Aldi grocery stores

Melba's Jammin said:

The one in Savage on County 42 is now open and I stopped yesterday to
have a look and perhaps pick up a couple items. It was an interesting
experience.

[...]

Aldi can be pretty dire or pretty good.

There is one north of me (Uptown area of Chicawgo) that is like a _Twilight
Zone_ set. Of course it doesn't help that it's across the street from a
Salvation Army homeless mission...

Pretty rotten produce from what I've seen. From the condition of the store
I sure wouldn't buy meat there...

Friends though have gone to some of the nicer ones in the 'burbs and have
gotten some real deals on electronics and stuff, e.g. a DVD recorder for a
hundred bux...and the food is okay they say.

IIRC doesn't Aldi's parent company also own Trader Joe's...???

--
Best
Greg

Melba's Jammin said:

What do you know about them?

Aldi's is a German discount grocery chain founded just after the Second
World War (1946 I think) and flourished. Expanded to the U.S. in 1976.
Has a very good reputation, both for quality of product and
significant discounts. The "word" is that on the whole a shopper can
save about 40% on a typical shopping car full of groceries (whatever
"typical" is). Bought Trader Joe's a few years ago.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

First thing I noticed was that peple were getting their shopping

carts

Quoted message said:

from outside the building, not inside.

You don't have the outside storage lot for carts in Minnisota? Here in
the Bay Area most of the supermarkets store carts outside, have done
for a number of years. All that extra room inside in which to pile
goodies for you to spend your money on, ya know.

Quoted message said:

Oddly, it's the chili that interests me most because Rob loves
it for lunch. Hormel has now taken to packaging their chili in boxes

Quoted message said:

for $1/box on sale -- same quanitity. Thought I'd have My True Love

try

Quoted message said:

this stuff and see how he likes it.

Campbell's has been marketing a chili and I tried some a while ago.
Pretty good, better than the canned chili I'd been buying (let's
see....Staggs, Hormel, Dennison)

Quoted message said:

Then there was the strange little section that looked like it could

have

Quoted message said:

been Sam's Club -- there was a lounge chair (in a box) for sale,

along

Quoted message said:

with some other non-food stuff. Seemed very out of place.

This might be a trend by some stores to imitate Wal-Mart or Sam's. The
Albertson's around here devote a lot of space to non-food
items.....small appliances, videos and DVDs, televisions.

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When I checked out and paid, I asked the cashier if I could assume

that

Quoted message said:

since the packaging on so many things was so similar to the national
brands, that they were in fact made by the same folks. She said I

can

Quoted message said:

assume that.

Well, I'm not so sure about that. I guess you could assume all you want
but that wouldn't make your assumption accurate. :-) It could very
well be that the contents are made by a brand name but I'd be very
surprised if the brand name would allow their product to be packaged
look-alike.

Mac

"Melba's Jammin'" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What do you know about them?

The one in Savage on County 42 is now open and I stopped yesterday to
have a look and perhaps pick up a couple items. It was an interesting
experience.

One opened by me about two years ago. I am under-whelmed. There is a very
poor selection of basic food. I don't buy much packaged food. When I shop,
I often just hit the periphery of the store getting produce, meat, and
dairy. Aldi is very weak on all these categories. What produce they do
sell seems to be bundled - six tomatoes, a bag of pepper, a bag of apples,
etc. I like to buy a smaller amount of produce on a frequent basis. They
don't sell any fresh meat at our store. Dairy is limited to gallon jugs of
milk, some cottage cheese, and processed cheese products.

The other thing I don't like is that the store seems claustrophobic. Our
store is about the size of a convenience store with much of the merchandise
simply stacked to make isles. Unfortunately, the store seems to attract a
very old demographic. I have nothing against the elderly, but when you get
a tiny store full of people with limited mobility, limited eyesight, and
infinite time you might as well resign yourself to shopping at the same pace
the lines move at Disney World in mid August! Since it is nearly impossible
to pass someone, you end up shopping at the same pace as the slowest person
in the store.

I have a choice of two mega-markets and two large groceries stores almost
within walking distance of the Aldi store. I can do as well price wise at
Meijer and don't have to by mystery brands. I'm sort of surprised that the
store is still open as they have very limited hours, limited service,
limited selection, and the prices are just so-so.

