SPRINGDALE -- Aldi plans to build a new grocery store in Springdale, and the Planning Commission approves.
The commission approved 7-0 the company's large-scale design during its meeting Tuesday. Commissioners Payton Parker and Shannon Mueller did not attend the meeting.
The store is planned for a location on Elm Springs Road, immediately west of Macadoodles. The Aldi store on South Thompson Street will remain, Skyler Jones, a divisional vice president of Aldi, said in an email Tuesday.
The new store -- as with most Aldi locations -- will be about 12,000 square feet, with a similar layout to the Thompson Street store, Jones said.
The new store will employ 15 to 20 people, he said.
The commission first approved rezoning the 3.6-acre property from an agricultural to a commercial zoning class. Surrounding properties also are zoned for commercial use, said Patsy Christie, director of the city's Planning Department.
The Anders Family Limited Partnership owns the property and requested the rezoning.
The commission also approved variances for the structure's landscaping. The store will not have landscaping along its truck deck on the back or west side of the store. But developers will add plants in other areas on the site to meet the city's required number of plants, the commission agreed.
Jack Clark, whose property is immediately west of the Aldi location, asked for the store to build a solid fence to block sight of his house from the store. Clark expressed concern that a planned 5-foot break in the fence would create an opportunity for crime.
Sam Malinowsky of SM Engineering in Manhattan, Kan., the project's developer, agreed to a solid fence. Malinowsky said the fence along Clark's property will be 8 feet tall.
A May story from Bloomberg News said Aldi's United States unit is predicting price wars with rival grocers as inflation finally starts to slow.
The company has expanded in United States in recent years, and plans to add 120 stores this year, giving it more than 2,400 locations by year-end, the Bloomberg story noted.
The discount grocery store last month cut prices on 250 items, including protein bars, cheese and chicken tenders.
"Aldi estimates its price cuts will provide consumers with $60 million in savings this summer," the Bloomberg story said. "It's making the move as more retailers warn that shoppers are under increasing financial pressure."