ALDI Coming to West Boca?

Update: As of mid-April 2015 the work is now underway on the ALDI store. We stopped by the scene and our video is at bottom of this message.
aldi
Aldi Food Market, a grocery store, looks like it’s coming to West Boca. We had been puzzled about the size of the incoming Hobby Lobby, slated for 52,000 square feet but replacing the 78,000 square foot Beall’s in West Boca Square. What would happen to the other 26,000 square feet?
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We think we have our answer now. Aldi will be moving into the southern end of the building where the doors face Chili’s.
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West Boca Square is on the northwest corner of the intersection of West Palmetto Park Road and US-441 (State Road 7).
We heard it from a source we consider very reliable and saw evidence consistent with what the source told us. We contacted Aldi via Twitter to check and they would neither confirm nor deny it:


Here’s a map with the existing grocery stores in green boxes and the new ones in red boxes:
groceries
With the reopening of the West Boca Walmart (including groceries) on the opposite corner, we estimate the two together will add over 40,000 square feet of grocery space to the area. That’s a 20% increase on what’s already in place.
Aldi, a chain based in Germany, first arrived in Florida in 2010 per the Sun-Sentinel. Like Walmart, they’ve positioned themselves as a discounter claiming low prices, but not carrying as many items as some other groceries. This will put significant price pressure on most of the competition, and West Boca residents should expect to save a few pennies.
stores-spread
Aldi stores are also typically smaller than other supermarkets. As the image above shows, Fresh Market in Mission Bay is the only grocery store smaller than the incoming Aldi. Fresh Market is also the only one of the stores that does not position itself primarily on price, but rather is considered a “gourmet supermarket” with higher end products.
There are other important differences in how Aldi works.

1. They don’t take credit cards – only cash, debit cards and EBT (welfare) cards.
2. You have to put a quarter in to get a cart, and you get it back when you return the cart.
3. Bags aren’t free. Bring your own or prepare to pay for them.
4. Fewer choices – They have a much smaller inventory with only 1400 items vs. 30,000 for a typical supermarket, and a lot of their own Aldi brands that they claim are better quality than national brands.

The promise behind all of these details is claimed lower prices. If you believe what they’re saying, you’ll save as much as 50% on your groceries. This could get interesting.


Video from April 10, 2015:

Hobby Lobby Update and Michael's

Image from Wikipedia
Image from Wikipedia

West Boca News consulted with an industry insider about the soon-to-open Hobby Lobby in West Boca. It will be in West Boca Square, the plaza on the northwest corner of 441 and Palmetto, with Target, Burger King and Chili’s, replacing the Beall’s that closed this past summer.
Screen Shot 2014-05-02 at 2.28.59 PMWe asked the insider (who preferred to remain anonymous) about the impact of Hobby Lobby on the Michael’s store in Somerset Shoppes (northeast corner of Glades and Lyons). She said the new Hobby Lobby will destroy that Michael’s for a few reasons.
First, the Hobby Lobby’s location will cut into nearly all of Michael’s customer base west of 441, as well as much of their business west of Lyons.
Second, the Hobby Lobby will be twice as large as the Michael’s store, so the selection will be better. Note that we previously reported the Hobby Lobby would be 78,000 square feet. We had that wrong. Hobby Lobby said in a press release that the store would be 52,000 square feet, which is still more than twice the size of the Michael’s. The property appraiser lists the building at 78,000 square feet so we’re not sure what’s happening with the extra space.
Third, the Hobby Lobby will be newer and that naturally draws customers. Our insider said she’s seen Hobby Lobby in other states and they do very well.
She did offer one caveat. Hobby Lobby has restricted hours, closed on Sundays and open only until 8 pm the rest of the week. She feels that will leave some business for Michael’s, but probably not enough to survive.
West Boca News thinks there are two other challenges for Hobby Lobby that may help Michael’s survive. Michael’s has been in that location for a while and has some local customer loyalty to rely on. Meanwhile Hobby Lobby has had some rough spots recently with the Jewish community and with political liberals over their Obamacare lawsuit. Both are substantial parts of the West Boca market.
Black arrow points to new Hobby Lobby; Red points to Michael's.
Arrows point to new Hobby Lobby (lower left) and to Michael’s (upper right).

Hobby Lobby Will Open "Mid-Fall"

hobby-lobby
The new West Boca Hobby Lobby store will open “mid-Fall” according to company spokesman Vincent Parker. We think that means October or November. The store is replacing Beall’s in West Boca Square.
Mr. Parker did not answer our other questions but he did send us standard responses to common questions. Hiring will begin roughly a month before the store opens. The store manager and co-manager will come from other stores, and they expect to hire between 30 and 50 local employees. Pay starts at $9.50/hour for part-timers and $14/hour for full-time employees. They will have in-store classes with teachers who are not employees, with the store manager in charge of making arrangements.
hobby-lobby-west-boca
Hobby Lobby describes itself as a leader in the arts and crafts industry, and its biggest competition is probably Michael’s. We have one of those in West Boca, in Somerset Shoppes on the northwest corner of Lyons and Glades.
Dallas News has a good breakdown of the competition. The average Hobby Lobby is 55,000 square feet and this one will be larger at 78,000 square feet. The average Michael’s is 18,000 square feet and our local one is 25,000 square feet. So the new West Boca Hobby Lobby will be three times the size. We spoke to a couple of area housewives who are very happy about this new addition. It’s especially convenient for those who live west of 441.

Image from Wikipedia
Image from Wikipedia

The company has gotten some media attention recently because its management stresses a religious identity. Currently the Supreme Court is considering a Hobby Lobby case against Obamacare’s birth control mandate. There was also some media heat in the fall about claims Hobby Lobby not carrying Jewish merchandise. They apologized. If they’re opening in West Boca, they must be trying to appeal to Jews.
From what we’re hearing from readers, they’ll be welcome and find a number of eager shoppers.

Walmart and Hobby Lobby Update

palmetto-walmart-sign
It’s definitely going to be a Walmart. We’ve heard a lot of speculation about what’s going to happen with the old Walmart property on the southeast corner of Palmetto and 441. In January we spoke with workers on-site who mostly indicated it would be a Walmart, though one worker said something different.
A few days ago we noticed the sign in the photo above. That makes it pretty clear it’s going to be a Walmart. We went to the site yesterday and took some more pictures. The work continues.
We also noticed a sign for the incoming Hobby Lobby, which will replace the Bealls at the southern end of West Boca Square (near Chili’s).
hobby-lobby-west-boca
We’ve reached out to Hobby Lobby to see if we can find out more, and we’ll let you know if we hear anything.
Here are some more pictures from yesterday’s visit to the West Boca Walmart site.
walmart-panorama
walmart-construction
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palmetto-walmart-sign2