"Melba's Jammin'" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

When I checked out and paid, I asked the cashier if I could assume that
since the packaging on so many things was so similar to the national
brands, that they were in fact made by the same folks. She said I can
assume that.

Any cashier who actually had that information would be on a fast track to
management, considering that it's so hard to find retail employees who have
any interest in anything other than what they're told to do. :-) It's
possible, though, that she'd helped stock shelves, and saw some identifying
information on the cartons.

Although some private label product is produced by the national brands like
Del Monte, it's less often the case. But, it doesn't matter. The quality of
the products is determined by the grocery chain selling it to you, and for
some products, by mother nature. They have a wide range of private label
suppliers to choose from, and even if the chain decides to package the
cheapest product they can find, it may still be better than the plain white
label stuff we all remember from 20 years ago. (I'm talking about basic
things here, like canned/frozen fruits & vegetables).

For concocted items, you may find you like the store brand better than the
national brand. After all, it's just a question of recipes, right? So, the
question of quality is really one of personal taste. Quality isn't that big
an issue any more.

Here's a clue as to where some of your store brands may come from - one of
many companies who do this kind of thing:

http://www.carriagehousecos.com/2005/2005Pages/rlb_categories.htm
and
http://www.carriagehousecos.com/2005/2005Pages/rlb_copacking.htm
and
http://www.carriagehousecos.com/2005/2005Pages/rlb_retailsales.htm

"Vox Humana" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Melba's Jammin'" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What do you know about them?

The one in Savage on County 42 is now open and I stopped yesterday to
have a look and perhaps pick up a couple items. It was an interesting
experience.

One opened by me about two years ago. I am under-whelmed. There is a
very
poor selection of basic food. I don't buy much packaged food. When I
shop,
I often just hit the periphery of the store getting produce, meat, and
dairy. Aldi is very weak on all these categories. What produce they do
sell seems to be bundled - six tomatoes, a bag of pepper, a bag of apples,
etc. I like to buy a smaller amount of produce on a frequent basis. They
don't sell any fresh meat at our store. Dairy is limited to gallon jugs of
milk, some cottage cheese, and processed cheese products.

The other thing I don't like is that the store seems claustrophobic. Our
store is about the size of a convenience store with much of the
merchandise
simply stacked to make isles. Unfortunately, the store seems to attract a
very old demographic. I have nothing against the elderly, but when you
get
a tiny store full of people with limited mobility, limited eyesight, and
infinite time you might as well resign yourself to shopping at the same
pace
the lines move at Disney World in mid August! Since it is nearly
impossible
to pass someone, you end up shopping at the same pace as the slowest
person
in the store.

I have a choice of two mega-markets and two large groceries stores almost
within walking distance of the Aldi store. I can do as well price wise at
Meijer and don't have to by mystery brands. I'm sort of surprised that the
store is still open as they have very limited hours, limited service,
limited selection, and the prices are just so-so.

The Wal Mart here is the same way - underwhelming. Yes, some groceries are
quite a bit cheaper. But, when I shop, at least 1/3 of my bill is for
produce, the the produce at our Wal Mart is apparently driven over by a
truck before being put on display. And, they grant you the privilege of
surrendering close to 30 minutes just to get through the cashier's line. No
thanks.

Then, off to the real grocery store for produce. Two stops for groceries?
Ummmm.....no.

Melba's Jammin said:

What do you know about them?

i just got back from aldi about 20 minutes ago. i only shop there to get
staples. butter for 2.49/lb is a prime example of why i go there. i never
buy meat there either. it's great for the few items i get there but i can't
vouch for all of the products there.

Melba's Jammin said:

What do you know about them?

We've had one here for at least a year. I've been
twice. The first time was because I got their sale
flyer in the mail and they had those large Arizona
teas for $.59. So I went and stocked up on the raspberry
tea. I looked at their other stuff and was not impressed.
The produce looked awful. I might try some of their unheard-
of-brands of frozen foods because they're pretty cheap.
I was mainly looking for a good deal on breaded shrimp.
I never buy it in the supermarket because the prices are
ridiculous. I used to get a 2 or 3 lb. box at Food4Less
at a really great price but they closed several years ago
and I haven't had shrimp since. I was hoping Aldi's
would be an alternate source of shrimp. I'm not sure
I would try too many of their unheard-of-brand items
though.

