Aldi stores are getting a $5.3 billion update - and the result is almost unrecognizable

Business Insider/Hayley Peterson

Aldi has a new look.

• Aldi is spending $5.3 billion to build 800 new stores and remodel existing locations.
• I toured one of the newly remodeled stores, and it was a vastly different shopping experience from the older stores.
• The biggest changes were in the fresh department, which was larger and offered a greater variety of organic produce.

Aldi is halfway through its $5.3 billion plan to build 800 new stores in the United States and update hundreds of existing locations.

I toured a newly remodeled store in St. Charles, Illinois, this week, and it was nearly unrecognizable.

Here's what the new store looks like, compared to a couple of older stores in Richmond, Virginia: