Do you go grocery shopping at Aldi?
By maezee
@maezee (41997)
United States
January 17, 2010 11:09pm CST
I'm just curious as to those who do currently. I know I've seen a few discussions started here and there about this store - but for those of you who don't know, they're just a chain of.. "discount" grocery stores with very unconventional quirks.
One, you have to make a deposit of .25 cents to "rent" a cart (weird - they must've been getting stolen or something? But I can't see what .25 cents is going to do).
Two, the store's set up (I can't explain it - but it's very weird. Pretty much things stacked on the floor. Kind of ghetto, but whatever.)
Three, the brands they carry are almost 100% their OWN generic brand of everything. IE, it would be impossible to find a box of Lucky Charms in the mix. You would have to settle for their generic version, if they have one.
Four, they don't offer to give you bags at the end when you check out. It's all very bizarre to me. They give you boxes if you ask for them, otherwise they just put everything in your cart.
I have mixed feelings about Aldi. One is that it's very bizarre, but on the other hand, it harbors some pretty darn good deals.
What do you think? What are your thoughts about Aldi? Are you a regular shopper?
1 person likes this
4 responses
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
20 Jan 10
In the city where I lived before there was an Aldi close to the pedestrian area and it was very easy to do my grocery shopping there if I was doing something else in that part of the city, and I went there pretty often. I didn't like to buy fruits or vegetables there. I don't know what it is like in other Aldi shops, but in my local shop the vegetables were often too old and not worth buying. I still liked to do my grocery shopping there, because it was a way to save some money.
I can tell from your post that some things are different in my country. In most shops we have to "rent" a cart, you usually have to deposit $2 or $4, you can't just take a cart. You also wrote "they don't offer to give you bags at the end when you check out" Do you get free bags at other grocery shops? We don't, we always have to pay for them.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
19 Jan 10
I discovered the joys of Aldi just a few months ago when I was trying to find ways to trim my budget. And now I go there all the time. Yes, they are very different from the other grocery stores in the area, but their food is a lot cheaper and it genuinely tastes better than some of the name brand food from other stores. We haven't tried anything that we don't like. I don't mind that they don't give you plastic bags when you check out, I just take my own bag with me when I go shopping and I like that they don't have a lot of junk that my children love to throw in the cart at other grocery stores.
@Wizzywig (7847)
•
18 Jan 10
I wouldn't say I'm a regular Aldi customer but I probably go maybe 8 or 9 times a year. Paying a deposit of £1 (GBP)for your shopping trolley (cart) is quite normal in many supermarkets here because people do steal them or leave them strewn about the car parks if they haven't got money to come back.
I like to go in and browse... I've had good leather trainers and plenty of good tasty food from there at good prices. I got our Christmas lunch items plus a few foodie type gifts in December. If I can get cheaper alternatives to branded goods which I feel are equal or at least almost as nice, then I do it. When you're on a tight budget its a big help.
