Aldi Supermarket opens first store in Brooklyn

Photo Courtesy Aldi

Officials celebrate grand opening of Brooklyn’s first Aldi Market, on the site of a former Pathmark on Nostrand Ave. in Sheepshead Bay

SHEEPSHEAD BAY

Aldi Supermarket opened its first Brooklyn branch this week, and officials and residents in Sheepshead Bay rolled out the welcome wagon.

The store celebrated its grand opening in a LeFrak-owned former Pathmark site on Nostrand Ave.

Local pols rejoiced.

“All of us were pitching supermarkets to come here,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. “Now, the folks living in the community will have a full-service market.”

The inexpensive and calorie-packed house brands include Cheese Club, Summit sodas and Chef’s Cupboard.

The stores are widely known as the gritty stepson of Trader Joe’s, its parent company.

Aldi customers must pay a quarter to rent shopping carts, but the change is returned when the carts are returned to their racks. Patrons must bring their own bags or buy them from the cashier.

The 10,000 square-foot store is about half the size of the old Pathmark. That store closed in 2011, angering residents who were left without a nearby supermarket.

“This grand opening not only satisfies one of the top priorities of my constituents, but also, hopefully, signals revitalization in this neighborhood hit hard by Superstorm Sandy,” said state Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein.

Reuven Blau