After a long awaited deal, the Village Board of La Grange Park approved the proposal to build an Aldi in the historical Village Market on La Grange Road. This construction project calls for a complete demolition and rebuilding of part of the property, solving various structural conflicts to modernize and fit the current codes of conduct. 

With completion projected for the beginning of 2024, the village hopes to welcome the chain as another grocery option for families in the community. 

“It’s another choice for bringing food into people’s homes,” Village Manager Julia Cedillo said. “Aldi has grocery staples at affordable price points, and I think that it’s exciting to be able to bring a store that is so well received by the general public to the community.”

The idea started as a proposal during a board meeting earlier this year, she said. Representatives met with property owner and real estate company CBRE Group to discuss construction plans for the addition. From there, members considered the possibility of a completely revamped look for the south strip mall. This would include tearing down the antiqued round building at the farthest end of the shopping center, as it was too small for its purpose and out of code.

“We were always concerned about bringing in the right store and the right business,” Village President Jim Discipio said. “We didn’t want to create a problem within the community regarding traffic, parking, the whole nine yards. That’s really what took up a lot of the planning time, working with the other partners and residents to make sure what we were doing was right.” 

The Village Market was built in 1958, with the former round building housing numerous shops, some being Charles A. Stevens, a clothing store for women and children in the 1960s, a Blockbuster Video in 1993, and in 2011, a Family Home Video until its indefinite closing around 2017. The lot has remained vacant until now. 

“The owners of the Village Market are starting to change a little bit,” Discipio said. “They are starting to loosen up and see that development is an opportunity for them to make more money, so we finally got them to understand that Aldi would be a good fit.” 

Residents in the area voiced concerns about construction noise nearby and parking lots being closed off for extended periods of time, Cedillo said. The Village Hall and other community leaders found ways around this by adding additional landscaping to buffer the noise, and providing a temporary detour to get to the lots and stop lights safely. 

“Whether it was Plymouth Place or Homestead Apartments, I think we wanted to make sure that whatever impacts there would be, they would be swiftly addressed as a part of the approval process,” Cedillo said. 

Due to the strip mall’s outdated structural base, the rebuild will include extensive and valuable updates to the water management system, she said. This would significantly help the sloped terrain flood less around the property and surrounding areas.

“I’m very pleased with what we’ve done to accommodate the residents here,” Discipio said. “We want to keep it the nice village that it’s always been, but yet preview amenities that our residents are requesting in a safe and environmentally friendly way.”  

Aldi will be located at 333 N La Grange Rd, La Grange Park, IL. Store hours are TBD.