is planned for an old Plumb’s store on Apple Avenue near U.S. 31 in Muskegon Township.
The township planning commission has approved a site plan amendment that includes the demolition of a large section of the existing structure.
The building at 1680 East Apple Avenue was occupied by Great Lakes Market for about a year in 2017-18 after Plumb’s departure.
The property is owned by CK Muskegon and the contractor on the job is DA Contracting of Southfield, according to township documents.
The location is in the Beltline Plaza shopping mall at the corner of Shonat Street. It’s near several apartment complexes, including the Pine Grove Manor and Park Woods senior housing developments.
About 7,000 square feet of the existing building closest to Shonat will be demolished with the resulting space becoming a landscaped parking area, said Brad Klintworth, president of DA Real Estate Consulting, which is the developer of the project. The remaining portion of the building will receive a “facelift,” Klintworth told MLive/The Muskegon Chronicle.
Demolition will begin in mid-April and the store is expected to open late this year, he said.
ALDI is a discount grocery store chain that increases shoppers’ savings by having them bring their own bags and insert a quarter to get a cart that is refunded when the cart is returned.
The stores stock groceries, meats, produce, beer and wine, home decor, plants, apparel and more. They offer online ordering and curbside pickup. Currently, there are ALDI stores on Henry Street and East Sternberg Road in Muskegon County.
The retailer, based in Batavia, Illinois, has been pushing into West Michigan with new stores that opened recently in Fremont, Greenville and Hudsonville. On Thursday, March 23, a new ALDI will open in the Berrien County village of Stevensville.
Related: Aldi to open new store in Southwest Michigan village
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