Aldi has applied to sell beer and wine at its two Chattanooga stores, which would put the discount grocery chain among the ranks of groceries that sell wine here since it became legal on July 1 for Tennessee groceries to do so.
“That’s what we’re hoping,” said Gail VanFossen of the Aldi on Highway 153 in Hixson.
Both VanFossen and Elizabeth Boettcher, of the Aldi at 5706 Lee Highway, are scheduled to appear this morning before the Chattanooga Beer Board to seek a permit to sell beer. Until now, the two Aldi stores haven’t carried alcohol of any kind.
“We only do beer,” said Keith Reisman, the assistant city attorney who works with the beer board. “The beer is what’s on the agenda [today].”
The wine permit is a separate process that needs final approval from the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC). A TABC spokeswoman said in late June that the commission had just received applications from Aldi, and those requests still needed to be processed.