Aldi Grocery Stores

[Dave Gray]

Do you guys have this where you are?

I find it very divisive -- I happen to love it, but it's non-conventional, so it creeps certain people out.  My wife won't go in there.

Have you ever tried it or do you even know what it is?

[Phishfan]

We have one but I have never been in it. I know several people who do go there though and have tried some of their products. I've been meaning to check it out but grocery stores are habits for me, I tend to not drive out of my way which Aldi is.

[Spider-Dan]

What is it?

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

Don't buy much food there, but we have gotten some great deals on non food items, couple of weeks ago my mom had me put together a kitchen island she bought real cheap.

[Tenshot13]

Since everyone is facinated with Aldi, I had to do a google search.  I've been in one once and it was kind of weird, but no weirder than how a Fresh Market is setup.

Aldi is a supermarket in Germany and in most parts of the European Union. Aldi shops are also in Australia and the United States. Most German towns and villages have at least one Aldi shop. There are about 4,100 stores in Germany, and 7,600 worldwide. The name of the shop stands for ALbrecht-DIscount.

[Phishfan]

What is it?

Basically an off brand grocer.

[DaLittle B]

I love them, Shop there weekly!I can't say enough Good things about Aldi's. We've had them for 25+ yrs (I remember them back in High school),back then their house brand was the "rainbow" brand,and wasn't very good.

 It's smaller grocery store,You either bring your own bags,or pay .25 deposit to use the shopping carts.Minimal people staffing or working it,so you bag your own stuff.They mostly have their own brands. Trader Joes are a sister company,in the family tree.

I absolutely love the "fit and active " brand of stuff,My Mom's lunch meat "fit and active brand" Turkey,Last time I price checked it) it was like 150Mg less sodium than most the other brands,and like $1-$1.50 less.

My mom buy's her fruit there for the week,She usually gets strawberry's,blackberries,raspberries,or blue berries really cheap there versus anywhere else locally.

We buy her eggs there,last week they were.... 58 cents a dozen for large.Most of the time close to half what walmart charges.

I eat the frozen breakfast sandwiches (frozen egg mcmuffins) for breakfast, I like the turkey bacon ones the best.

They just got back as a special buy, the 7 layer Vegetable lasagna, I bought 3 of them to throw in the fridge.I bought 2 of them last fall,and Loved them.

They also have a pretty good organic brand..
I buy canned mushrooms,Organic low sodium Chicken,and Vegetable broths,fresh romaine,and other vegetables there also.

I spend roughly $40-$50 a week,that I used to buy at Walmart,or my local grocery store (where it would cost me like $75)

[Dave Gray]

It's kinda hard to describe.  It's kind of West Coast hippie, kind of European, kind of East Coast hipster, kind of South American ethnic, and kinda rednecky.

It's a very small grocery store (about the size of a CVS pharmacy).
You have to bring your own bags.  (Or buy theirs)  They will not bag your groceries.  There are bagging stations at the front of the store to do it yourself.  This keeps them from hiring baggers.
You put a quarter in a lock to release your cart, outside.  When you return the cart, you get your quarter back.  That means that no carts are abandoned in the parking lot, thus no cart boy.
The have all of the basic food items, but there is usually just one or two options of each.  Aldi, I believe, has a lot of German brands.  There are a few brand names, but it's mostly some brand you haven't heard of.  And because there isn't a lot of choice, the store is small and the overhead is small.

It is INCREDIBLY cheap. 
For example:
Kraft Mac & Cheese at Publix, our regular S. Florida store -- $1.29-1.49 depending on sales and stuff
Publix Mac & Cheese -- .99
Aldi Mac & Cheese -- .33

My grocery bill is literally half of the other places.

But it's a little weird.  There isn't a lot of choice, there aren't shelves even, really -- mostly palettes, and you can't get EVERYTHING you need, so you will probably end up supplementing, if you need a specific spice or something.  It attracts an eclectic mix of hippie types that like the minimal impact of bags and shelves and stuff.  But it also attracts people that want the absolute lowest price possible on stuff.  And for me, it's just simple.  If I want peanut butter, I grab it and move on.  If I don't, I don't.  Publix devotes 1/3 of an entire aisle to every brand and type and size of Peanut Butter.  Aldi has like 4 cubic feet.

I find that freeing.  It is a much faster experience because I don't have to pine over everything.  I also have very VERY few brand loyalties, so it just works for me.  The whole process stresses my wife out, though.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

Besides the lower prices there are other advantages.  Much quicker being the store is smaller you can go up and down every isle and walk about 1/5 as far as a normal store.  Also with less selections there is less pondering.  Either you are buying ketchup or not.  No comparing 5 brands and 3 sizes to figure out which is cheaper.  Line is quicker cashier seem more efficient and I don't recall ever being stuck behind a price check or other problem like normal stores.

And the deposit on carts doesn't just save them from hiring a cart person, it saves my car from door dings.  Plus every once in a while you can make a quarter from someone too lazy to return the cart.  (But that is rare)

[Spider-Dan]

The quarter-cart locks appeared out this way at the grocery store I shop at, Food Maxx; it's a CA chain that sells items in not quite the bulk of Costco, but more bulk than, say, Safeway.  Food Maxx also has the bag your own groceries model.

The one I shop at opened around '98 and the quarter locks worked for a couple of years, but after a time the locks stopped working (i.e. you can unlock them without using a quarter).  Eventually they ended up replacing all the carts around 2005 or so, and the replacements didn't have locks any more.

I really like Food Maxx because it's open late (closes at midnight now, used to be 24hrs) and I can grocery shop without children underfoot.  The prices are good and the selection is still quite large.

[SCFinfan]

Aldi just came here. I haven't been, but my employees have, and they love it.

[DaLittle B]

I have a Save a lot store 2-3 blocks from my house,which is similar to Aldi's,but no where near as good Imo. Save a lot is a small  store,bag your own,don't pay for your cart,but tends to lack the quality in their "off brands" (very few,no sugar,low sugar,low salt,light options at all).I do like Save a Lot's produce and meat section,as they tend to beat the price,on stuff to grill.I'd say it's much smaller version of Food 4 less,because they carry a few national brands.

We have 2 Aldi's in town,the south side location,has the "wider aisles",all the produce is nicely refrigerated,look much more like a nice grocery store.The North side aldi's where I go,is still need of a remodel.

[Phishfan]

We have Save A Lots also. I tend to go there for canned goods, frozen items, etc. They use to have a really good pizza in the refrigerated (not frozen) section that you could take home and bake.

[pondwater]

Sadly I only have Kroger or Walmart to choose from. And I hate Walmart. Kroger is actually pretty good, prices could be better, but they are on par with Walmart. We do have a few Save-a-lots scattered around the ghetto areas, but I don't want to get shot, stabbed, or raped just for some off brand pizzas and soup, haha.

[masterfins]

After reading this thread I'm going to have to check out Aldi's.  There is one in my community, but a little out of the way from my normal travels.  I do know some people that have raved about their cheap prices in the past, but I've never gone in the store.