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Aldi supermarkets

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zoebartlett

zoebartlett

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I just discovered Aldi supermarkets, and I had never heard of them before. Do you have one near you? Is it a place you like to shop for groceries? From what I can tell, it seems similar to TJs in that they carry their own brands and the store isn''t as large as a regular supermarket is. The prices are soooo much less expensive though.

What do you think of Aldi?
 
We have an Aldi''s but I prefer Save-A-Lot. Same concept but a little larger selection. Aldi''s does have really good store name pizzas.

I think for things like canned goods, noodles, potatoes, etc there''s really not any difference between brand name and store brand so saving the money is great.
 
Oh, have to add.

I despise the cart fee. You have to put in a quarter to get a cart. It just bugs me because I never have change.
 
I have one near me...I am in Frankfurt and they are huge here in Germany. The one near me is really gross and it has really random stuff and a lot of it looks like it is expired. I am just a major coupon/on sale shopper at other places.
 
We have one near us. We go there for milk and eggs. I can beat their other prices at the regular grocery store because I''m a coupon user, but when I''m in "need" of something that''s not on sale, I do tend to check them out. I haven''t had any quality issues that I can think of. I think it''s a good place to grab staples and stock a pantry.

I too despise the cart deposit. I never get one. I don''t buy much, but I end up trying to lug a basket thru the checkout line and inevitably get stuck behind someone with a huge cart. And check out is another thing that bugs me there- they typically keep overhead costs very low, which equals ONE checker. If it gets really busy, they MIGHT bring out a second. I''ve had to wait in line longer there than any other grocery store.

Try and bring your own grocery bag. I like to bring my insulated one from TJ''s. I hate paying for the ones there, but do when I forget mine.
 
We used to have one near us when we lived in Jersey. Some of their products were good.

Stuffing
Dairy (including basic cheeses)
Canned goods were okay (hated their corn though)
Teriyaki Beef Jerkey was great.
Cheese Ravioli's actually a lot of their 'non-meat' frozen stuff was yummy.
Some of their meat (their pork particularly)
Some of their fresh fruits and veggies. (Not all, have to be picky)
Juices (some of them, read the label)
Sparking water.
 
We have an Aldi''s and a PriceRite in my town. I''ve been to both and I''m still on the fence about them. I didn''t care for the produce at either, Aldi''s had better meat than PR, and I didn''t buy too much other stuff. Oh, and there for very different demographics. Aldi''s is a little higher-end than PR.
 
Oh, and the cart thing sucks. I''ll buy one but I always hand it off to someone so they don''t have to buy one.
 
The cart thing would only bother me if I didn''t have a quarter. I found a thread on City-data about Aldis, so I had known about the cart and "bring your own bag" thing. The thing that I didn''t like was that there''s not much variety at all when it came to certain items. They have their own healthier brand (Fit and Active, I think they call it) but only for certain things. I like the regular supermarkets because there''s more variety. The BEST thing was being able to buy particular things really cheaply.
 
Love the popsicles (fudge), hate paying for bags and carts. Sometimes I can snag a box so I don''t need a bag.
 
I don''t think we have one near us. I have seen the commercials, sounds like a great store.
 
shop there all the time, save a lot of money.
Can get the same prices by shopping 10 different stores but who wants to do that?
I hate shopping
 
I''ve been to Aldi''s a few times. Had friends in the Chicago burbs who wouldn''t shop anywhere else, but I was mostly a TJ shopper back then. I need to stop in the one by me soon and check it out.
 
I think I''m going back when we need to do food shopping again, and I''m going to see if I can get eveything there. As Karl said, I don''t want to have to run around to ten stores to complete my shopping.
 
Not for me. Too yucky, but then I shop at Whole Foods, Trader Joe''s and Sprouts which are a completely different demographic.
 
Date: 7/31/2009 9:52:32 PM
Author: purrfectpear
Not for me. Too yucky, but then I shop at Whole Foods, Trader Joe''s and Sprouts which are a completely different demographic.
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Can you tell us what is yucky about it??
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Date: 7/31/2009 10:14:20 PM
Author: Kaleigh

Date: 7/31/2009 9:52:32 PM
Author: purrfectpear
Not for me. Too yucky, but then I shop at Whole Foods, Trader Joe''s and Sprouts which are a completely different demographic.
Click to expand...
Can you tell us what is yucky about it??
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Click to expand...
Huh. As long as I have to work for a living and can''t afford to hire someone to do my grocery shopping for me, I think I''ll stick with what makes the most sense to me financially, rather than worry about whether a store''s clientele are my demographic or that maybe they''re too yucky for me. I mean, if I were that concerned about my fellow shoppers and what neighborhood I shopped in, I might as well stay at home and order from Peapod...
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Hee ... Kaleigh the one by me is a little yucky too ... and by that I mean Dollar-Store-ish. Like a discount grocery version of 7-11? Outskirts of town type deal. However, maybe they have good deals. The one time I went it was FULL of very elderly people?? With age comes wisdom?

I'd be willing to give it another shot if you guys say they have awesome house brands or offer more specifics of what to look for. As much as I dig frozen pizza & fudge popcicles I'm gonna need more convincing ...
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ETA: Would like to clarify that I *do* shot Walmart from time to time & don't consider that "yucky" because the management does a nice job with it. However the fancier chain of grocerys here Hannaford has a location that my husband & I call the "dirty Hannaford". Its just kind of grimy inside. And in a bleak neighborhood. And has sticky floors because the can return area is right in front so you have to walk through that. So its not all about price & "name" but -- more about atmosphere.
 
