NationStates Jolt Archive

They have opened up some stores here in Oklahoma and I was wondering if any of you have shopped any the stores either in the US or elsewhere. How was your shopping experience and how are the values they offer?
Thanks.

www.aldi.com

Aldi is corporately German and based in Batavia Ill.

The stores I frequent are well managed, efficient, no-frills places that sell good quality food products at low cost. They also stock some housewares and electronics seasonally or on special which tend to be of reasonable quality - especially for the price.

Fresh Vegatables are not as varied, but all the staples are there.

I spend roughly 1/2 to 2/3 at Aldi what it would cost me at Albertsons/Jewel without the stress of a MegaMallMart shoping experience.

We have them over here. They're a German company, I think, and fairly cheap.

They have opened up some stores here in Oklahoma and I was wondering if any of you have shopped any the stores either in the US or elsewhere. How was your shopping experience and how are the values they offer?
Thanks.

www.aldi.com

I didn't even know they were still in business, but from what i remember they were the first of the "bag it yourself" "plain label" stores. Considering most plain label canned goods are actually packaged by the same people that bring you the green giant and such, I think the savings is more from the lack of advertising and smaller overhead for plain label products.
I am not a fan of the soviet style, "no choice, take it or leave it if we have got it." experience, but for everyday canned goods and such, I would think there could be substancial savings to be had. Personally, even though I am not a walmart fan, I find Sam's Club prices to be very hard to beat, with the downside of having to sometimes buy insane quantities of certain items.

They're cheap stores that look like shit and their employees are treated accordingly.

Huh. Never heard of them. There seem to be some out in New Jersey though, 18 or so miles from N Y C...
My family's big on Costco, Stop n' Shop and gormet stores here in Manhattan.

They're cheap stores that look like shit and their employees are treated accordingly.
Local variability based on the fact that most Aldi's tend to be located in poorer neighborhoods - tho I think they are trying to rectify that.

At the store my wife & I shop, the clerks know us by sight, if not by name, and are generally pleasant. From what I hear, the wages are decent and management opportunities are attainable.

But, yes, you have to bag your own (horror!) and use a (returnable) quarter to unlock your grocery cart (preventing theft). As a couple, we spend aproximately $30/wk at Aldi for 90% of our foodstock. It would cost considerably more at a "Name" supermarket.

The other thing that (our) Aldi does not have is a fresh meat counter. But as I rarely buy meat anyway (I like to kill my own and have issues with factory meat) that's not an issue to me.

Upshot - If it's in a safe neighborhood, it's a good place to shop for staples (if you don't have a COSTCO/Sam's sized freezer/pantry)

Aldi definitely has its pro's and cons.... They have a lot of great deals on everything from meat to snacks, and you save about a third of the price at a national chain... The cons, you do have to bag your own groceries, and they don't attract the cleanest customers in the world, but I have never had any problems. Also, interesting fact... There always seems to be one hot girl there shopping, which makes the experience more enjoyable... hey, you have your standards, I have mine...

I give Aldi a thumbs up..

Aldi has stores all over the UK. It's a German sort of Kmart.

We have one up here in Painesville, about 2 miles from my house. I don't like it since it seems run-down, but the canned goods are so cheap that it's a perfect place to buy name-brand quality goods in large quantities for food drives and the like.

Aldi's strategy is not to offer the same variety as other supermarkets do (ie, you only get two types of tomatopaste instead of seven to choose from) but instead to offer things cheaper.
You really do save quite a bit of money - my family has been doing it in Germany forever, and since Aldi opened here a few months ago, here as well.

It's true that the stores often aren't as visually appealing, but that's part of making the product cheap.

Oh, and I bought a TV there last week. Works like a treat, and only 230 bucks for 60cm.

Also, interesting fact... There always seems to be one hot girl there shopping, which makes the experience more enjoyable... hey, you have your standards, I have mine...

I give Aldi a thumbs up..

Hehe...fell for the moonlighting cop did ya?

Aldi is at least here in .de the best place to shop if you hate being manipulated. They do not annoy you with music, special light at some places and all that.

They had bottles of wine for like $2 there and I tried to buy 2 of them and made up a pretty story about how I was home from college and hid my ID in my desk because people were always asking me to buy them beer.

And they wouldn't sell it to me, but the gas station would.

So down with the Aldi's clerks.

Sounds a lot like a market called Food4Less where I'm from. You bag yourself, there is no one to help you, the place is a junky werehouse, and you only end up saving what seems like a few cents. Is this what Aldi's like?

Is this what Aldi's like?
Except that we routinely save 30% or more compared to what we'd pay if we want to the major Australian chains (Coles and Woolworths).

So if you're after quality goods for low prices moreso than image, nice music and a visually appealing store, then Aldi is the place to visit.

a german supermarket chain, the name comes from the name of the brothers, who own it theo and karl ALbrecht, the DI stands for Discount. the brothers are billionaires and have split the markets along a north-south line, one operates the north, the other the south, they have been around in my area for as long as i can think and i am a total fan of the Fassbrause (a kind of apple lemonade) that they sell, allthough i was disappointed, when they went from 1litre glasbottles to 0.5litre plasticbottles.
i even bought a computer from ALDI.
they have gotten a hard competitor in the swchwarz group, which runs the Lidl and Kaufland supermarket chains, which have beeen gaining market share. Wal-Mart, which we have too, does not seem to be doing too well against ALDI and Lidl however, probably because ALDI and Lidl have cheaper store brands.

