Anybody here an Aldi shopper?

BudE

BudE

Hillsborough, NC
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I live in Hillsborough and they just opened one here. No parking spaces the we could find. My wife's condition calls for a cart that she can support herself. She refuses to use one of those self-propelled carts. Went in the foyer and couldn't see any carts in the store. There were some outside but they were locked up. We made two trips in one.
 
I believe that is how the cart system works.

My parents go to the one in Sanford on occasion. They have some pretty good deals on certain things at times, like butter, and they've stocked up. They also like some of the store brand cookies and other things that are significantly cheaper than the regular grocery store.
 
Cheddar cheese sticks are awesome there!
Junk food is cheaper too..Pop tarts cookies etc

DS
 
Precision Seeker said:
You put a quarter in the slot, get your cart, shop. Then when you return your cart, you get your quarter back. At least that's how it works at the one near me.
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Yep, that's how they all work. It's their way of not having to pay someone to do parking lot cart duty.
 
DirtySCREW said:
Cheddar cheese sticks are awesome there!
Junk food is cheaper too..Pop tarts cookies etc

DS
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The bummer about Aldi is that you end up finding something really good, and then they change the recipe. They used to have the most knock-your-socks-off cranberry chicken salad, and then tweaked the recipe. It was never the same since.
 
Some things are cheaper than other stores- as long as you stick to their house brands. Brands you can find at Food Lion or other grocery stores are usually just as expensive. I like their packaged goods, like chips, crackers, beef jerky, dried fruit, chocolate, or trail mix. Some of the meats are ok, but I'm always disappointed in the "fresh" offerings. Their cart system is pretty good, as it incentivizes shoppers to return the carts to get their quarter back. Probably cuts down on people stealing the carts.
 
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Billho said:
Some things are cheaper than other stores- as long as you stick to their house brands. Brands you can find at Food Lion or other grocery stores are usually just as expensive. I like their packaged goods, like chips, crackers, beef jerky, dried fruit, chocolate, or trail mix. Some of the meats are ok, but I'm always disappointed in the "fresh" offerings. Their cart system is pretty good, as it incentivizes shoppers to return the carts to get their quarter back. Probably cuts down on people stealing the carts.
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Or...one could argue....you paid 25 cents for a nice metal cart...🤔😁😉🤣🤣🤣
 
Their knock off girl scout cookies are IDENTICAL to the real ones. If you can find the thin mint version...you're welcome. 😁
 
Wife refused to even visit the local store. Eventually, I must have shamed her into it. Now it’s once or twice every week.
 
Sit in the parking lot and someone will come out. Offer to take their cart back. Some folks are willing to let the quarter go just to not have to take the cart back.
 
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We shop at Aldi weekly. Better fruit and veggies than Walmart or food lion. We spend about $100 at Aldi every week with a cart full of groceries. If we bought the same at Walmart/ food lion it would be $250-300.

We shopped at Aldi first then go to one of the other places to buy what we couldn’t find at Aldi.

At all cost try to avoid “the isle” at Aldi. IYKYK
 
Crankbait said:
We shop at Aldi weekly. Better fruit and veggies than Walmart or food lion. We spend about $100 at Aldi every week with a cart full of groceries. If we bought the same at Walmart/ food lion it would be $250-300.

We shopped at Aldi first then go to one of the other places to buy what we couldn’t find at Aldi.

At all cost try to avoid “the isle” at Aldi. IYKYK
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What, you don't want vibrating slippers or a bicycle work stand to go with your ground beef?
 
we have experimented with Aldi.
as above, the cheap junk food is consistently the best buy.
all the other items are hit-and-miss. every once in a while
we find an especially good deal, but not on brand names.
 
We go there about once a month. We get produce depending on what they have. We keep a good stock of canned food items from there, usually buying them by the flats. I get my breakfast sausage there three or four pounds at a time and freeze it. We also buy sliced cheeses, vacuum seal them and freeze them. Step daughter is lack toes intolerant and we get her milk there, it’s cheaper than Walmart or food lion and she loves it.
 
