New Aldi store in Wigan gets the green light

Ashton-in-Makerfield is set to welcome a new Aldi after plans for the new store were approved by Wigan Council.

The former Arnold Clarke site on Wigan Road will be demolished and replaced with the shop and customer parking area. The old car sales building has been vacant for more than 12 months and will become one of the new stores planned for Greater Manchester by 2025.

Back in 2020, the supermarket announced they were planning on opening another 20 stores around Greater Manchester - one of which will be in Bryn.

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This would be the second Aldi in the Ashton area of Wigan with one site already in operation on Princess Road in the town centre of Makerfield. According to the foodstore, the past decade in particular has seen the retailer’s popularity increase dramatically. As a result, older stores such as Princess Road ‘have begun to suffer severe ongoing operational difficulties’ because they are based on a trading format which is outdated and simply too small to meet the demands of Aldi’s growing customer base.

The 1,804 sqm site got the thumbs up from 80 per cent of the 194 locals they consulted.

Objections to the plans related to the current traffic on Wigan Road. However, Aldi said only three to four deliveries from HGVs each day with fresh food and goods.

Of the proposed 117 car parking spaces planned, four will also be equipped with Electric Vehicle Charging Points (PVCPs). This proposal will bring 40 full-time job roles to the area with a varying range of roles from apprenticeship level to store manager.

ALDI opened its first stores in the UK in 1990 and currently operates over 800 stores across the UK and Ireland.