Aldi

"Sarah Gray" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

The fresh meat is all injected, though, and so are the frozen chickens
(it's hard to find ones that aren't these days though).

ooo, that's not good. Thanks for letting me know.

cybercat said:

"Sarah Gray" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

The fresh meat is all injected, though, and so are the frozen chickens
(it's hard to find ones that aren't these days though).

ooo, that's not good. Thanks for letting me know.

as other have mentioned, though, if you are not adverse to buying
pre-ground meat, their hamburger is decent, as are the bulk sausage and
lunch meat type stuff. they have frozen turkeys (butterball, also) for
..89 a pound. also, if you see yeast in packets (here, it's .79 for a
3pack), they only carry them this time of year, so if you want to buy
them , now's the time (the same for some other things; you can ask an
employee there, I find that the people who work there are more
knowledgeable about the products they carry than at a regular chain. It
probably has to do with the streamlined selection and the decent money
they make)

--

Sarah Gray

cybercat said:

"Sarah Gray" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

The fresh meat is all injected, though, and so are the frozen chickens
(it's hard to find ones that aren't these days though).

ooo, that's not good. Thanks for letting me know.

as other have mentioned, though, if you are not adverse to buying
pre-ground meat, their hamburger is decent, as are the bulk sausage and
lunch meat type stuff. they have frozen turkeys (butterball, also) for
..89 a pound. also, if you see yeast in packets (here, it's .79 for a
3pack), they only carry them this time of year, so if you want to buy
them , now's the time (the same for some other things; you can ask an
employee there, I find that the people who work there are more
knowledgeable about the products they carry than at a regular chain. It
probably has to do with the streamlined selection and the decent money
they make)

--

Sarah Gray

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

Quoted message said:

Going tomorrow for the first time to take a look at the hams and turkeys.
(I am doing Thanksgiving dinner this year.) They have butterballs for
$1.29 a pound, and Smithfield hams, too. Shanks (1.19 a lb) and butts
(1.29 a lb). No idea what the difference is.

I see they carry what they call "private" brands. Any items particularly
good in these Aldi brands?

I know I have to take my own bags and a quarter for the cart rental.
Anything else?

I've shopped at Aldi while staying in PA. I didn't buy a lot, but didn't
find a problem with anything I bought, including the diet soda. They used
to sell you a bag if you didn't bring any. Not sure if they still do. Had
forgotten about the quarters. Odd that the grocery stores on the East Coast
do that. Don't know of any on the West Coast that do.

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

Quoted message said:

Going tomorrow for the first time to take a look at the hams and turkeys.
(I am doing Thanksgiving dinner this year.) They have butterballs for
$1.29 a pound, and Smithfield hams, too. Shanks (1.19 a lb) and butts
(1.29 a lb). No idea what the difference is.

I see they carry what they call "private" brands. Any items particularly
good in these Aldi brands?

I know I have to take my own bags and a quarter for the cart rental.
Anything else?

I've shopped at Aldi while staying in PA. I didn't buy a lot, but didn't
find a problem with anything I bought, including the diet soda. They used
to sell you a bag if you didn't bring any. Not sure if they still do. Had
forgotten about the quarters. Odd that the grocery stores on the East Coast
do that. Don't know of any on the West Coast that do.

In article <[email hidden]>, "cybercat" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Going tomorrow for the first time to take a look at the hams and turkeys. (I
am doing Thanksgiving dinner this year.) They have butterballs for $1.29 a
pound, and Smithfield hams, too. Shanks (1.19 a lb) and butts (1.29 a lb).
No idea what the difference is.

I see they carry what they call "private" brands. Any items particularly
good in these Aldi brands?

I know I have to take my own bags and a quarter for the cart rental.
Anything else?

Bring cash. I haven't been for a long time but I don't think they take
checks or plastic.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Notes about our meals in Tuscany have been posted to
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com; 10-16-2007

In article <[email hidden]>, "cybercat" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Going tomorrow for the first time to take a look at the hams and turkeys. (I
am doing Thanksgiving dinner this year.) They have butterballs for $1.29 a
pound, and Smithfield hams, too. Shanks (1.19 a lb) and butts (1.29 a lb).
No idea what the difference is.

I see they carry what they call "private" brands. Any items particularly
good in these Aldi brands?

I know I have to take my own bags and a quarter for the cart rental.
Anything else?

Bring cash. I haven't been for a long time but I don't think they take
checks or plastic.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Notes about our meals in Tuscany have been posted to
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com; 10-16-2007

cybercat said:

"Sarah Gray" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

The fresh meat is all injected, though, and so are the frozen
chickens (it's hard to find ones that aren't these days though).

ooo, that's not good. Thanks for letting me know.