There were two by us. One was older and a shabby and honestly didn''t (except for the boxed and canned) have the same stuff the other did or the same quality. The other one was new, very clean, and had a fresh meat department which had nice stuff (especially their pork). The produce was also better.

I don''t care about demographics either. But I don''t shop at dirty stores, so we stuck to the newer one.

When we lived out there we shopped at Costco for paper bulk goods and other things, Aldi for some groceries (the one that made sense) including cereal, and at the local ''regular'' grocery store as well.

I shop where it makes sense to.
 
I love Aldi - $3 wine and it's not bad!! But, Aldi has some downfalls: 1) Produce is awful 2) A lot of "similar to brand name" items are higher in calories or sodium - be careful.

I've been told that Aldi is owned by the same folks as Trader Joe's, and that you can often find the same products in different packaging. But I've never been to a TJ's, so I can't speak on that
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ETA: I don't get why everyone is upset about "paying for the cart" - you do get your quarter back when you return it! I'd much rather put a quarter in to unchain the cart than get hit by an errant cart in the parking lot. Works for me!
 
In reference to my earlier post/yuck factor/demographics...I have to admit that I have seen some questionable stores in locations I would probably not be wise to drive through at night. However, the town in which I live now has an Aldi, several Dollar Stores, a Super Wal-Mart, a Big K-Mart, etc. Every single one of those stores is nicely kept and maintained. Smalltown, USA does have its perks. Alas, the nearest TJ's or Whole Foods is in Indianapolis, about 2 hours away. But, here we have farmer's markets several times a week, access to tons of organic produce that isn't as expensive as what you would buy in Wal-Mart, etc. Oh, and we have a Big Lots--now that is a fun place to shop, you never know what you'll find. Also clean and well-maintained.
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Oh I miss Big Lots! Haven''t been to one in years. I did pass one about an hour from here ... hmmm.... maybe I''ll stop in if I get up there. But -- have to say -- its in a dodgy strip mall. I think chains can really vary store to store with management. Our Dollar Store around here is pretty well kept. My MIL gets party trays & tins & gift wrapping stuff there.

Do you have a Christmas Tree Store where you are Monnie? (Not just for Xmas stuff - tons of crafty stuff & bargains, kinda like Big Lots).

INTERESTING about Aldi owning Trader Joe''s ... maybe that''s why they have that $3 great wine! Three Buck Chuck!?! Named something else maybe? Kinda wanna check it out this weekend then ... when do really old people sleep? (So it won''t be crowded ... LOL).
 
Dang, no Christmas Tree store! BUT, lots of tractor supply stores! LOL
 
Aldi was started by 2 german brothers Karl & Theo Albrecht, both in their 80s now and are in the top 100 richest persons in Forbes list. In the l960, they both seperated. One going under Aldi Nord and the other Aldi Sud. I am not sure which but I think Aldi Sud spreads its arm into the US. Their philosophy/concept started with selling basic food stuffs which will not perished, frozen food & affordable toiletries etc with no store trimmings. Now, they are probably branching out to fresh produces. Since the change from DM to Euro, they are becoming very popular with the germans again.
 
Hugely popular in Germany. Extremely cheap and good quality. I had no idea Aldi "Sud" (South) was expanding into the States. Good for them. I hope they can keep up the price-quality ratio. Sounds like sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn''t.
 
Aldi are quite prevalent here in the UK, and I have to say that I love them! The UK ones seem to be set up slightly differently to the US ones (at least based on the couple of ones I visited on the East Coast), even though they are owned by the same brother. The US stores seemed to be just food, whilst the UK stores have food but also other random things like digital cameras, tools, gardening supplies--it just depends on what things they get in for a particular week. If you sign up to be on their mailing list, you''ll be able to see what stuff they''ll have starting from a certain date, but they have a finite amount of products, so if you REALLY want something specific, you have to get there early--sometimes they sell out of stuff on the same day they put the new stuff out (I think it''s Sundays and Thursdays?). Their prices are great and the stuff they sell is a great deal--not top of the line, but much better quality than anything else of a comparable price.

The food there is interesting--lots of it is a good price because it''s not a name brand, although you can''t do all your grocery shopping there because they don''t have a full selection of food. But what they do have is good! J''s mom (who''s well to do) is practically an Aldi missionary--she thinks it''s the best store ever, and the first thing she asked us about the location of our flat when we moved down here was, "Where''s your closest Aldi?"
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My parents used to shop at Aldi when I was a kid because...well, that's what we could afford. I haven't been to one in years, but wish there were one close to me. I'm really frustrated with the grocery store options around me, they all seem too expensive.

ETA: Gwen, I literally laughed out loud when you wrote that your future in-laws first question when you moved was about the proximity to Aldi. hehe.
 
We have one where I live and I am all about saving money. Even more so now that the hubs is layed off
I have tried shopping there several times as I do know I can save money there.
The times I have been in there it is always dirty and shelves are so unorganized. I can''t bring myself to buy food items from a store that looks so disheveled and dirty.
Could be just a manager issue
However, it has been in our area for a number years and I hear the same from a lot of people
 
I do my weekly shop at Aldi.

I didn''t want to shop there considering it was not many years ago I did the weekly shop at M&S, then Tesco. But when I spent €100 every week at Tesco and unpacked nothing when I got home I decided to try it out about a year ago.

Now I spend €50 at a minimum up to €70 max (rarely) and have lots of fresh veg, fruit, yoghurts, snacks for DH, fancy bread rolls, cheese, fresh packed meats and pizza. I even afford tuna every week for my kitties.

I still am hesitant to say I shop there in public, I suppose I am a snob but I have to admit I love their price and quality.
 
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