Aldi will decide by the end of March whether it will open stores in the former Bottom Dollar stores it bought in Garfield and McKees Rocks.
The discount grocer, which bought 66 Bottom Dollar stores in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas late last year, met with Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and neighborhood officials Monday to discuss the sites. The communities want Aldi stores opened or the opportunity to buy the property to attract other grocers.
Richard Swartz, executive director of the Bloomfield-Garfield Corp., and his deputy, Aggie Brose, emerged Monday afternoon from a 45-minute meeting with Mayor Bill Peduto, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and Aldi representatives that was described as “constructive” and “positive.”
The neighborhood group had pushed hard for a grocery store in the neighborhood, finally getting the Bottom Dollar to open in June at 5200 Penn Ave., after years of negotiations.
“I can’t stress the importance of having a grocery store in the neighborhood,” Ms. Brose said. “It is a food desert.”
Mr. Swartz said the group received a “fairly good commitment” Monday that Aldi would not stand in the way of efforts to bring in another grocery operator if Aldi decides not to open a store there.
“We’re hopeful that it’s going to be Aldi,” he said. “We want a discount grocer in that location.”
Ms. Brose said the city pledged assistance in helping the nonprofit acquire the site from Aldi if it decides to abandon the property.
“We want to buy the store,” she said, adding that the group already has begun talks with other interested entities that might fill the role, either another grocery store or a co-op.
Brent Laubaugh, an Aldi vice president, would not discuss the talks, deferring to a joint statement he said the mayor’s office will release.
Mr. Fitzgerald called it a “productive meeting.”
“The good news is Garfield is a neighborhood on the move, property values are going up,” he said. “People are moving in, people are investing in the property.”
First Published: February 2, 2015, 6:58 p.m.
Updated: February 3, 2015, 3:32 a.m.