They inject with more water and salt than other supermarkets do.

--
Dan Goodman
"You, each of you, have some special wild cards. Play with them.
Find out what makes you different and better. Because it is there,
if only you can find it." Vernor Vinge, _Rainbows End_
Journal http://dsgood.livejournal.com
Futures http://dangoodman.livejournal.com
mirror: http://dsgood.insanejournal.com
Links http://del.icio.us/dsgood

cybercat said:

"Sarah Gray" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

The fresh meat is all injected, though, and so are the frozen
chickens (it's hard to find ones that aren't these days though).

ooo, that's not good. Thanks for letting me know.

They inject with more water and salt than other supermarkets do.

--
Dan Goodman
"You, each of you, have some special wild cards. Play with them.
Find out what makes you different and better. Because it is there,
if only you can find it." Vernor Vinge, _Rainbows End_
Journal http://dsgood.livejournal.com
Futures http://dangoodman.livejournal.com
mirror: http://dsgood.insanejournal.com
Links http://del.icio.us/dsgood

Melba's Jammin said:

In article <[email hidden]>, "cybercat" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Going tomorrow for the first time to take a look at the hams and
turkeys. (I am doing Thanksgiving dinner this year.) They have
butterballs for $1.29 a pound, and Smithfield hams, too. Shanks
(1.19 a lb) and butts (1.29 a lb). No idea what the difference is.

I see they carry what they call "private" brands. Any items
particularly good in these Aldi brands?

I know I have to take my own bags and a quarter for the cart
rental. Anything else?

Bring cash. I haven't been for a long time but I don't think they
take checks or plastic.

They take debit cards which are processed as ATM cards -- which, it
turns out, most in Minnesota aren't.

The two I've been to have ATMs with lower fees than most.

--
Dan Goodman
"You, each of you, have some special wild cards. Play with them.
Find out what makes you different and better. Because it is there,
if only you can find it." Vernor Vinge, _Rainbows End_
Journal http://dsgood.livejournal.com
Futures http://dangoodman.livejournal.com
mirror: http://dsgood.insanejournal.com
Links http://del.icio.us/dsgood

Melba's Jammin said:

In article <[email hidden]>, "cybercat" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Going tomorrow for the first time to take a look at the hams and
turkeys. (I am doing Thanksgiving dinner this year.) They have
butterballs for $1.29 a pound, and Smithfield hams, too. Shanks
(1.19 a lb) and butts (1.29 a lb). No idea what the difference is.

I see they carry what they call "private" brands. Any items
particularly good in these Aldi brands?

I know I have to take my own bags and a quarter for the cart
rental. Anything else?

Bring cash. I haven't been for a long time but I don't think they
take checks or plastic.

They take debit cards which are processed as ATM cards -- which, it
turns out, most in Minnesota aren't.

The two I've been to have ATMs with lower fees than most.

--
Dan Goodman
"You, each of you, have some special wild cards. Play with them.
Find out what makes you different and better. Because it is there,
if only you can find it." Vernor Vinge, _Rainbows End_
Journal http://dsgood.livejournal.com
Futures http://dangoodman.livejournal.com
mirror: http://dsgood.insanejournal.com
Links http://del.icio.us/dsgood

cybercat said:

Going tomorrow for the first time to take a look at the hams and turkeys. (I
am doing Thanksgiving dinner this year.) They have butterballs for $1.29 a
pound, and Smithfield hams, too. Shanks (1.19 a lb) and butts (1.29 a lb).
No idea what the difference is.

I see they carry what they call "private" brands. Any items particularly
good in these Aldi brands?

I know I have to take my own bags and a quarter for the cart rental.
Anything else?

Its hit or miss. Some items are good and others are the same quality as
Walmart. For example they just put refrigerated cases in the local
stores and now have the Walmart style embalmed "fresh meat". All of the
frozen poultry and meat I have seen is the "enhanced with a solution"
stuff. Some of the canned items such as corn are good. The chocolate
bars are good quality. Frozen veggies such as peas are good.

cybercat said:

Going tomorrow for the first time to take a look at the hams and turkeys. (I
am doing Thanksgiving dinner this year.) They have butterballs for $1.29 a
pound, and Smithfield hams, too. Shanks (1.19 a lb) and butts (1.29 a lb).
No idea what the difference is.

I see they carry what they call "private" brands. Any items particularly
good in these Aldi brands?

I know I have to take my own bags and a quarter for the cart rental.
Anything else?

