HARRISBURG, Pa. – Grocery stores with a limited assortment of lower-priced products are growing, the Patriot-News reports. Limited-assortment supermarkets stock fewer than 2,000 items and generally carry more private-label brands than national ones.

The smaller stores, like Aldi, Sharp Shopper, PriceRite and Trader Joe’s, usually don’t offer hot foods, salad bars or to-go deli products, in addition to having only one or two brands or sizes for an item – or sometimes not even that. Store growth of limited assortment stores, while currently a fraction of most grocery markets, are on the rise.

Jeff Baehr, vice president of Aldi’s regional division in Frederick, Maryland, told the newspaper that the company locates stores where at least 35,000 people live within a three-mile radius. “In today’s economy, more and more people are becoming concerned about the dollars they are spending on groceries, so we are gaining more customers who are concerned about the value,” he said.

Nationally, limited-assortment grocery stores account for 2 percent of the market share. However, sales at the smaller locations jumped 8.3 percent in 2006, with their market share forecasted to add another half percent to reach 2.5 percent by 2011, according to Willard Bishop. The consulting firm estimates that sales growth at limited-assortment stores between 2007 and 2011 will be second in the industry only to the 170,000-square-foot-plus supercenters.

“Food price inflation today is double a year ago and we expect it to go even higher over the next year or two,” Jon Hauptman, a partner at Willard Bishop, told the newspaper. “Consumers are looking to stretch their shopping budget and are willing to trade a brand name for a strong price per ounce or price per pound, even if they aren’t familiar with the brand.”