ALDI

I stop in here for odds and ends from my grocery list that are cheap but still decent quality. I usually don’t interact much with the employees and most of my experiences are fine. Sometimes, all of an item I’m shopping for is crushed or smells like dirty feet (bananas), but you get what you pay for. However, I don’t like that sometimes it takes a single employee to really ruin it for me, but in this case, a single employee did exactly that for multiple people.
An older woman who was a sensible shopper had all of her groceries in a reusable shopping bag. She put them on the belt and then when it was her turn, placed the bag in the cart that they always toss your groceries into. I understand the cart is there to facilitate speed. The lady smiled and said «I have my bag here so you can just throw my groceries back inside». He replied «No ma’am, I will put them in the cart (around your bag) and you can pack it yourself». She (and I) could not understand what would have been so hard about tossing it into her bag…
I was after her in line. He started whipping my groceries into the same cart where the other lady’s groceries still were as she was trying to quickly gather her things. When he noticed our things were getting mixed up he started picking her stuff up and handing it to her. What? Then he got up and walked away from the register without notifying the people in line behind me if he was even coming back. Just put a sour taste in my mouth.
I’ll still go because I go for the prices and not the customer service, but they could use a little bit more of that. Maybe I’ll find a different Aldi location.

To be honest, I only shop at Aldi for the cat litter ($ 3.99 for a huge container). I do know they have a great selection of grocery items at a discount.
That whole ‘basket’ thing confuses me though, I guess because I never need a basket — so when I come through the line, I mess up the process.

If you’re on a tight budget, or you just like a good deal, you’ll find a lot of very inexpensive grocery items at ALDI.
It’s nothing fancy, nothing flashy, just basic foods in cardboard crates — you’ll find daily deals, and they run out quickly.
Meats, produce, and snacks. I spotted some Del Monte cherry tomatoes that looked to be in great condition for $ 1.50. A 20 pack of Black Forest fruit snacks for $ 3.99, and some juice pops that have identical ingredients as Minute Maid juice pops for at least two dollars less.
Basically, everything is ALDI brand, and they manage to keep their overhead low. Bring your own bags, no frills, smaller stores, and that’s why your pretzels — which taste just as good as the other guys’ — are so much cheaper.
All in all, a good deal.