Its hit or miss. Some items are good and others are the same quality as
Walmart. For example they just put refrigerated cases in the local
stores and now have the Walmart style embalmed "fresh meat". All of the
frozen poultry and meat I have seen is the "enhanced with a solution"
stuff. Some of the canned items such as corn are good. The chocolate
bars are good quality. Frozen veggies such as peas are good.

Thanks for the list. We're slated for two Aldi's sometime in the near
future (they just cleared the lot for the first one, so close to
winter that if they don't get the cement poured and the framing up,
they won't do anything else til next spring).

We currently have a mess of PriceRites, and other areas of the state
have Shop N'Save and Sav-a-Lot. Pricerite is good for produce, altho
everyone else will loss-lead prices lower than theirs on one or two
items every week. Milk and eggs they used to be the best, but now the
drug stores are loss-leading them on those, but not all the time.

Their prices on cheese and yogurt, and several of our pantry items are
very good. I'm in there at least once, usually twice a week. Meat
and fish are areas they do nothing for me. I want to smell the fish,
and the meat always looks nasty.

maxine in ri

Tara said:

On Wed, 7 Nov 2007 20:09:18 -0500, "cybercat" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I see they carry what they call "private" brands. Any items particularly
good in these Aldi brands?

I do a big stock up trip to Aldi's once a month or so to stock my
pantry and freezer. We like:

peanut butter
macaroni and cheese
cereal
salad dressing
diced fruit cups
mandarin oranges
eggs
butter
milk
cheese
tortillas
graham crackers / Ritz style crackers / Saltines
oatmeal
applesauce
yogurt -- my husband and sons really like their yogurt
canned veggies -- French cut green beans, sweet peas, carrots, mixed
veggies -- I don't like these but my boys do
chicken nuggets
fish sticks
ground turkey
frozen waffles and French toast sticks
canned soup
rice
pasta
tuna
laundry detergent
liquid dishwasher detergent

We did not like:
bread
powdered dishwasher detergent
Bisquick type mix

Tara

Thanks for the list. We're slated for two Aldi's sometime in the near
future (they just cleared the lot for the first one, so close to
winter that if they don't get the cement poured and the framing up,
they won't do anything else til next spring).

We currently have a mess of PriceRites, and other areas of the state
have Shop N'Save and Sav-a-Lot. Pricerite is good for produce, altho
everyone else will loss-lead prices lower than theirs on one or two
items every week. Milk and eggs they used to be the best, but now the
drug stores are loss-leading them on those, but not all the time.

Their prices on cheese and yogurt, and several of our pantry items are
very good. I'm in there at least once, usually twice a week. Meat
and fish are areas they do nothing for me. I want to smell the fish,
and the meat always looks nasty.

maxine in ri

Tara said:

On Wed, 7 Nov 2007 20:09:18 -0500, "cybercat" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I see they carry what they call "private" brands. Any items particularly
good in these Aldi brands?

I do a big stock up trip to Aldi's once a month or so to stock my
pantry and freezer. We like:

peanut butter
macaroni and cheese
cereal
salad dressing
diced fruit cups
mandarin oranges
eggs
butter
milk
cheese
tortillas
graham crackers / Ritz style crackers / Saltines
oatmeal
applesauce
yogurt -- my husband and sons really like their yogurt
canned veggies -- French cut green beans, sweet peas, carrots, mixed
veggies -- I don't like these but my boys do
chicken nuggets
fish sticks
ground turkey
frozen waffles and French toast sticks
canned soup
rice
pasta
tuna
laundry detergent
liquid dishwasher detergent

We did not like:
bread
powdered dishwasher detergent
Bisquick type mix

Tara

ravenlynne said:

cybercat said:

I know I have to take my own bags and a quarter for the cart rental.
Anything else?

Cheaper than our carts at one euro a pop.

Do you not get it back when you return the cart?

--

Sarah Gray

ravenlynne said:

cybercat said:

I know I have to take my own bags and a quarter for the cart rental.
Anything else?

Cheaper than our carts at one euro a pop.

Do you not get it back when you return the cart?

--

Sarah Gray

"Julie Bove" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I've shopped at Aldi while staying in PA. I didn't buy a lot, but didn't
find a problem with anything I bought, including the diet soda. They used
to sell you a bag if you didn't bring any. Not sure if they still do.
Had forgotten about the quarters. Odd that the grocery stores on the East
Coast do that. Don't know of any on the West Coast that do.

I have been to an Aldi's just once, and I had almost no cash on me so
I only bought some pork rinds and a soda. I hadn't planned to go there,
I was on my way to somewhere else. Before I could stop her, the cashier
gave me a bag. You could fit a couple of pillows in this thing, it was big
and sturdy. And free.