I've been there twice in the last year. I might
check them out more often if they were closed to me
but they're kind of out of the way. I watch their
flyers in case they have any good deals on any brand-name
stuff I might want.

Quoted message said:

First thing I noticed was that peple were getting their shopping carts
from outside the building, not inside. Whatever.

Ah, but you have to put a quarter in the slot to get a cart.
I've been lucky that someone has offered me their cart for
free as they were leaving.

Quoted message said:

I knew that I had to
pay in cash and I knew that they charge for grocery bags if I didn't
bring my own. I'm not crazy about the cash only, but that's how they do
it and they've got an ATM inside and they do take SOME debit cards (mine
would work).

Yeah, I'm glad they take debit cards because I never have
cash on my anymore.

Quoted message said:

I didn't pick up a cart because I wanted to keep my
spending low and limiting it to what I could carry seemed like a good
way to achieve that. :-)

That would work for me as I wouldn't even go in. ;-) I need
the cart to hold me up. (I need to lean on it because of my
back.) I get one even if I'm only buying a loaf of bread!

Quoted message said:

I spent $6.34, most of it in the produce department. I didn't plan to
buy grape tomatoes, but they were 99 cents for a pint (very tasty they
are, too); I didn't plan to buy mushrooms but they were 99 cents for a
pint and looked good; I needed fresh garlic and two heads for 49 cents
seemed reasonable (I'll see how fresh it is, I couldn't check there and
haven't yet); a bunch of celery was 89 cents -- that seemed reasonable.

I'm very surprised that the produce was good? Our here has
really horrible produce.

Quoted message said:

Then there was the strange little section that looked like it could have
been Sam's Club -- there was a lounge chair (in a box) for sale, along
with some other non-food stuff. Seemed very out of place.

Ours here is not at all like a regular supermarket, more
like a Dollar General or Big Lots with lots of non-grocery items
but more real food items.

Quoted message said:

When I checked out and paid, I asked the cashier if I could assume that
since the packaging on so many things was so similar to the national
brands, that they were in fact made by the same folks. She said I can
assume that. Swell.

I think that most store brands and generic stuff is actually
made by a major brand company but just package differently. Of
course they will never tell you which company it is. I have
on rare occasions had a generic product that was as good or
better than most of the major brands. A lot of store brands
at the regular supermarkets are very good. But others are not.
I guess it depends on which company makes them.

Quoted message said:

The other thing I noticed was that that shopping
cart outside could be procured for use for 25 cents - but you get your
quarter back when you check out. Cool. They do it to keep carts out
of the parking lot, I guess. I have no problem bringing my own bags

I don't recall getting a quarter when checking out. Or is that
when you put the cart back in the cart stand that you get your
quarter back? I wouldn't know as I gave mine to someone else
so I didn't actually put it back in the stand. And I certainly
didn't get a quarter back at the cash register.

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?
[email hidden]

Kate Connally said:

I don't recall getting a quarter when checking out. Or is that
when you put the cart back in the cart stand that you get your
quarter back? I wouldn't know as I gave mine to someone else
so I didn't actually put it back in the stand. And I certainly
didn't get a quarter back at the cash register.

the one near my house requires that you slide a quarter into the little slot
on the cart to unlock it from the rack and you get the quarter back when you
put the cart back in the rack.

"A.C." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Kate Connally said:

I don't recall getting a quarter when checking out. Or is that
when you put the cart back in the cart stand that you get your
quarter back? I wouldn't know as I gave mine to someone else
so I didn't actually put it back in the stand. And I certainly
didn't get a quarter back at the cash register.

the one near my house requires that you slide a quarter into the little

slot

Quoted message said:

on the cart to unlock it from the rack and you get the quarter back when

you

Quoted message said:

put the cart back in the rack.

Hate that! The interesting thing is that the one store here with that
system dispenses the gigantic plastic children-movers without the need for a
quarter. It isn't unusual to see some 20 something guy without any kids
pushing one of these monstrosities.

They opened an Aldi's on the edge of Detroit/suburbia a few years ago. I
was in it once, just to look, never went back or bought anything.

The shelves, at least in this store, were much much lower than in a
traditional grocery store. I'm 5'10, I'll bet the shelves didn't reach
my shoulders, and that's with merchandise on the top shelf. The
shelves/aisles ran the length of the store, so when a cashier looked
out, they could see everything and everyone in the store. And there was
a huge living room picture window sort of thing against the back wall,
one-way glass. Call me paranoid if you want to, but I had a feeling like
someone was sitting behind the glass with a shotgun just waiting for
someone to act up.

