Aldi clarifies opening plans for new Sheffield supermarket in Hillsborough, amid £800m expansion

The retail giant this week set out plans to invest the huge sum opening 23 stores by the end of the year and revamping another 100.

Its list of new stores expected to open by the end of 2024 initially included the one on Penistone Road North, opposite Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium.

But planning permission for that shop was only granted in July, and the idea it could be completed by the year’s end sounded improbably ambitious.

A spokesperson for Aldi confirmed that the Penistone Road store had been included on the list by mistake, but he did issue an update on progress at the site.

“While it’s early days for this store, we’re on track to open next year and are looking forward to creating 40 new jobs and helping people in the area to shop and save closer to home,” he told The Star.

The new Aldi in Hillsborough will be built on a vacant plot at the junction of Herries Road, Herries Road South and Penistone Road North, which has for many years been used to provide match day parking for Owls fans.

The new supermarket will have 1,899 square metres of floorspace, and there will also be parking. It will be allowed to open from 8am-10pm Monday to Saturday, and 10am-4pm on Sunday.

Plans outlined for the rest of the five-hectare site include two drive-through restaurants, one drive-through coffee shop, one retail unit, a flexible-use trade or retail unit, and two flexible-use units for storage and distribution or a trade counter and builder’s merchants.

Aldi is already Britain’s fourth largest supermarket chain, with more than 1,020 stores. It has said it plans to spend £1.4 billion on expansion over the next two years, with the long-term goal of having 1,500 sites across the UK.