I don't even remember seeing any carts, so I can't comment.

nancy

"Julie Bove" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I've shopped at Aldi while staying in PA. I didn't buy a lot, but didn't
find a problem with anything I bought, including the diet soda. They used
to sell you a bag if you didn't bring any. Not sure if they still do.
Had forgotten about the quarters. Odd that the grocery stores on the East
Coast do that. Don't know of any on the West Coast that do.

I have been to an Aldi's just once, and I had almost no cash on me so
I only bought some pork rinds and a soda. I hadn't planned to go there,
I was on my way to somewhere else. Before I could stop her, the cashier
gave me a bag. You could fit a couple of pillows in this thing, it was big
and sturdy. And free.

I don't even remember seeing any carts, so I can't comment.

nancy

not -l said:

Wayne Boatwright said:

In some areas, Ald's is definitely focused on the poor, and only found in
very poor neighborhoods. It is also evident in their marketing in these
stores as well. Perhaps Chicago is an exception. The few I found around
the Cleveland area were downright depressing to walk through.

I have shopped 4 different Aldi stores here in the St. Louis area and they
have been in vastly different neighborhoods, from poor to affluent and the
stores have adapted to the needs of those neighborhoods. Crestwood, fairly
affluent, has all the staples you'd expect, plus things "poor" people are
not likely to be buying; specialty pastas and bread crumbs (tins like the
Progresso brand) are two that come to mind. North St. Louis County store is
in a predominantly poor, black neighborhood and, while the staples are the
same as Crestwood, there is much more "junk food" on display, and in the
carts going out the door - more chips, more high-fat, snack food, pre-cooked
bacon etc. Maplewood store has more items in the Mexican and Asian lines
and, when I asked where the bread crumbs were, I got a look like a had grown
another head and "don't have". Fenton store is an oddity in that it is like
cramming the North St. Louis and Crestwood stores together; its clientele is
a mix of affluent "McMansion owners" and blue-collar "country folk".

I shop the Crestwood store most often and, in the year or so it has been
open, I have watched the store evolve. When it first opened, it carried the
staples and not much else; slowly they have added and subtracted items; for
example no longer offer pre-cooked bacon, but have added turkey bacon and
egg substitute. Originally, no low-fat items could be found, now lower-fat
cottage cheese, sour cream, neufchatel have been added. They are very good
about tailoring the store to what the customers want - they have to be, they
survive on volume.

If Bozo Bonomo's experience is that is a store for poor people, then he is
probably visiting a location(s) where the customers are poor. The one I go
to most, would not be mistaken as a store for the poor - older, thrifty
folks maybe, but not poor.

The Crestwood store is pretty new. I'll make sure to drop by there,
since band practice is in Crestwood (I grew up on Lodgepole, off of
Old Sappington). In St. Louis, grocery stores are stratified by price
(as I imagine they are in many other places).
Straub's at the top, as they handle USDA Prime beef. There's
Dierberg's, then just below them, Schnucks. Next down is Shop'n Save,
where you bag your own groceries, and where the average physical
attractiveness of the customers is significantly lower than the stores
above. There are some scattered independents, IGAs and the like, most
of which are in poor areas. ALDI is a special case. Frugal folks
come from all socio-economic backgrounds, and ALDI's appeal is
price.
One thing for SURE. Their fresh meat is garbage that no person of
taste would accept (Enhanced with up to a __% solution...).
When I had to buy a bunch of butter and eggs for a PTO pancake
breakfast, I went to ALDI. I pretty much always buy butter there,
since butter keeps well, and I can buy it 6-8#s at a time. Fact is,
lines can be long, and there is a disportionate number of poor and
fixed income who shop there. I'm planning on going there today
(Maplewood) because they have oranges and grapefruits really cheap in
their ad. Squeezing lots of juice with my Little Pro Plus, serving
the juice to my wife and son, and reserving the accumulated pulp from
the basket for myself fits well with my weight loss plans.

As far as Fenton goes, a lot of the McMansion owners probably bought
more house than they could afford, and the regular Fentonites are
mostly hick. I know, I come from that area, and before we moved into
Crestwood, I lived in Fenton and went to Fenton Elementary for KG and
1st G. Until age 4, I lived in Jefferson County. It is a funny
coincidence that there are two towns with the same names as the pig on
Green Acres, and the drunk on Gunsmoke, down the road from each
other. All that said, I'd far rather live there than in the horror
that is St. Charles County.

Oh, another ALDI positive, they have Matt's cookies, rebranded as
Belmont for half the price of other retailers.

--Bryan