Anybody shop at an Aldi supermarket?

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What are your impressions? I tried one yesterday. What's with the 25 cent shopping cart deposit? Are people not going to steal a cart if it costs them a quarter? Once I got inside and walked around, I got the impression that Aldi is the dollar store of supermarkets. Low priced brands I've never seen before. Merchandise laying on the floor. Makes Walmart supermarkets seem upscale in comparison. Bought just a few things. A $4 frozen pizza that was pretty tasteless, a tub of salsa that was flavorless, 2 boxes of $1.39 cereal bars that were so so, and some black raspberries, ok. I guess you get what you pay for. Anyone else been there?
 
The quarter deposit helps keep the carts out of the parking lot. About 95% of their products are their own store brand. Kind of like what you see at Trader Joe's which is an upscale version of Aldi and owned by the same company. Their fruits and veggies are good and priced right. Agree about the frozen pizza. Their jarred mild salsa for $1.50 is good. Some things are tasteless and others are good. Just about all of their products have a double guarantee printed on them if you're not satisfied.
 
Aldi's opened up here this past summer, not impressed, looks like the flea market of grocery stores, only thing i walked out with was some cheap Sangria wine.
lol.gif
 
Heck, my wife joined the AldiNerd FB group...

https://www.facebook.com/groups/thealdinerd/

Some stuff is good.

I keep shopping bags and a quarter in each of my cars in case I go. Things like bread, milk, cheese and so on are just as good as you get in any other store.

I'm not so much of a snob that I must go to Whole (wallet) Foods.

If something isn't good, I can take it back and get double my money and another item.

Part of the same family as Trader Joes. (One is Aldi Nord and the other is part of Aldi Sud)

Of course I lived across the street from a Lidl store and also visited Aldi when I lived in Germany. It's a German company, so I've had 30+ experience with them now.
 
We used to shop there a lot more than we do now but are trying to get back into it. The cost savings is substantial over other markets and they have good quality items usually. Fun fact; there is a relationship (of sorts) between Trader Joe's and Aldi which is why a lot of people see some similarities between their stores/operations.
 
Aldi's is basically a store with mostly their own private label brands with some name brand items. Their stores are not convenient to me, so I don't shop there much. Dairy and eggs tend to be very competitive and inexpensive. My wife also likes to get the German/European branded special Christmas cookies, etc that they carry seasonally. Otherwise we don't shop there much. Many of the stores are being updated and will carry a larger selection of cheeses and other "more upscale" items.
 
Originally Posted by SatinSilver
The quarter deposit helps keep the carts out of the parking lot.

Exactly. It's not about stealing carts. It's about the customers returning them back to the store so that an employee doesn't have to. Aldi is a pretty lean efficient low cost operation.

Not everything they sell is great, but the same can be said about any store out there.

They will also not provide free bags.

Some items are cheaper than Walmart, so you can save some money if you are willing to accept some of the inconveniences.

https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/05/business/aldi-walmart-low-food-prices/index.html
 
, it's ok I guess, plenty of off brand items...the store I stopped at is a little out of the way so I really never went back just for that reason
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
What are your impressions? I tried one yesterday. What's with the 25 cent shopping cart deposit? Are people not going to steal a cart if it costs them a quarter? Once I got inside and walked around, I got the impression that Aldi is the dollar store of supermarkets. Low priced brands I've never seen before. Merchandise laying on the floor. Makes Walmart supermarkets seem upscale in comparison. Bought just a few things. A $4 frozen pizza that was pretty tasteless, a tub of salsa that was flavorless, 2 boxes of $1.39 cereal bars that were so so, and some black raspberries, ok. I guess you get what you pay for. Anyone else been there?


People take the carts home turn them on their side and use as a charcoal grill.
 
People scoff at the cart-for-a-quarter system but the chances of coming out and seeing a new gouge in your car's paint and a cart next to it are vastly less than the more upscale stores. I've even had people give me their cart and not take the quarter I was going to use to get one. Which, of course, I then pass to the next person when I can.

Like any other shopping, you have to know what you're buying. As someone already noted, milk and eggs are very competitive - so much that I've noticed that the Meijer down the road now carries a penny-saver brand of eggs that costs about as much as the eggs at Aldi.

Aldi is a weekly stop when I'm out shopping.
 
I love Aldi. However avoid most the "fresh" produce, unless you are going to eat it that day or the next. It's not very fresh. Their cereal and ice cream sucks too. Everything else there that I have tried I like.
 
Forgot to add that the mechanic's creeper I've been using for at least 10 years now...a special buy at Aldi.

It outlasted two other creepers from Sears.
 
Sears Roebuck in Hackensack, NJ has a main building and a big, multi bay auto center along Main St.
Between those two buildings was the "Outdoor Living Center". It was a separate building where patio furniture, Christmas stuff, appliances etc. was sold.
They tore that middle building down and built an Aldi. Who still owns the land I don't know. I suspect Sears.
They own other lots in Hackensack as well.

My experience jibes with those above.

My first Aldi store is on Rt. 254 in/near Queensbury, NY. It's just plain bigger and has more stuff.

Veggies are a tad limited but so is meat selection. However, one can still cobble together a complete meal of OK quality for lower prices if you are a little flexible.

I think the business model is superlative for "food deserts" or on main roads.

Where we live (No. NJ) is saturated with REALLY GOOD food stores -a fact for which I'm 1,000% grateful. If you have a car I can see you not going there.

If you're a cigarette smoking wife beater from the '50's - '60's who can't handle differences then it isn't the shop for you.
 
They have the best selection of organic produce in my area. The same goes for European made products as well. The nearest Whole Foods or Trader Joe's is 1.5 hours so Aldi's sees a lot more visits from me than otherwise.
 
Aldi been the same since I been a kid. 80% IN house brands- no bags - boxes they aren't using anymore for free.

You dont one stop at Aldi - you move it into the rotation and get the stuff that makes sense - like trader joes.



UD
 
As others have said the quarter is so you put the cart back not steal it. It helps prevent A holes from leaving carts all over the place or letting them go down hill into someones car. Almost every German supermarket does this and it works.
I used to go to Aldi quite a bit in Germany but not here in the US so much.
 
I have one withing walking distance of my house. They carry brands I've never heard of before. Produce is ok, pretty picked over most times. Good deal on meat. More often than not, they need more checkers working. Lines are long, but move fairly quick.
 
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