ALDI Corner Store
Kyle Ford Photography

Landini Associates Debuts Design for ALDI Corner Store, Expanding Global Chain with Locally Inspired Retail

Landini Associates as Designers

Design for creative new small-format retail model embraces fresh food, local artist collaborations, and an elevated customer experience in urban settings

The internationally renowned design firm known for innovative retail environments, Landini Associates, has announced the debut of their design for ALDI Corner Store, a bold new local, art-infused small-format retail model created for the iconic global supermarket chain and launching this week in Sydney.

photo_credit Kyle Ford Photography
Kyle Ford Photography

According to Landini Associates, the goal of this new design is to interpret the traditional ALDI model into a fresh format for urban settings that is genuinely local. Conceived in close collaboration with the brand’s executives, this latest work builds on the success of “Project Fresh,” Landini Associates’ nationwide redesign of ALDI Australia’s large-format stores. Known for its creative, multidisciplinary abilities, Landini Associates took on a scope of work for ALDI Corner Store comprising naming, interior design, and all in-store graphic communications including identity, signage, wayfinding, ticketing, tone of voice, and uniforms.

“ALDI are proud to present an elevated, never-before-seen, convenience-driven store format that is both uniquely different and recognizably ALDI,” said ALDI’s Huw Longman, Director of the ALDI Corner Store Project.

photo_credit Kyle Ford Photography
Kyle Ford Photography

A New Experience, Recognizably ALDI

With its emphasis on urban locations, the layout of ALDI Corner Store is driven by the need to refurbish existing buildings rather than constructing new properties. Grocery and fresh produce are still the core offering but are newly supplemented by a growing range of ready to go meals and convenience-based products, as well as a new take away coffee and artisanal bakery offering. The brand’s beloved “Special Buys” remain a core part of the ALDI Corner Store service offering.

“The new Corner Store layout is aligned to the needs of a local, largely walk-in customer base, with simple navigation, self-checkouts, fresh offerings, quality products and everyday low prices with a nostalgic neighborhood feel,” continues ALDI’s Longman.

Landini Associates’ new design also celebrates ALDI’s renowned dedication to corporate responsibility, reflected in the brand’s recent delivery of 100% renewable electricity across its business operations, and its commitment to send zero waste to landfill by 2025.

photo_credit Kyle Ford Photography
Kyle Ford Photography

Reinventing Local
For ALDI Corner Store, Landini Associates and ALDI decided to reinvent how smaller store formats are interpreted in Australia, with global ramifications. At ALDI Corner Store locations, rather than featuring neighborhood photographs or signs declaring the location, each site will be designed to celebrate its community through strategic local art partnerships. These artist collaborations “honor differences while embracing operational affinities and create an overall atmosphere that is consistent with the ALDI brand,” according to Landini Associates.

“We wanted to create a solution that is both a design signature and memorably ALDI but also something truly different,” says Mark Landini, Creative Director of Landini Associates. “We have ensured that each ALDI Corner Store will be recognizable and distinct, both in the design parameters and in this first store by commissioning a unique artwork”

A key intention of the ALDI Corner Store design concept is this commissioning of a local artist to create unique artworks that celebrate each store’s surrounding neighbourhood as well as ALDI’s food proposition of amazing quality and the best possible prices.

photo_credit Kyle Ford Photography
Kyle Ford Photography

The First ALDI Corner Store: North Sydney
The debut ALDI Corner Store, at 99 Mount Street in North Sydney - a lively business zone not far from Sydney Harbor - unveils the work of Sydney artist Mulga (see bio below), who was commissioned by Landini Associates to decorate both the interior and façade of the North Sydney site.

To generate a consistent brand atmosphere and customer experience, each ALDI Corner Store will feature a palette of sustainable materials including pale brick, white tiles, blockwork, terrazzo, black steel and galvanized steel mesh, timber palettes, oak, and walnut, These materials combine with the retail graphics solution by Landini Associates that creates a consistent appeal in everything from naming and messaging to store signage and navigation, which includes category and subcategory checkouts, self-checkout locations, basket storage, signage on shopping carts, and unusually appealing staff uniforms.

“In collaboration with the ALDI team, we’ve created a new brand based on the importance of community and that celebrates food, people and place,” says Ben Goss, Graphic Design Director at Landini Associates. “With a combination of playful mural art and simple and direct graphic communications, the ALDI Corner Store experience is all about making the customer smile during their shopping journey. We’re proud of how we incorporated these important messages throughout the store environment — even the team uniforms highlight how the North Sydney property is powered by 100% renewable electricity.”

“The ALDI brand is known for innovation and a true dedication to customer needs, and the design of ALDI Corner Store represents this approach in action,” adds Landini Associates Design Director Wayne Cheng, “We’re thrilled to be a part of the team behind such an exciting new offering that foregrounds healthy choices and Australian products, and that creates a welcoming, fun, and highly functional shopping environment.”

“This venue raises the bar for what local shopping should be,” concludes Mark Landini. “It’s truly a new standard. We’re excited to see and hear the local reaction for every new ALDI Corner Store.”

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