By DON STINE
An Aldi grocery store is being proposed to be built on the site of the former Coca Cola bottling plant on the Asbury Park Circle in Neptune.
Neptune Business Adminstrator Vito Gadaleta said this week that the Aldi is being proposed in one of three buildings to be put up at the site, which is at the very eastern edge of the traffic circle.
The property owner, M&M Realty Partners, based in Piscataway, has not yet submitted an application or site plans to the Planning Board but has received a permit to demolish the old bottling plant, which has been vacant for decades.
Gadaleta said the only thing “moving forward” right now is the demolition, which he expects to happen in a few weeks.
Aldi is the common brand of a German family-owned discount supermarket chain with over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. Most German towns and villages have at least one Aldi shop. There are about 4,100 stores in Germany, and 7,600 worldwide.
There are 1,873 Aldi stores in the United States including one at 15 Route 35 in Neptune, near Route 33.
The company also operates the Trader Joe’s food stores, with 474 stores in the United States.
