Aldi grocery store?

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jd_1138

Sous Chef
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I have been going to Aldi the last few weeks for groceries. Some of the stuff is not good but most is at least as good as the store brands. I guess Aldi gets their products from the same makers that make store brands (like Safeway, IGA, Lady Lee). The prices are awesome, and you're in and out faster because they don't have like 40 different types of one item like a regular grocery store has. So you want Olive Oil, well they have one brand and one size. So no need to stand there and try to figure out the best deal.

I was watching a German film last night and the lady walked into an Aldi. It looked exactly like the Aldi over here in the USA. It is a German co.. I guess Trader Joe's are owned by the other Aldi brother but a little more upscale.
 
I stopped going there several years ago because they charged customers a quarter to use their shopping carts. :rolleyes:
Wasn't that just a deposit to make you bring it back from the parking lot? They were doing that at a supermarket here, maybe 15 years ago. It was really annoying.
 
They still use that system and yes the quarter is returned when you return the cart to the lockup.

I use Aldi for some items. Like any store some things are a great deal and other things not so much. They have improved a great deal and it is getting to be like a no frills version of Trader Joe's.

We have another budget store in this area called PriceRite, good deals on produce and some name brand items.
 
I go to the PriceRight I have even if it is 1 mile more to get to mine.

3 Bucks less a package on Ground Turkey and they sell the Butterball brand.
70 cents less a pound on Turkey legs.
90 cents less on Hellavgood cheese than Wal-mart.
70 cents less a pound on Chicken breasts when on sale...

Other name brand items like Hunts Tomato Sauce at 99 cents for the 29oz can a bargain.
 
Wasn't that just a deposit to make you bring it back from the parking lot? They were doing that at a supermarket here, maybe 15 years ago. It was really annoying.

The problem for me is more that I simply don't carry change around.

My other beef is that I pay for all my groceries and gas with American Express, since I earn double points with their rewards program. Aldi doesn't take credit cards or checks.

Honestly, it just really doesn't work well for me. I'm sure it does for others.
 
I stopped going there several years ago because they charged customers a quarter to use their shopping carts. :rolleyes:

I actually made 50 cents off the carts when I went there yesterday. I offered a quarter to a lady after she was done emptying her cart into her car and she refused the quarter and let me have the cart. Then after shopping, I returned the cart to get my quarter back and I noticed someone had abandoned a cart with a quarter in it, so I returned both carts and made 50 cents. :yum:

For those who've never been there, you have to stick a quarter into a cart to unlock it so you can use it. Keeps the staff from having to round up carts.

I also like how efficient (German afterall) the checkout is. The clerks don't fart around bagging up groceries. Instead the items get scanned and placed directly into your cart and then you can push the cart over to these tables so that you can neatly place them in bags (have to bring your own). Some Aldi stores keep a bin of boxes from their products so that you can grab a few to put your groceries into. If they don't have a bin like this, you can peruse the shelves and look for almost empty boxes and take the items out and throw the empty box in your cart.
 
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Just hold all the food you can with your hands:cool:;):rolleyes:

Or if you're just grabbing a few odds and ends, you can just bring in a shopping bag and place your items in it and then empty them out on the conveyor belt for the clerk to ring up. I've seen people do that. It'd save the hassle of having to return the cart when done.
 
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Aldi now accepts some credit cards, Visa Debit and credit, Maestro, Delta and Electron and MasterCard.

I agree that the quarter thing can be a pain, I solved it by carrying an old pill bottle in the glove compartment (are they still called glove compartments?:ermm::ohmy::LOL:) with a few dollars worth of quarters for parking meters, tolls, Aldi, etc...
 
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They do have handheld basketsj, at least at the one that just opened sort of near us. It's pretty small and I wasn't impressed by the stock or the prices. It's not worth it to me to go that far out of my way.
 
Aldi now accepts some credit cards, Visa Debit and credit, Maestro, Delta and Electron and MasterCard.

I agree that the quarter thing can be a pain, I solved it by carrying an old pill bottle in the glove compartment (are they still called glove compartments?:ermm::ohmy::LOL:) with a few dollars worth of quarters for parking meters, tolls, Aldi, etc...

Heck, I keep about $10 in change in the cup holder of my car (change from going through drive throughs). I keep a cloth covering it, so the methheads don't break my car window to steal $7 in change.
 
We went in one once. Didn't need a quarter for a cart. Didn't buy anything.:rolleyes:
 
My FIL shops at Aldi's all the time. It's only about half a mile from his apartment and now he's alone after MIL passed this summer. He likes everything there except their pasta. He still goes to a Meijer grocery store on occasion since they have the ice cream flavor he likes and picks up some pasta there too. We don't have an Aldi's here yet but there are plans for 2 to open some time this year. One will be quite close. It will be interesting since Whole Foods just opened nearby too. From one extreme to the other in the same block!
 
I stopped going there several years ago because they charged customers a quarter to use their shopping carts. :rolleyes:

I view this as a minor inconvenience. Having the customers return the carts to the rack is efficient and ensures that there aren't any out in the parking lot to dent cars or to take up parking spaces. It also keeps Aldi from having to pay an employee to wrangle errant carts back to the store.

I had never heard of Aldi until I moved to Kentucky in 1994 and my best friend introduced me to the store in our area. I like most of Aldi's products, especially their Grandessa line, which equates to their "premier" line of foods. The Grandessa "house" salad dressing is fantastic.

I'm not certain how long the store has been in our area but, last year, it was completely torn down and a nice spacious new one was built. Corporate opted to do that because this particular store was one of their top-producers.

Their prices on nearly everything are fantastic and I find Aldi a good source for stocking up on basic canned goods. Can't beat their prices on those.

And, for anyone who is interested, Aldi is a German-based company that was founded by two German brothers in 1946.
 
I have only been to Aldi in Copenhagen. Yeah, the prices were good and the selection a bit limited. However, if I lived near one, it would definitely be one of the places I shopped. Unfortunately, there are no Aldis in Canada.
 
We have an Aldi's here, have never been to it, but their flyer has some interesting stuff and good prices.
 
When we lived in OH, we had an Aldi's about three miles from our home. As a Girl Scout leader in the mid-1980s, I found them invaluable as a source for inexpensive food of a decent quality. Not top quality, but good enough. After buying a few things you could pretty much figure out which selections of foods would be winners and which would be duds.

Fast forward to our move to MA in 2000, and not an Aldi's to be found. When they finally did move into the market area, Himself and I checked them out. We were surprised to find out that they had improved on practically every food product they offer. It's a farther drive to get to either Aldi's "near" us than most other grocery stores, but if we need to shop at a Lowe's or Target store, we always make our drive to the location with both of those stores AND Aldi's.

As far as the quarter goes? I always have some change in the car. Most of the time, when I'm ready to return a cart, there is someone else coming up to claim one for themselves. I usually roll the cart to them to use. When they offer me their quarter I tell them to just use my cart, then to "pay it forward" for the next shopper. It costs me an entire 25 cents to feel a tiny bit generous, and I know I saved a whole lot more than that by shopping at Aldi's.


...And, for anyone who is interested, Aldi is a German-based company that was founded by two German brothers in 1946.
Who, incidentally, found a much better way of dividing up the family corporation than the two cousins who went to court to settle their differences over Market Basket.

The Backgrounder: The Market Basket Strike
 
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