ALDI

This grocery store certainly fills a niche – inexpensive, high quality food items, including produce (along with some miscellaneous merchandise) – for those of us watching our budget. It has become hugely popular, and although I generally buy only a few items at a time (I shop at Costco), I see some customers purchasing prodigious amounts of groceries. Good for them – they’re probably paying half of what they’d pay at Publix down the street. Although it’s not fancy, it’s clean, bright, and cheerful, and a pleasure to shop there.

I needed to pick up an inexpensive bottle of wine/​champagne for a real estate closing. There’s a Crowne close to my office but the cheapest nice looking bottle is about $ 14. I had heard about Aldi and just a few doors down from my office, I stopped in. I darted to the back of the store, which had a decent sized wine selection. I got a nice looking bottle for $ 6. As I ran to the back and to the front to pay, I saw the deeply discounted prices on their produce. I knew I had to come back when I actually had time. Once the closing was over I headed back. I needed a few items for my pantry. We eat fruit or vegetable with nearly every meal, which gets costly. Aldi has a private label brand of canned goods, chips, etc. A bag of tortilla chips were $ 1.19. I have yet to taste them but how bad could they be? Cans of spinach are $ 0.79. I normally use fresh but I have 1 recipe that calls for canned spinach. This was definitely less expensive than Delmonte and tasted the same! Mixed in with their private label are some name brands sprinkled in here and there. They also have household items and tools. Interesting for a grocery store but fantastic prices!
The produce section was the highlight of my trip. I got a pineapple for $ 1.25 which is cheaper than Costco! 3lbs. of Chiquita bananas for 50 cents! I think my trips to Publix and Costco will be fewer now that I’ve experienced Aldi.
Some good to knows:
The shopping carts are 25 cents to unlock but you get it back when you return it. I’ve never seen that and was confused at first.
BYOB– bring your own bags! You can purchase plastic or paper bags at the checkout line for a few cents each but reusable is always the way to go!
The cashier does not bag your items. S/​he puts your items back in the cart and there’s a huge area just past the cashier where you can load your bags up.

I have saved so much money shopping here! I now go every week for food and other items. This is a do it yourself store so if you like to be catered to, don’t go here. You have to pay for a cart 25 cents-​but you get it back when you return it. They run a small staff of only 4 people so they can’t afford to retrieve carts from the parking lot and elsewhere. You are going to pack all your own groceries in your own bags. So bring your own bags with you-​or pay 6 cents/​bag. But, you will save money and you will like the taste. My family are picky eaters, but I got the thumbs up on most of the products sold here. My daughter is gluten free and they have a large gluten free line which is $ 2 cheaper for each item than Publix. Again the savings are noticeable, just come with can do attitude. As in you can do all your own work here.

Not sure what to think of this store. A confusing mix of a Ross, Trader Joes, Fresh N Easy and Walmart. Definitely a lower end range in the prices. But a wealth of European looking brands, especially in the candy and cookie area, which is a whole aisle long. All items are merchandise in the shipping boxes, so you really get a discount store feeling, but it is well lit so it’s still got an up beat feeling in the store which overall is very clean.
There is an area with kids toys that looks like TJ Maxx quality. Some kitchen goods like mixing bowls and utensils that looks similar to items I have seen in Costco and other discounters. All the drinks are brands I have never heard of… but I don’t get around too much.
The fruits selection appears similar to Walmart down the street.
Lots of frozen prepared foods, with identical packages to major brands you would find at Publix, buy with different brand names. Just reminds me how it all comes out of the same factory… thanks to the industrial food conplex.
Not sure why I would want to come back, I don’t buy prepared foods, or soda, or snacks, or junk, and the fruit not that impressive.
The prices must be good, because everyone here appears to be a pensioner, the silver haired crowd.
Oh, and the carts are chained together, you have to put in a quaternary to release one… this incentives you to return the cart back to the store. The first time I saw this was in The Netherlands when I was a kid. So it was funny to see that here, when Americans are so used to someone else cleaning up after them.