It all troubled me so much I never went back.

Does anyone have the dollar store "Deals' by them? They have nice prices
(it's a dollar store, everything is a dollar) and carry a wide array of
food items, as well as the usual dollar store merchandise.

You know those big bottles of IBC root beer or cream soda? In the
grocery store they run around $1.59, $1.79. Just a dollar at Deals.

A.C. said:

the one near my house requires that you slide a quarter into the little slot
on the cart to unlock it from the rack and you get the quarter back when you
put the cart back in the rack.

I believe that is SOP. I actually think it is a good idea after having
cars bashed by carts that were simply left out in the lot by
inconsiderate people who couldn't walk the 25 feet to put the cart in
the rack.

Melba's Jammin said:

What do you know about them?

There are 3 within close range. One is in a bad neighborhood but the
other 2 are quite good. Clean and well maintained. We think of them as
more of a "stock up" type place. The canned goods are very reasonably
priced and good quality. There are no fresh meats.

One thing that I have heard from a number of people is that unlike
walmart working at Aldis is a good job. They have a decent pay scale and
benefits.

In article <[email hidden]>, "A.C."

Quoted message said:

the one near my house requires that you slide a quarter into the
little slot on the cart to unlock it from the rack and you get the
quarter back when you put the cart back in the rack.

I stand corrected -- especially since I didn't do it. :-) I was basing
my assessment on the fact that there was an empty cart at the cashier's.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> 2005 Pirohy Marathon pics added 1-23-05.
"I read recipes the way I read science fiction: I get to the end and
say,'Well, that's not going to happen.'" - Comedian Rita Rudner,
performance at New York, New York, January 10, 2005.

In article <[email hidden]>, "Doug Kanter"

Quoted message said:

"Melba's Jammin'" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

When I checked out and paid, I asked the cashier if I could assume
that since the packaging on so many things was so similar to the
national brands, that they were in fact made by the same folks.
She said I can assume that.

Any cashier who actually had that information would be on a fast
track to management, considering that it's so hard to find retail
employees who have any interest in anything other than what they're
told to do. :-) It's possible, though, that she'd helped stock
shelves, and saw some identifying information on the cartons.

Although some private label product is produced by the national
brands like Del Monte,

ROFL -- the Gedney folks here are doing some private labeling for Del
Monte. Canned fruits, I think.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> 2005 Pirohy Marathon pics added 1-23-05.
"I read recipes the way I read science fiction: I get to the end and
say,'Well, that's not going to happen.'" - Comedian Rita Rudner,
performance at New York, New York, January 10, 2005.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Melba's Jammin said:

What do you know about them?

Aldi's is a German discount grocery chain founded just after the Second
World War (1946 I think) and flourished. Expanded to the U.S. in 1976.
Has a very good reputation, both for quality of product and
significant discounts. The "word" is that on the whole a shopper can
save about 40% on a typical shopping car full of groceries (whatever
"typical" is). Bought Trader Joe's a few years ago.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

First thing I noticed was that peple were getting their shopping

carts

Quoted message said:

from outside the building, not inside.

You don't have the outside storage lot for carts in Minnisota? Here in
the Bay Area most of the supermarkets store carts outside, have done
for a number of years. All that extra room inside in which to pile
goodies for you to spend your money on, ya know.

We typically have 'cart corrals' placed throughout the parking lots --
where yu stash your cart after you've emptied. Folks mostly pick up
their empty carts inside the store, in the entryway between the two sets
of double doors. Where some of the specials are placed -- pop,
typically, and lots of others, now that i think of it.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> 2005 Pirohy Marathon pics added 1-23-05.
"I read recipes the way I read science fiction: I get to the end and
say,'Well, that's not going to happen.'" - Comedian Rita Rudner,
performance at New York, New York, January 10, 2005.

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 10:50:15 -0600,

Melba's Jammin said:

What do you know about them?

[snip]

Aldi's is fairly common in this area (SW Ohio) and the quality of
produce/condition of the store varies from location to location. I've
heard plenty of reports of crappy produce, but I'm happy to say the
one I go to has fine stuff most of the time. Common purchases are the
..99 package of mushrooms, the occasional .49 avocado (or two), bags of
onions/potatoes if they look good, bananas at .25/lb, 3-pack of bell
peppers, etc.

