BATAVIA, Ill. — Budget grocer Aldi has acquired a 55-acre site in Southern California, where it will build a distribution center to serve about 200 stores in the region.

Budget grocer Aldi has acquired a 55-acre site in Southern California, where it will build a distribution center to serve about 200 stores in the region.

The move represents the German company’s first foray into the West Coast. Its 1,300 U.S. stores are scattered across 32 states in the East and ­Midwest.

In December Aldi unveiled a five-year plan to add 650 stores in the United States, or about 130 stores a year. In recent years it has expanded at a pace of 80 new stores a year.

The company opened its first U.S. store in this Chicago suburb in 1976, and it expanded as its private label program grew.