The discount grocery chain Aldi is expanding rapidly and plans to open more than 180 U.S. stores this year as more Americans skip nights out at restaurants and cook at home due to anxiety over the nation’s economy. The chain, with U.S. operations based outside of the Chicago, went on an expansion tear soon after inflation began to spike in 2021 and opened a record number of new stores last year. Food inflation has slowed, but it was still 2.4% last year, according to U.S. data released Tuesday. Aldi has sought to snap up market share as more families trade down, meaning they are changing where they shop to cut costs.
