The spokeswoman does not specifically mention possible economic reasons that are rumored to be circulating in the city. In response to a request on Tuesday, Aldi Süd gave the reasons for this: they check the branches at regular intervals “to ensure that they are as easily accessible as possible for customers and that they continue to fit optimally into the branch network,” as the statement states somewhat vaguely. “As a result, existing locations may close.”
Employees are accommodated in other branches
And in fact this also applies to the location on Sigmaringer Straße in Ebingen. According to Aldi Süd, the branch will open for the last time on January 30th. Unlike in recent months in the “Kaufland Kientenstrasse” case, the Aldi employees apparently do not have to worry about their jobs: “They will then strengthen the teams in the surrounding branches,” said the company spokeswoman when asked. Aldi Süd does not provide any information on the question of exactly how many employees are affected.
Aldi Süd apparently sees itself as well positioned in the region and remains “easily accessible locally,” writes the company spokeswoman. It refers to the three nearest branches in Truchtelfingen (Rudolf-Diesel-Straße), Ebingen (Silberdistelstraße) and Meßstetten (Am Hartheimer Weg).
Apparently not all customers who are already discussing the closure online see it that way: “A Kaufland is closed and Aldi is now too? It can be fun to shop in Albstadt,” it says on Facebook. Others assess the closure of the branch on Sigmaringer Straße in a more relaxed manner: “We will still have two Rewe, one Kaufland, two Netto, two Aldi, two Lidl, one Edeka and Norma,” calculates an Albstadt resident on Facebook.
Aldi Süd once had big plans for Ebingen Oststadt
And Aldi Süd actually wanted to invest in its future in Ebingen Oststadt. The plan was to expand the branch from 810 to 1,044 square meters almost ten years ago. However, the city administration put a stop to this. Keyword: mixed area.
According to the city’s rationale at the time, an expansion of the market would only have been possible in a purely commercial area. The city administration had referred to the request of the legislature, which wanted to prevent smaller local suppliers near residential areas from being forced out of the market.
In 2017, the judges of the Sigmaringen Administrative Court dealt with the case; the city administration was right. Aldi would have had to capture at least 35 percent of the purchasing power in the core catchment area. That wasn’t the case, Aldi wasn’t allowed to expand, but accepted the verdict grudgingly at best. At the time, the company’s lawyer generally questioned the designation of the area as a mixed area.
It is not yet known what will happen to the building after January.
