Discount grocer Aldi has signed a lease for a new store at White Flint Plaza, replacing a Shoppers Food Warehouse that closed at the Montgomery County shopping center more than a year ago, one of three new Aldi locations opening in the D.C. area this year.

It is one of 100 new stores Aldi recently announced it would open nationwide this year.

There are currently 20 Aldi locations in the D.C. area. It will open new D.C.-area stores in Capitol Heights, Maryland, and Haymarket, Virginia, later this year, though it has not yet provided exact locations.

The 22,000-square-foot White Flint Plaza Aldi will open in late 2021, and will have plenty of both existing potential neighborhood shoppers and new ones.

Developer Foulger-Pratt’s 335-unit apartment community, Harwood Flats, at 5454 Nicholson Lane, recently broke ground next door to White Flint Plaza and will be completed in summer 2022.

“We are elated to announce the return of a respected grocer to White Flint Plaza,” said senior vice president Jonathan Shartar at Combined Properties, the shopping center’s owner. “Aldi will be beneficial to the broader community, including the residents of surrounding multifamily communities currently in development.”

There are several other retail, office and residential projects underway for the White Flint Metro area, from developers that include Lerner Enterprises, JBG Companies, BF Saul and Federal Realty Investment Trust.

Aldi will join other retailers at White Flint Plaza, including HomeGoods, PetSmart, Advance Auto, Title Boxing and Rodman’s Discount Gourmet.

Aldi has a goal of 2,500 stores in the U.S. within the next two years, making it the third-largest grocery seller in the U.S., behind Kroger and Walmart.