In an effort to save energy, the northern German supermarket chain Aldi Nord has announced that it will close shops earlier come November.

Aldi Nord will close earlier across northern Germany

In an effort to save energy, the northern German division of the Aldi supermarket chain, Aldi Nord, has announced that they will close their shops at 8pm come November. Currently many Aldi Nord branches in German cities are open until 9pm.

So far the company has not shared details of which specific shops will be affected, but announced on Twitter that the new hours will apply to “zahlreiche Märkte” (numerous shops) across the northern states of Germany.

Within Germany, the international company is divided into Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd. The southern borders of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Thuringia and Saxony mark the territory where the Aldi Süd chain takes over from Aldi Nord. So all Aldi shops south of these federal states so will not be impacted by the change.

Will other chains follow the Bavarian supermarket tradition?

Although the Aldi Süd branches are not included in the opening hour changes, it is already customary in Bavaria and Saarland for many supermarkets to close at 8pm. At the end of September, the boss of the supermarket chain Tegut, Thomas Gutberlet, suggested that other German states should follow the example of Bavarian supermarkets in order to save energy. Tegut has already reduced the opening hours of service counters, cutting back on electricity costs and staff working hours.

According to SPIEGEL, Rewe boss Lionel Souque is yet to be convinced by such suggestions. While the retail industry uses huge amounts of energy, and powering supermarket fridges and freezers is particularly pricey, some chains feel that their responsibility to customers is more important. Explaining his company’s longer opening hours, Souque stated that the main aim of the Rewe group is to "make the greatest possible contribution to the savings that are necessary nationwide without creating restrictions for our customers.”