By Ryan Lynch  – Staff Writer, Orlando Business Journal
Aug 7, 2020, 5:50pm EDT Updated Aug 10, 2020, 11:46am EDT

Aldi is debuting another local store as it continues to expand its Florida footprint.

The German discount grocer plans to open on Aug 13 at 1400 E. Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy. in St. Cloud. The company has about 70 U.S. stores slated to open by year’s end, Orlando Business Journal sister publication Tampa Bay Business Journal reported.

That new store will feature roughly 12,000 square feet of space and five aisles, Matt Thon, Haines City Aldi division vice president, told OBJ. The store will be staffed by 15 to 20 people, which is what each Aldi location usually hires.

Thon added that the company does not have any details to share on upcoming Central Florida stores. However, Aldi quietly opened a store in the Lake Nona area in May, another store in Lutz in July, and yet another is expected to open Aug. 19 in Sunrise.

The chain also celebrated a grand re-opening for a Clearwater store in July and will have another in North Port on Aug. 13

Meanwhile, Aldi plans to expand further in Central Florida. It recently signed a 22,000-square-foot lease at Windermere Village at 5845 Winter Garden Vineland Road, Marc Skorman, president of Windermere-based Skorman Development Corp., previously told Orlando Business Journal. The space itself has been empty for about a year after the roughly 50,000-square-foot retail center was completed in 2019.

Aldi also bought the leases of former Lucky’s Market Orlando stores at 11601 Regency Village Drive and 3230 East Colonial Drive. It has yet to announce whether those will be converted into new stores.

Dan Gavin, Aldi U.S. vice president of national real estate, previously said acquisitions are part of the company’s growth strategy.

Though retail in general has struggled during the Covid-19 crisis, grocery stores have seen a surge in sales. And many of those stores have kept workers employed during these difficult times.

Meanwhile, Aldi passed the 2,000 store mark in the U.S. during July and has locations in 36 states. The company has around 150 stores in Florida.

Source: https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2020/08/07/aldi-to-open-st-cloud-store-as-part-of-florida-exp.html

By Jack Witthaus  – Staff Writer, Orlando Business Journal
Jul 6, 2020, 2:19pm EDT Updated Jul 6, 2020, 3:48pm EDT

Groundbreaking may begin in mid-2021 on a roughly $1 billion redevelopment of the long-struggling Orlando Fashion Square mall northeast of Maguire Boulevard and Colonial Drive near downtown Orlando.

That’s according to Chuck Whittall, president of Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc. which owns the roughly 46 acres of dirt beneath Orlando Fashion Square along with Orlando-based Maury L. Carter & Associates Inc. The mall, which opened in 1973, was in its prime in the 1980s and ’90s, but since has seen a decline.

Currently, the development team is negotiating with Philadelphia-based The Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: TBBK) whose related TBB Orlando LLC owns the mall’s improvements, or the buildings above the dirt. The development team must buy those buildings before it can start construction.

The mall itself appears to be 40-50% vacant, Whittall said. “Discussions have been good,” Whittall said. “I don’t think bank wants to keep it.”

Source: https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2020/07/06/unicorp-fashion-square-mall-groundbreaking.html?iana=hpmvp_orl_news_headline