Aldi to open store on disputed Wal-Mart site

Aldi plans to open a grocery store next year at a South Side shopping center where Wal-Mart has been stymied for five years in a battle with the unions.

The Batavia-based discount supermarket chain signed a lease with Archon Group LP, the development arm of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., to open at Chatham Market at 83rd Street and Stewart Avenue, according to documents filed with Cook County.

The 17,000-square-foot freestanding building is slated to debut in late 2010 and will follow Aldi's prototype design, touting high ceilings, plenty of windows and generally a "brighter, warmer more welcoming look and feel," said Aldi spokeswoman Martha Swaney, who confirmed the deal.