Aldi is a source of cheap alcohol for chavs. If for no other reason, that alone should be enough for everyone to boycott them forever.

They are even worse than Netto.

I like aldi its nice

also they sell things you can't normally buy (I live in Aberystwyth and you can't buy certain things in the shops I can get to (olives in bulk, nice cheap pasta, good tomarto puree in large tubes, the range of cheese i'm used to) but I can from aldi)

so for some things they sell them at the same price but you get more or better and otherthings they sell in bulk cheaper.

they work their staff really hard but pay them well.

I don't drink the alcohol though

in my view/experience you get what you pay for (up to a certain amount at least)

Wow, a thread about Aldi, of all things. Goes to show what I know - I had no idea Aldi existed outside of Germany.
Yeah, they're cheap and I go there (well, actually I don't go there because I go to Lidl instead, but I would go there if we didn't have the Lidl... you get the point) mainly to stock up on basics, which you can get a lot cheaper there than in the fancier supermarkets.
My usual shopping trip usually involves going to a discount supermarket (like Aldi) first to buy most of the basics*, and then to a fancier one to buy the things the discount markets don't have, because their product range is pretty limited.

Oh, and we always have to bag our own groceries here, even in the fanciest stores, so that's not a problem. What is a problem, though, is that the cashiers at the discount markets are so damn fast, you can hardly keep up with tossing the stuff into your cart. :eek:

*actually, I've grown a conscience and have been buying more and more organic produce, like milk and eggs. But luckily, here in Germany, even the discount markets (Aldi included) have started to carry organic stuff now, even veggies and fruit!

They're cheap stores that look like shit and their employees are treated accordingly.


I don't know where you got your information on how they treat their employees but I have worked for them for a year and a half and I have been treated very well. They pay on average 3 to 4 dollars more then other local companies for the same job. Aldi's also pays 100% of my health insurance. I have found that they are one of the best companies that I have ever worked for.

Oh, and we always have to bag our own groceries here, even in the fanciest stores, so that's not a problem. What is a problem, though, is that the cashiers at the discount markets are so damn fast, you can hardly keep up with tossing the stuff into your cart. :eek:

Yeah, you do have to be careful about that. 2 of the cashiers have a tendency to "fling" the canned goods, and I've made them exchange the dented cans. However, the other cashiers (the ones I try to use) are fast but contientious about the potential for damage.

We can usually get in and out with our weekly shopping in under a half hour.

Perfect "guy" shopping experience. :D

i haven't shopped there, but a quasi-buddy of mine at work shops at one regularly and mentions ridiculously low-priced canned goods, like Chef Boyardee knock-offs and green beans, corn, etc.

There is one on the other side of town-I havent been in it. I dont know much about it-there are several closer stores we shop at.

I'm guessing it a discount type store as I notice many people walking, carrying Aldi shopping bags.

Low service, low cost...

And they don't have everything you need...

But they are okay

Eh, it's owned by the same people who run Trader Joes.

Then again, several companies run this way. Good way to make the $.

We have had one around the corner for a couple years now. It's a good place to stop and pick up a few things on the way home.

Bring your own shopping bags.

They have opened up some stores here in Oklahoma and I was wondering if any of you have shopped any the stores either in the US or elsewhere. How was your shopping experience and how are the values they offer?

They tend to be cheap, and they offer the lowest wages of the 4 chainsupermarkets in my neigbourhood. The store does not look that appealing, but I have never encountered spoiled food. I have heard various reports about the treatment of the employees, some of it quite negative.

Every now and then they sell things like computers, which offer amazing value for money but are a little low in expansion slots.

the aldi's near us (indiana) dont have liquor licenses.

bag your own, plain label foods.

cheaper packaging sometimes does mean, spoliage sooner.

some name brand stuff, is always cheaper.

returnable quarter for a shopping cart.

i believe they pay hourly clerks something like $10-12 hour, but this is in indiana; varies accordingly i am sure.

i have had problems with breads, meat, and dairy like they must be used very soon or go bad. like in a kroger or payless, a loaf of bread might last a week or so... at aldi maybe 3 days.

i always experience understaffed stores, but i dont mind waiting when i save 1/3 the price on things.

sometimes when they overstock, things are like 75% cheaper -no doubt.

not very cosmetic, but for my family (we are a young college couple, shopping in a 'soviet-experience' everyother week or so helps with the bills).;)



very much like sav-a-lot, costco, etc.

Aldi have a few shops here in Ireland but as they are in the country I'm not familiar with them. To my knowledge they're like fellow Germans Lidl: cheap and cheerful. They carry all cheap continental brands since their buyers presumably just get whatever's on discount from the supplier catalogues.

I'm in West Central MO. Nearly every good sized town has an Aldi's. They cut out anything that might add to cost. CASH ONLY Nearly everything generic/store brand. No decorations, etc. Just piles and shelves of food. Very small buildings. Very limited hours. Sack your own. Quarter deposit on shopping cart. Totally "Plain Jane".

But, if you don't mind generic they are the cheapest place in town.