Does anyone have an Aldi by them?

[bettyann29]

I think Ive heard of the grocery store Aldi before on these boards..

We are having a new one built closeby my house and it looks like its coming together pretty quickly so Im thinking it will be ready to go before you know it.. the building does look rather small though.. maybe because they are putting it right next to a super walmart that it looks so small..

Just wondering if anyone has one by them and do you like it? do they tend to run good deals??

 

[MsDisney23]

I've had an Aldi near me for years! I've seen many changes to the store over the years. I have to tell you ours is packed all the time. The prices are great! They sell produce so cheap, and it is always fresh. I always buy my potatos from them. All of my baking needs for Holiday cookies, there is just so much. I am not a fan of their brand name of canned food items, etc. You will soon learn what you want to buy from their and what you want that is brand name.

I always pick up a Butterball turkey at .99 cent a pound. A wonderful store and they are not that big.

 

[awaldo]

We have two in the towns we shop at. I have never tried a lot of their food - I am still brainwashed by brand names. BUT - they have the cheapest milk, $1.69 a gallon, and cheap potatoes that don't actually rot after a week like the WalMart ones do, like the PP mentioned. I have family that does a lot of shopping there, and they love their products.

 

[Where's Pluto?]

They are just finishing building one near us. I think I'll check it out. As long as the items are fresh and taste good, if they are less expensive I don't mind. I'll let you know how I do..

 

[hsmamato2]

be prepared to be addicted...to saving money! once we got one in town,5 mins away,I tend to run in there whenever I need something quickly. We never have crowds,and it's cheap! It's kind of like a convenience store in that they stock the same stuff in the same places always,with a few different things thrown in weekly- but it's so easy to just 'run in' and grab that gallon of milk,it's a convenience store. I do almost 100% of my shopping there, but there are some items they simply don't carry,so I go elsewhere every few weeks for my yogurts,etc.(their yogurts suck) other than that you can get all your basics quickly and easily,they can't be beat! Clancy brand chips,etc are our new picnic staple in our house...fake doritos,plain corn chips,pretzels,crackers......99 a bag all the time can't be beat!
I used to clip coupons and shop sales. Not anymore,Aldi is ALWAYS cheaper,with no effort.

 

[kksmom92]

We have one in our town too and love it. Just make sure you bring cash or debit card becauase at least ours.. they don't take credit card. Plus you "rent" your shopping cart so make sure you have a quarter too. At first I didn't like that, but that's one way they keep their prices low, they don't have to pay for someone to go out and collect carts from the parking lot. When you return your cart, you get your quarter back.

One reason the store is smaller is because they don't have 50 different variations of the same thing. For example.. for fruit snacks they just have one kind, you don't have the choice between Dora, Spongbob, Princess, Power Rangers.. etc.

Edited to add.. don't forget to bring your own bags too. You can buy some from them, but I either bring my own of find some empty boxes while I'm there and put my groceries in that. (But at least ours is pretty good on getting rid of the boxes all the time)

Another add... they also have a guarentee.. if you don't like the product bring it back w/ your receipt and they will refund you.

 

[AntePrincess]

We've been to the Aldi's near us. It's styled like a warehouse store except that you buy more or less normal quantities and pay no membership fees. If you stick to commodities such as raw produce, meat, unprepared seafood, milk, butter, eggs, and flour, you can save a bit there, though you'd save more if you actively shopped sales or couponed on these items. There's a limited selection of these items, I haven't seen brown rice or whole wheat flour, for instance. I've found the prepared foods, their breads, things such as their tomato sauces, and so on, to be awful. Truly deserving of the term "Frankenfood." The ingredients lists were scary, the nutrition quality was low, and of the things I bought to try, everything was sweet. Everything. Jalapeno Poppers were sweet. And no wonder, they were full of high fructose corn syrup.

In short, they clearly lower prices by using cheap, no good for you ingredients in their prepared foods and limiting the selection of other items. That said, they're great for stocking up on snacks and things if you have a pile of kids or teens that hang out regularly who won't eat anything more adult than bagel bites and soda, or if you do kid's birthday parties for your children, but don't have so many kids attend that you'll want a Costco sized spread.

 

[jinia]

We've had Aldi's here for years! There are things I always buy there - watermelon every year(always the cheapest and delicous), crackers, pickles, french toast sticks, orange juice, pop tarts, apple sauce, pretzels, vegetable oil, and whatever produce they happen to have as it changes constantly! There yogurt, cheese,most canned goods and a few other things are gross. You just have to give them a try! Of course you have to read labels like everywhere.

 

[bunny213]

do they take coupons? I wonder how this one will do here...it's right across from our Albertsons. Barb

 

[hanutedmansionmomma]

no, they don't take coupons...prices are so low you will save more than regular priced in a regular store w/ coupons anyway.

I agree w/ PP, lots of highly processed things there, but great for cheese sticks, milk, eggs, and carb junk I keep around for kids like chips, pretzels, cheap cereal.

 

[CTdiznymom]

We just got one but it's about 20 minutes away. I don't consider it a place to do your weekly shopping, but more for running in to see what's good. Or for the basics milk,eggs, bread etc. Not someplace I would go out of my way to go to unless I was passing by.

 

[Philharmagiclover]

We also have an Aldi's in the same shopping center as Walmart and Meijers. I will agree with one of the above posters, they don't carry alot of whole wheat/organic items but that's not the clientel they are targeting.