I don't know if this is the case with the one near you, but ours has
gradually fancied up over the past year or so. They've added a wine
section and some beer, and some more gourmet items like jarred marinated
artichokes and mushrooms, mango chai granola and god knows what else.
The chocolate is good if you like milk chocolate, unfortunately I
don't think they carry any dark.

Quality of canned goods varies, too. In the past, I haven't been
impressed with their canned pineapple, too many unripe chunks in it.
The canned diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and pastes seem fine to
me. Staples like milk, flour and eggs are usually cheaper than most
regular grocery stores here. I don't really buy meat there, most of
it is frozen except for the ground beef.

The non-food offerings change according to the season, and sometimes
it's worth a look. I got a stick blender (Crofton brand, probably
some other brand renamed) for $7 and it works fine. Ours usually has
a lot of kid's toys and gift type items around the holidays, stuff
like that. Aldi's also has seasonal food offerings, like several
different types of stollen around Christmas, or these cute little
packages of chocolate (hollow) Santas and Christmas ornaments.

It's not a place I go to every week, but maybe once a month to stock
up on certain things, or if I'm passing by I might stop in and grab a
couple items.

Ariane

Gregory Morrow said:

Melba's Jammin said:

The one in Savage on County 42 is now open and I stopped yesterday

to

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

have a look and perhaps pick up a couple items. It was an

interesting

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

experience.

[...]

Aldi can be pretty dire or pretty good.

There is one north of me (Uptown area of Chicawgo) that is like a

_Twilight

Quoted message said:

Zone_ set. Of course it doesn't help that it's across the street

from a

Quoted message said:

Salvation Army homeless mission...

Pretty rotten produce from what I've seen. From the condition of the

store

Quoted message said:

I sure wouldn't buy meat there...

Friends though have gone to some of the nicer ones in the 'burbs and

have

Quoted message said:

gotten some real deals on electronics and stuff, e.g. a DVD recorder

for a

Quoted message said:

hundred bux...and the food is okay they say.

IIRC doesn't Aldi's parent company also own Trader Joe's...???

--
Best
Greg

Greg, that's my experience here with the Aldi store ... the place
ALWAYS smells like sour milk/spilled dairy. Puke.

N.

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 14:24:58 -0500,

Sharon Chilson said:

They opened an Aldi's on the edge of Detroit/suburbia a few years ago. I
was in it once, just to look, never went back or bought anything.

The shelves, at least in this store, were much much lower than in a
traditional grocery store. I'm 5'10, I'll bet the shelves didn't reach
my shoulders, and that's with merchandise on the top shelf. The
shelves/aisles ran the length of the store, so when a cashier looked
out, they could see everything and everyone in the store. And there was
a huge living room picture window sort of thing against the back wall,
one-way glass. Call me paranoid if you want to, but I had a feeling like
someone was sitting behind the glass with a shotgun just waiting for
someone to act up.

It all troubled me so much I never went back.

LOL... "Pay no attention to the man behind the one-way
glass..." ;D

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have the dollar store "Deals' by them? They have nice prices
(it's a dollar store, everything is a dollar) and carry a wide array of
food items, as well as the usual dollar store merchandise.

You know those big bottles of IBC root beer or cream soda? In the
grocery store they run around $1.59, $1.79. Just a dollar at Deals.

Yep, we have a couple of those, like really big dollar
stores. One of them near us actually carries some perishable produce,
oddly enough. I got avocadoes 2/$1 there--not huge ones, but hey, for
..50... They also carried milk and an assortment of frozen dinners. I
haven't really priced those, so I didn't know if it was a good deal or
not. I did, however, buy a big bottle of IBC root beer, it's
something I haven't had since I was a kid. 🙂

Ariane

In article <[email hidden]>, George
<[email hidden]> wrote:
(snip)

Quoted message said:

One thing that I have heard from a number of people is that unlike
walmart working at Aldis is a good job. They have a decent pay scale and
benefits.

They're hiring cashiers for $11.50 and hour at the one in Savage.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> 2005 Pirohy Marathon pics added 1-23-05.
"I read recipes the way I read science fiction: I get to the end and
say,'Well, that's not going to happen.'" - Comedian Rita Rudner,
performance at New York, New York, January 10, 2005.