Billho said:
Some things are cheaper than other stores- as long as you stick to their house brands. Brands you can find at Food Lion or other grocery stores are usually just as expensive. I like their packaged goods, like chips, crackers, beef jerky, dried fruit, chocolate, or trail mix. Some of the meats are ok, but I'm always disappointed in the "fresh" offerings. Their cart system is pretty good, as it incentivizes shoppers to return the carts to get their quarter back. Probably cuts down on people stealing the carts.
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It’s so they don’t have to pay someone to collect carts 10 times a day from the parking lot
 
Aldi is able to compete at a low cost option due to efficiency including the cart thing.
Few things to really 'stock.' it's just open the container and put it on the shelf.
Due to this they are able to employee few employees while still maintaining a clean, neat store.
Bring your own bag or buy one of theirs. Bags cost money for someone, they put it on you to keep the cost of items lower.
Also they have kept their shelving low so you can see the whole layout, it helps people feel 'better' about being in the store.

Very interesting business they and Lidl have, similar to Costco and Sams.

Sorry, we had a whole class on them ha
 
The majority of our grocery’s come from Aldi. Probably couldn’t afford to eat otherwise. FJB.
 
SnowRooster said:
Sit in the parking lot and someone will come out. Offer to take their cart back. Some folks are willing to let the quarter go just to not have to take the cart back.
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How much does that work out to hourly? I'm looking for options.
 
We have been shopping at Aldi for 15yrs or longer. We started right after the opened in Fuquay. For
The first few years they didn’t have hardly any business. I wasn’t sure they were going to make it. Starting 5-10 years ago they started getting packed and never let up.
The cart system is the greatest. You don’t have to worry about dodging carts in the parking lot.
All stores should do it
 
Inglis said:
I have shopping at Aldi's since I saw one in Berlin, Germany. I think Aldi's is the largest number of food store in the world.

I am cheap and I like Aldi's .
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They've not been in south very long, my wife grew up around them (and Wegmans). We followed both as they migrated south: Pittsburgh, northern Virginia, Richmond, North Carolina.
 
Variable said:
I like Lidle better but Aldi is good.
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I feel like Lidle has better quality than Aldi

But Aldi is good. Gotta pay that Quarter to Rent the Cart but you'll get it back

Bring your own bags. I don't think they provide bags.

Eat fresh produce Quick. They don't sit as long. They do have Good snack and seasonal stuff. Check them out!
 
We're both Aldi and Lidl shoppers. My wife and I shop together since she won't go by herself. We've found things at each store we prefer over the other. Anything we can't find between them comes from Publix, and it's not much. I have no issues with food taste despite house brand or off brand. I actually prefer some of their food, like the peanut butter from Aldi. It's better than the name brands and $3 cheaper.
 
Aldi is good, like an earlier poster said, eat any fresh produce you buy there quickly, as it seems to have a much shorter shelf life than produce bought at other stores. IMO the steals there are their “staples” like flour/sugar/rice/beans and canned goods. Meats are decent priced and high quality. Their house brand packaged stuff is top tier imo, as good or better than the “name brand” probably 95% of the time.

They also have really good specialty items, like cheeses and chocolates.

Read something a while back stating that Aldi sold more “organic” foods than anyone else in the US, kinda surprising when you have entire chains (Whole Foods/Sprouts) dedicated to that, and Aldi is a “Discount” grocer.
 
Variable said:
I like Lidle better but Aldi is good.
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I also like Lidl better but they’re a little different. I think of Lidl as the upscale Aldi. They have the same overall theme but Lidl doesn’t have the “quarter for a cart” thing, the stores are nicer, they have a bakery, and they don’t make you pay for bags. As a result, Lidl is slightly more expensive but still a value.

We use Aldi, but not as much as I wish we did, and that’s only because we have 2 Food Lions that are more convenient. I don’t recall ever having a food quality issue with Aldi, and the fact that the prices are so low makes it hard to argue with. I love a deal so I’m a fan.
 
It’s my understanding that Lidl posts their stores as No Carry zones.
Usually with a little 1x1 square decal
I’ve not seen one at Aldi
No first hand experience with Lidl as I don’t have one close, going by reports of members on another gun forum.
 
NC Boy Scout said:
It’s my understanding that Lidl posts their stores as No Carry zones.
Usually with a little 1x1 square decal
I’ve not seen one at Aldi
No first hand experience with Lidl as I don’t have one close, going by reports of members on another gun forum.
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Never seen one. Might be a local thing.
 
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ALDIs is great for us. Most everything we eat is cheaper there. Bread, cereal, cheese, lunch meat, Greek yogurt. They do a good job labeling things for allergies. The produce selection can be hit or miss though. Raw meat we usually get from Costco. Cereals and chips don’t have food dyes (which I can tell and extreme difference for our boys). Their pizza dough makes for a really cheap friday pizza and a movie night. They also have some good cheese selections for inexpensive.

I keep a quarter in my wallet for ALDIs
 
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