They do have awesome prices on general pantry items that are great for stocking up. Their milk prices are always low and in the last 6 months we have seen lots of sales at $1 per gallon (sometimes 1.25). Eggs are always cheap, about .99. The generic chips are awesome. We don't but lots of chips in our home so when I buy these the boys don't mind. Someone who more consistently ate name brand chips would probably have a differing opinion.

One item that I have consistently found cheaper in my "big" grocery store is sugar. Don't ask me why, but white granulated sugar is always more expensive at Aldi's. I frequently update a spreadsheet on my phone with the prices of the items I use most often from Aldi's. Then, if I find it on sale somewhere else I grab it!

Try for yourself and see if you like it. I will tell you that before we moved here, I never shopped at "discount" grocery stores and I have become a believer in a very short time!

 

[mikron]

We live in Ocala Florida, we have two Aldi's. They are both within 1,000 feet of super Walmarts stores. When they first opened they were packed but now after 6 months they are not as packed. They have no name brands, I have tryed some and they are fine. Some of my friends tryed them and found Walmart was just as good on the prices. Aldi is limited on items to pick from, they stock what they can get at the time like any discount store.

 

[Sandy321]

My son shops there all the time - I like their frozen shrimp, and almonds of all things!! and I always end up buying a bag full of stuff!!

 

[twinklebug]

They just built a new one by us (also near a walmart). I hopped in one day hoping it would be an organic foods store and was thrown off to find it was about inexpensive non-brand name foods. I toured the isles with an open mind. I'm not a snob at all - I love great deals, but there was just something very unsettling about the place - it was more about the product and presentation than anything else that bothered me.

The people working there were very nice, I even met the management who were there for the grand opening & trying to figure out why one fridge was having issues. It was interesting to see that the cashiers were on raised platforms with chairs. I had never seen that before.

I think my issue lies with a feel that the food was not American made (although I'm sure the milk must be local) I did not check any labels for where the items were made, I determined this was the source of my unease after I walked out. Can't bring myself to go back in to check if I am wrong. Perhaps someone can chime in? In time I'll probably give it another chance.

 

[bavaria]

I think my issue lies with a feel that the food was not American made (although I'm sure the milk must be local) I did not check any labels for where the items were made, I determined this was the source of my unease after I walked out. Can't bring myself to go back in to check if I am wrong. Perhaps someone can chime in? In time I'll probably give it another chance.

Do you shop at Trader Joe's? It is owned by the same (German) family, and much of the food is not 'American' either. It is German, or French, or imported from other countries, and labelled under their house brand.

Now, having said that, as a German who has shopped (and whose family has shopped) at the Albrecht family stores since they began decades ago, I don't like ALDI in America. The food that they carry is far more processed food than one would find in ALDI in Germany, so that puts me off. The stores are nowhere near the products, quality, and selection that one would find at ALDI in Germany. (And as a side note, there are 'two' versions of ALDI, each run by one of the brothers, and the ones south of the ALDI line are actually better in my mind)

Many people here do report however finding their staples for very good prices, and it sounds like the stores do vary by state. I have bene to several ALDI stores in America in several states and have noticed as well that quality does vary.

The stores are small for a reason. That is how many grocery stores are in Europe, since we don't stock up or hoard due to lack of pantry and fridge space.

 

[1PrincessMomma1]

They just built a new one by us (also near a walmart). I hopped in one day hoping it would be an organic foods store and was thrown off to find it was about inexpensive non-brand name foods. I toured the isles with an open mind. I'm not a snob at all - I love great deals, but there was just something very unsettling about the place - it was more about the product and presentation than anything else that bothered me.

The people working there were very nice, I even met the management who were there for the grand opening & trying to figure out why one fridge was having issues. It was interesting to see that the cashiers were on raised platforms with chairs. I had never seen that before.

I think my issue lies with a feel that the food was not American made (although I'm sure the milk must be local) I did not check any labels for where the items were made, I determined this was the source of my unease after I walked out. Can't bring myself to go back in to check if I am wrong. Perhaps someone can chime in? In time I'll probably give it another chance.

Their food is american with a few exceptions for some chocolate, etc. Their major suppliers are Tyson(I know they supply the pork chops) IBP for beef(they also supply the major grocery stores around here) and Sara Lee to name a few.

 

[Pigeon]

Their food isn't sourced much different than house brands in most US supermarkets.

I like some things quite well. We don't eat a lot of processed foods, so much of what they sell doesn't appeal to me. But lots of it is great.

I like their cheese (grated Asiago is wonderful), yogurt, canned tomato products, canned grapefruit, rice, dried beans, coffee, tortillas, some produce, some paper products, baking supplies, spices, and their chocolate is to die for. I buy some produce there as well, but I don't like buying some things with so much packaging.

The prices overall are great.

 

[n2mm]

We have one in our neighborhood too. I don't know how they stay open. Hardly anyone shops there. We have, Martins, FoodLion, Weiss, Save alot, and some other local grocery store. Our Target and Walmart(S) all sell groceries too. Most of the folks that have tried Aldi's have gone once or twice, but we all still shop at our favorite stores. The Aldi's has been open a year now, and I suspect they won't be open too long. I'm not interested and have no desire to go there. Groceries in our area just don't cost that much. We watch for sales and use coupons.

 

[bettyann29]

Thanks for all the replies!! I will definitely check them out once they open and see what they have.. Sounds like I might not get everything there but I dont mind making an extra stop to save a few bucks on the things that I get there..