Aldi’s $4 Almond Butter Revives Grocery Bargains in Manhattan
When 79‑year‑old Mary Porter walked into Manhattan’s newest Aldi store, searching for bargains, she found a jar of almond butter for just $4—a fraction of the $22 price she pays in her own neighbourhood. “Aldi has the reputation for being inexpensive, so I thought I would come and check it out, and by golly, it is amazing,” Porter told the BBC.
The shop is hidden beneath the luxury Ellery apartment complex, where rents start at almost $5,000 a month. The building’s website even omits Aldi from its neighbourhood guide, spotlighting Whole Foods and Brooklyn Fare instead.
This new store is part of Aldi’s $9 bn U.S. expansion plan to add 800 buildings across five years, prioritising dense urban hubs like Manhattan. The move marks a shift from the discount grocer’s traditional suburban strip‑mall image to a city‑ready model that can compete with premium retailers.
Aldi’s strategy is changing the demographics of its shoppers. Data from Placer.ai now shows the chain attracts middle‑to‑high‑income households with nets between $75,000 and $125,000—because rising inflation has pushed even wealthier families to look for ways to stretch their budgets. “Those shoppers have started to trade off a visit to a conventional grocery store or a quick‑service restaurant and started to go into Aldi more frequently,” says RJ Hottovy, Placer.ai’s head of analytical research.
Despite its low prices, Aldi remains a “single‑purpose machine” that cannot out‑discount a giant like Walmart. Walmart, with a 20% share of the U.S. grocery market, pours more than $20 bn a year into tech, automation and a massive supply chain. “Aldi is a brilliant single‑purpose machine, while Walmart is a money machine that happens to sell groceries cheaply,” notes retail analyst Jerry Sheldon of IHL Group.
Logistics have also proven complex. Aldi’s Manhattan store is supplied from South Windsor, Connecticut, using short, specialised trucks that navigate tight city streets at night. “We come at night because of the congestion,” says Aldi’s U.S. chief commercial officer Scott Patton. “We run three to four of these trips every night, calling the operation a logistical symphony.”
For customers like Porter, the corporate chess match matters less than the tangible savings. “I get on the subway with my big bag and go home with my cheap groceries. I mean, I’m so happy. This is amazing,” she says.
