Convenience Stores. Is this becoming more common?

[Coconut36]

I makes me a little leery now to drink the milk. I'm not saying that they did anything to it but was it kept at proper temperature before arriving at the 7-11 store?

And that would be another reason I would think Aldi would object as well. If something happens because it wasn't properly stored the consumer will likely call Aldi's customer service numbers not the convenience store and it can mess with their name and the quality of their name.

 

[Coconut36]

Im not suprised.. my local corner store guy does most of his shopping at Costco.. including the milk.

Well Costco is vastly different from the local grocery store. Costco is a wholesale retailer..they are used quite frequently by businesses and know it..hence they have "business" memberships as well. That is part of the purpose of Costco and the niche it fills. The same can not be said for the local grocery store and they do not intend to sell in the bulk amounts required to keep a business going.

 

[daughtersrus]

I decided to contact both 7-11 and Aldi. I spoke to a rep at 7-11 because their online form kept changing the name of the city for the store location to Chicago even though it's in a suburb. At the end of the conversation, she said that she would forward the complaint to the regional supervisor for the area as well as the store manager. I told her that I wasn't comfortable with the store manager having my phone# (he/she is probably the owner and knows full well what is going on) but she said that it was already sent and she couldn't delete it. I guess that I should have known better. I just thought that the district rep would get the info, not at a store level.

I sent an email to the customer service dept for Aldi. We'll see if either of them get back to me.

 

[LBIJim]

Sounds like a rogue franchisee. They can obtain Aldi products cheaper than from 7-Eleven's approved distributors. Not at all surprising. There have been disputes between various 7-Eleven franchise groups and the corporation for years, decades even.

Jim

 

[cm8]

I decided to contact both 7-11 and Aldi. I spoke to a rep at 7-11 because their online form kept changing the name of the city for the store location to Chicago even though it's in a suburb. At the end of the conversation, she said that she would forward the complaint to the regional supervisor for the area as well as the store manager. I told her that I wasn't comfortable with the store manager having my phone# (he/she is probably the owner and knows full well what is going on) but she said that it was already sent and she couldn't delete it. I guess that I should have known better. I just thought that the district rep would get the info, not at a store level.

I sent an email to the customer service dept for Aldi. We'll see if either of them get back to me.

most of those stores are independently owned and operated I'm not sure they( 7-11) is going to do anything, however Aldi might light a fire under them, Did you by chance get some pictures of the merchandise ? I'm surprised she gave out your number without asking if it was okay to pass along first

 

[snarlingcoyote]

When I lived out in the country, the only local store (gas, groceries, bbq and suprisingingly good pizza) bought a lot of their stuff at Wal-mart and Sam's Club and made no secret of it.

At 9PM on a Wednesday, if you need Ibuprofen, you'll pay $2 more, even if you know it did come from the Wal-mart 40 minutes away.

 

[Keli]

That's why it's so hard for smaller stores to stay in business. They can literally buy products at the grocery store cheaper than their suppliers. If you don't want to have to only shop at Walmart or other stores equally large then I wouldn't give the small shops a hard time. And Aldi's might not like it but there is nothing illegal about buying a product resale and selling it at a higher resale price.

 

[scrapquitler]

OP you might also contact your local health dept. I worked at a 7Eleven (about 20 years ago) and one of the things that we were required to have was a MILK LICENSE...we had to have a state license from the health dept to be able to sell milk. I think it was to certify that our our coolers kept it at the proper temperature and such, but the health department might be interested to hear about this situation, and it might fall into some regulations about where they obtain their products.

 

[tasha99]

That's why it's so hard for smaller stores to stay in business. They can literally buy products at the grocery store cheaper than their suppliers. If you don't want to have to only shop at Walmart or other stores equally large then I wouldn't give the small shops a hard time. And Aldi's might not like it but there is nothing illegal about buying a product resale and selling it at a higher resale price.

I agree--that's what I meant by it being an internal issue. Aldi shouldn't have a say in what happens to milk that they no longer own, but 7-11 could very well have franchise rules about their supply.

 

[Coconut36]

I agree--that's what I meant by it being an internal issue. Aldi shouldn't have a say in what happens to milk that they no longer own, but 7-11 could very well have franchise rules about their supply.

They (Aldi) actually can as they indicate their products are not for resale (per the info a pp posted from Aldis website) and the fact that the products being sold bear the Aldi name..meaning they represent them and that is a HUGE deal with a lot of companies. If something happens..the milk is bad for example people are going to point to Aldi not the 7-11. Brands do have a right to control who and where/how they are distributed. It's a very big deal in the corporate world regarding names/branding and how/who/where it is used.

 

[tvguy]

They (Aldi) actually can as they indicate their products are not for resale (per the info a pp posted from Aldis website) and the fact that the products being sold bear the Aldi name..meaning they represent them and that is a HUGE deal with a lot of companies. If something happens..the milk is bad for example people are going to point to Aldi not the 7-11. Brands do have a right to control who and where/how they are distributed. It's a very big deal in the corporate world regarding names/branding and how/who/where it is used.

I certainly am not a lawyer, nor an expert on the laws of every state, but I think anti-trust laws in a lot of states limit just how much control a company has these days over who sells their product and where. If it was legally purchased, and the person reselling it meets all the laws to be a retailer, I don't think the manufacture has much of a say in this situation. Clearly the 7-11 is paying full retail for the milk, and then marking it up, so it's not like they are undercutting the store. Around here 7-11s have made a big deal out of the fact that their milk is CHEAPER than the grocery store.....only Walmart sells milk for less.