PALESTINE, Texas — Aldi cut the ribbon Thursday for a new location in Palestine, marking the first Aldi store in the city.
To celebrate the grand opening of their Palestine location, Aldi handed out gift bags to the first 100 customers filled with samples of Aldi products and a gift card for the Aldi Golden Ticket gift card giveaway program. Scott Huska, Denton vice president for Aldi, touted the company's affordability and convenience.
“We think competition is good for everybody. It gives the customer a lot of good choices," Huska said. "We think with all the brings us great value. So we have the highest quality products, the lowest possible prices. And we find that to be really well received by customers across the country.”
The new store, located at 2117 South Loop 256, is open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Anita Parks, a resident from the city of Palestine, said there was at least 200 people there to witness the ribbon cutting, with some residents setting up hours before the grand opening to secure their spot.
"The drive for anywhere in this small town, you probably have to drive about 30 miles to go for quality items and things like that," Parks said. "We're just so excited," she added.
Another Palestine resident said she follows the "Aldi Aisle of Shame" Facebook group, where Aldi fans around the U.S post their finds and celebrate the store.
"I knew it was going to be crazy," Brianne Burns said. "Like I'm surprised it didn't fill up faster. So whenever we got here people trickled in. But then it got it started getting crazy, but they said that the line is around the building now."