ALDI - great or not?

[bean]

I know Aldi is primarily outside of the US. However, they've started building a *LOT* of stores in my area (North Texas, Dallas/Ft Worth metro area).

Looking over their webpage, it sounds like they're doing business along the lines of Save A Lot - stocking only common items, you bag your own groceries, small stores, bring your own bags, etc.

What brings me down is their fairly limited hours, by grocery standards. 9am to 8pm Mon-Sat, 10-7 on Sundays.

Worth going there for the savings? I'm going to try and hit one up on my next day off from work, now that one relatively close to me (about 6 miles away) has opened up. The closest Save A Lot is nearly 20 miles away, the savings are definitely offset by the tolls and gas.

[Cazzi]

I use them over in the UK but I don't do all my shopping there. They are cheaper here for a lot of things, have frequent specials on very cheap fruit & veg and have weekly one off offers of other things such as electronics, limited supplies of computers etc.

For instance, I buy a lot of meat there, their cooked meats are half the price of other stores & in my opinion, nicer. They're also good for lower price store cupboard items & seasonal stuff that may other stores may not have or sell at a premium price.
They also have flyers & send emails out of their bi-weekly bargains.

They don't have the huge range of goods as larger stores but if you are able to shop around... use different stores to do the weekly shop.. then its probably worth trying them out.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I don't do any of my grocery shopping at Aldi. However, they're building a new store, which means they'll be leaving the swamp's strip mall (Dollar Tree is taking their place), so I may stop in there once the new building is open.

When we did shop there, I recalled most of their stuff to be about as good as its more-expensive equivalents at the other grocery stores. Except for the pizza rolls. Those were just little puffs of ick.

Another thing: if you need to use a cart you'll have to deposit a quarter to unlock it. When you return the cart, you get your quarter back. Some people aren't so good about returning their carts, so I would do it for them and pocket their quarter. I'm going to miss that when Aldi leaves.

[AdminAssistant]

The Aldi's in KC...well, let's just put it this way. You didn't go shopping there after dark. Cheap groceries aren't worthy my life. I've never been to the one here. The Dillon's I go to is too nice.

[drunkenwildmage]

The ALDI's stores we go to around here are great..It' s mostly store brand stuff, but they do have "Special purchases" with national brands from time to time. About 90% of the stuff is pretty good, but sometimes you kinda have to pick and choose what you are going to get. I think allot of that just depends on personal taste.

[Seshat]

As with most folks: we use our local Aldi for about half our shopping, and hit other places for the rest. It's cut our grocery bill considerably.

[AriGriffin]

Mom and I shop at Aldi. We buy mostly canned good, box mixes, dairy, and toiletry items. The produce there tends to go bad very quickly- and I mean very quickly. The meats are okay.

[BookstoreEscapee]

There's only one in my area that I know of. It's near Store2 (sorta), in the shopping center just past the intersection I get off the highway at on my way home. I've never actually been there, and I don't get over that way much. It's too far away to do regular shopping, but I've always meant to stop in when I go to the bookstore sometime and check it out. Never gotten around to it.

[jedimaster91]

As with most folks: we use our local Aldi for about half our shopping, and hit other places for the rest. It's cut our grocery bill considerably.

That's what we do. I <3 Aldi. Finding a loose cart there totally makes my day. This past week I stocked up on some stuff we were running low on, and only spent about $30. Probably could safely double that at WalMart. I mean, condensed soups for teh hubs for $0.49? WIN!

[1756GR2]

Like others, I get some things at Aldi, some at other stores. Prices are really good on most items and the meats in our store have been good. Produce not so much as someone else said. Bring your own bags or buy them for a few cents each there. In the cashier line they check you out, put your stuff in an empty cart and you take the cart to the bagging counters to bag them yourself. Speeds up the checkout process. I love that their cashiers can sit on the job, not have to stand all day.

[Aethian]

Produce is great at the Aldi's near me. The produce is fresh however so unless your planning to use it within the next few days, it might be better to get it less ripe from another store. I work close enough however I can pick up fresh produce every few days.

Meat not so great, but I got spoiled on a fresh butcher that has a wide range of organic meats. So yummy....

[It shouldn't]

I love Aldi's.

Been shopping there for almost 10 years now.
I get almost everything there. Me, hubby and the cats can eat good for about $50 a week.

[Teysa]

Hubby and I checked them out shortly after they opened around here. The store was pretty nice and the prices seemed reasonable. The aisles were wider than most grocery stores too. My only issue is that they're somewhat out of the way. Also, since I work at a grocery store it's much easier to just pick up a few things after work than make a special trip.

[Aethian]

Mine just had some winter fleece's put out on sale for a really good price. I picked up a couple in my aussies favorite color to send to him. He seems to think that low 60's are cold.

[bean]

Wait.. low 60s are cold? I'm in t-shirts and shorts by then, I MIGHT toss on a light jacket or flannel if it's windy.