Aldi

I was told how great Aldi’s were — so I decided to check it out for myself.
The cons:
The store was super small, and you have to go through an entire aisle of chips and bad foods before getting to anything else. I couldn’t find anything we were looking for, as there seemed to be no reasoning as to where anything was located. When I checked out, the cashier put all of the individual items into a shopping cart… nothing was bagged. Ok, no big deal. So I go to grab the shopping cart after checking out and the cashier firmly says «no, this stays here,» so my husband and I had to quickly grab all 25 or so items and load them awkwardly in our arms as he ignored us and began cashing someone else out. It was quite a bizarre grocery shopping experience.
The pros:
The things that did have were pretty competitively priced. I guess you get what you pay for.

Newer Aldi location means that it’s pretty clean, so thats a plus. We do our weekly shopping here and can get about 85% of what we need.
Prices vary, as do items depending on season/​holidays, etc…
What you might already know…
— A Quarter is needed for a cart
— Bring bags or boxes, or prepare to pay $ 0.11 for each
— Off name brands you may have never heard of
— Long lines during peak hours
— NO credit cards (debit or cash only)
What you might NOT already know…
— Most Aldi’s feature a mid-​week meat special. Aldi’s gets a meat shipment twice a week, but because most people do their grocery shopping on the weekend so there is no «weekend» meat special. But the day before a delivery during the week, they clear out the remaining inventory and you can usually find BSCB for $ 1.49/lb or some other amazing deals.
— Aldi’s is owned by the same Family Trust as Trader Joe’s, and most of the items for both stores are manufactured or shipped through the main warehouse in Batavia, IL. Don’t be scared of the brand names, chances are if you like Trader Joe’s products, you’re going to like Aldi’s.
— Because of the «lean & trim» managing style, and the wishes of the German management, Aldi’s has one of the best wage & benefit packages for grocery store employees. Just take a look at one of their hiring signs. Most cashiers start around $ 13.50/hr & managers make more than $ 20/​hr, plus health care & 401k even for part-​time employees. You’ll be lucky to get half that at Stop & Shop even with a union rep. With good pay & good benefits, most Aldi employees enjoy their job and are actually friendly & helpful. I’ve never had a bad incident with customer service at any Aldi
Go and fill your bag or box and be surprised at just how much you can save…

Helpful hints coming from a non-​local doing some shopping for her aunt:
1) Bring a quarter if you think you need a shopping cart. You’ll get your quarter back when you return the cart.
2) Bring cash or a debit card… they do not accept credit cards.
3) Bring shopping bags. They will sell you plastic bags if needed, but I just dumped all the loose merchandise into my trunk and called it a day.
It’s mostly brands you’ve never heard of, but the prices are good. My aunt has certain items that she gets here. She did mention that the bread products are not very good here. It’s a pretty small store, with not much of a selection so you’ll still need to hit up the regular supermarkets to get everything you need to survive.

a good, cheap grocery store. it’s always good to have options to help you save some money on your food purchases — aldi is a bare-​bones warehouse style place, the focus is on good and reasonably priced foods. and they have soy milk!
this brand new grocery store is located on washington street behind the new 24 hours CVS. note that the entry way in front of the stores is only accessible is you are headed toward downtown, if you are coming up from main st you have to turn down the side road and cross the little bridge into the parking lot. most people ignore the signs telling them this and cause traffic jams or accidents. coulda been planned better.