Aldi's exit shakes north Minneapolis, widens worries over food insecurity

Shocked. Sad. Disappointed. Those are just some of the reactions Aldi shoppers like Trena Sumrall had when they heard the store was closing. 

Sumrall filled up her cart with food items from Aldi on a recent afternoon. 

“You have a lot of residents over here that don't have vehicles. So it becomes another food desert,” she said. “Me, I drive — I can go anywhere I want. But for the people that lack transportation, it's more of an expense for a taxi cab or Uber to get their groceries home.”

The store opened in 2008. An Aldi spokesperson called the closure a “difficult decision” and said it was due to the “inability to renovate the store to accommodate our larger product range.” It also noted its lease was ending.

The store sits at the intersection of Penn and Lowry Avenues — two well-traveled streets. That makes it easy to get to by bus. 

A Cub Foods supermarket located near Lyndale and West Broadway Ave. is about two miles away, but that means longer bus rides or longer walks for many residents.

Many current shoppers of the north location said they often visited by walking or public transportation, an option that will now take several hours and almost always multiple public transit transfers.

The closing location suggested six other locations to residents, the closest being the location in Crystal, Minn. which is 4.4 miles and 10 minutes driving, but between 30 and 60 minutes on public transit and one hour and 30 minutes walking.

Over and over, Aldi shoppers talked about how they appreciated the low prices there.

Altamese Kelly said she will probably pass on Cub because it’s more expensive than Aldi.

“These days and times, you're trying to find a bargain wherever you can,” she said. “So it's just really sad. I hate to see them go.”

‘Deeply destabilize the community’

LaWanda Warren is vice president of programs with Appetite For Change, a north Minneapolis nonprofit that advocates for food accessibility. She called Aldi’s decision to close a “travesty.”

“Things [are] being brought to the community but then they've been pretty much snatched from under our noses,” she said. “It creates a greater concern and it continues to deeply destabilize the community as a whole.”

Council member Jeremiah Ellison, who represents the area affected by Aldi’s closure, said that finding a new grocer to move into the Aldi property is a “very high priority.”

Ellison said he learned about the closure along with everyone else. And he said Aldi’s owners did not reach out to his office to express any concerns. But he and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey are looking ahead and will reach out to the developer Wellington Management, he said.

“We're going to start the process of supporting them and and supporting residents and recruiting another grocer into that area.”

Ellison said Aldi didn’t say if there were other reasons why it is leaving.

“Hopefully we can address issues, whether it's cash flow issues, whether it's crime and safety or parking issues,” said Ellison. “I can't pick up the phone and tell Aldi not to close, but I can go out and understand the conditions that caused them to close and recruit another grocer into that spot, that will be excited and willing to serve the north side.”

On Feb, 7, the same day Aldi announced they were closing the north location, they asked on Twitter: “If we were looking for new store locations, any suggestion on where we should go?”

Hundreds of users begged them to stay in north Minneapolis, even U.S. Sen. Tina Smith.

The account ignored the requests for north Minneapolis and responded to other suggested cities.

Ellison also expressed concern about the Walgreens on West Broadway and Lyndale avenues closing as well. He also said they did not reach out to his office about their decision.

Walgreens did not specify its reasons for the closure, but noted in a statement “the dynamics of the local market and changes in the buying habits of our patients and customers.” 

Food justice activist DeVon Nolan said she's concerned about the community's dwindling resources.

“And what's really tragic about that location of Walgreens is that there's a senior housing development, that's walking distance for them," she said.

MPR News digital producer Sam Stroozas contributed to this report.

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