Source: APD Engineering and Architecture This illustration shows a proposed ALDI location at 791 W. Elk Ave., the site of the former Big Lots, and is composed from documents filed with the City of Elizabethton as part of the building permit process. (The text showing “Future Tenant” has been enhanced for production purposes.)

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By Lynn J. Richardson & Buzz Trexler
Star Correspondents

A new grocery store appears poised and ready to set up shop in the heart of Elizabethton.
ALDI fans may no longer have to drive to Johnson City or Bristol to do their shopping if the discount grocery chain’s plans for the city’s former Big Lots store become a reality.

According to documents obtained by the Elizabethton Star, a company representing ALDI Inc. — APD Engineering and Architecture PLLC of Victor, N.Y. — is in the process of seeking a building permit from the City of Elizabethton to transform a structure located at 791 West Elk Ave. into the multinational grocer’s signature no-frills shopping experience.

Based on details outlined in the documents from APD Engineering and Architecture, the new store’s facility will be the result of a mixture of remodeling and new construction, encasing the current structure most recently occupied by Big Lots.

Although the company has submitted detailed plans — including both site and structural drawings — a general contractor has not yet been named, and the permit had not been granted as of Wednesday.

Records indicate Big Lots previously occupied 40,000 square feet of the overall 100,348-square-foot retail space, which was built for Walmart in 1988. Current tenants in the building — and presumed “new neighbors” of the proposed ALDI store — include Goodwill, Harbor Freight and Planet Fitness. The plans also show an area labeled “New Tenant.”

The ALDI concept began in 1961, when the Albrecht family founded the world’s first discount grocery store in Germany. In 1976, they opened the grocer’s first U.S. store in Iowa. The chain has now grown to more than 2,400 stores across 38 states with more than 45,000 employees.

ALDI sells a range of grocery items, including produce, meat and dairy, at discount prices. The company’s U.S. headquarters is located in Batavia, Ill.