Citizen starts petition for Aldi
Published 4:06 pm Thursday, June 27, 2019
Melissa Stoltzfus said she began a petition to bring a new grocery store to Farmville because of her family.
Earlier this month Stoltzfus started an online petition through Charge.org to obtain signatures in hopes of bringing the Aldi food store chain to the area.
“I don’t know what I was expecting, maybe 500 or so signatures, but within 24 hours I had 1,000, and it kept increasing by the minute,” Stoltzfus said.
Currently, there are 2,632 signatures and 1,219 shares on Facebook.
Stoltzfus is hoping for 5,000 signatures.
Aldi is a German family-owned discount supermarket chain with over 10,000 stores in 20 countries and known for carrying many organic products at a lower cost.
Currently, there is an Aldi located in Lynchburg and several in the Richmond area.
“I drive an hour and 45 minutes to the Lynchburg Aldi, around twice a month,” Stoltzfus explained. “Even with the long drive, we still end up saving money on groceries. We love their products, and their prices can’t be beaten. As a mom with a growing family, I try to do my best in keeping a grocery budget and also shopping for quality organic products.”
Last week, Farmville Town Manager Gerry Spates reached out to Justin Spruill, District Manager for Aldi requesting the grocery chain look at the possibility of opening a store in the town. “Hopefully they will contact us, and someone there will come to talk with us and take a look at what we have to offer,” Spates said. Spates also noted in his letter to Spruill, “We have several developers that are prepared to build to your needs.”
The town has a population of 8,213 people with a shopping area of approximately 130,000 people and retail sales for this past year of more than $600 million according to town officials.
“I think Farmville needs another supermarket to keep prices competitive,” said Prospect resident, Jeanne Grunert. “Aldi has excellent products and great sales. Having one in Farmville would be convenient for residents of Prince Edward because we have to go to Lynchburg now.”
Farmville resident and business owner Rodney Burley also agrees that a store such as Aldi is needed but is concerned about where a grocery store may be located. “I do think Farmville probably needs a store like that although they were first talking about putting something like this in the old Barnes & Noble building, and I think that is an actual terrible idea,” he said. “The shopping center across the street from my shop cannot handle grocery store traffic. I can barely handle the traffic as it is now. I see accidents here almost every week, and the students walk out in front of you; it’s just a terrible location for any store like that. So yes, I think we need a store like that — just in a different location such as somewhere up near Sunchase.”
The Farmville Herald reached out to the Aldi Corporation for comment on the petition, but as of press time no one responded.