By Megan Kelley

Review Writer

For several years now, development on Brown Road has been in the works with road construction and, last year, the addition of Menards.

The large bits of undeveloped land lend themselves to the possibility of immense development at the southern end of Orion Township.

Brand new to the area is German-founded company, Aldi.

Aldi opened its doors for the first time in the township last Thursday.

The possibility of winning up to $100 or, potentially, a free year of produce, was enough to bring out plenty of excited shoppers.

Eager, expecting patrons began lining up as early as 5 a.m. and by 8:30 a.m., the line had wrapped around the building all the way to the loading docks.

“In terms of this store, what our customers can come to expect is more fresh products, a more convenient shopping experience and a simple, smarter one,” said Director of Store Operations Brandon Verlinden.

Though Aldi is not new in the Metro Detroit area, this is the first to open in Orion Twp. With several other grocery store options in Orion Twp., Aldi is a different take on the same concept.

“From other grocery stores, I think what you’re going to see is a smarter, simpler experience with the amount of products we carry,” Verlinden said. “We’re about 90 to 95 percent private label, so that means we carry a lot of our own Aldi brands. So, you’re only going to get one variety of peanut butter, not ten. So, when you’re in there you can get in and out quickly but at the end of the day, all of the things we do, whether it’s the quarter cart system, whether it’s having our customers pay for bags, all of that is designed to have our customers save money in the long run.”

Aldi is located at 475 Brown Rd. and is open Mon-Sun 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.