Dive Brief:

• Grocery-retailer Aldi is investing $57 million to build a 500,000 square foot distribution center and division centers in Dinwiddie County, south of Richmond, according to a release from the governor's office. The retailer expects to complete the project by 2017.
• The distribution center will be roughly 120 miles from either the District of Columbia or Raleigh, NC.
• Aldi has 32 stores in Virginia, although the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports the retailer plans to open 60 more in the next five years. The project is part of an accelerated growth plan to operate nearly 2,000 stores by 2018.

Dive Insight:

Virginia provided a variety of incentives to bring Aldi to the region, as the state positions itself as a distribution hub for the Atlantic coast. The Commonwealth's Opportunity Fund and Dinwiddie County will each provide $450,000 to assist with the project, while the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission will provide another $680,000. 

Distributors in the Richmond region can travel to major population hubs in under two hours, making the region ideal for shipping grocery products, whose freshness is a key factor in consumer taste. Wal-Mart, Harris Teeter, Supervalu and Amazon also have or are opening distribution centers in the region.