Aldi opening in Florida

[ronhic]

I have shopped in Aldi in Germany, UK and Australia and have to say that it is our supermarket of choice. Sure, the 'brands' are their own but to my way of thinking, a cracker is a cracker and tinned tomatoes are tinned tomatoes. I am not going to get hung up on brand 'A' is better than brand 'B' for everyday consumables. Their washing powder is fantastic (Choice consumer test) as are their basic dishwasher tablets. I have never felt the need to return ANYTHING in the past 8 years.

To others from O/S, unit pricing is not mandatory (yet) in Australia. Aldi have introduced it voluntarily. This is what has forced Coles/Woolworths to agree to adopt it along with a gentle shove from legislation about to be introduced. Coles initially said that 'there is no demand for it'. Aldi also have the same prices across their stores nationally with only some exceptions unlike the others who have been known to have different prices from one side of town to the other depending on the local competition.

Yep, we do 90% of our shopping in Aldi knowing that I don't have to search out 'specials' to make my dollars go further. We do a 'top up' from the local Supabarn or deli for the specialist things they don't carry.

 

[stainfighter]

Aldi for us...a good deal!

the wine selection is good, but not fancy, prices are competitive. Staff seem happy, pleasant to serve customers. ALWAYS a clean store. I think the thing I like most is how FAST one can get basic shopping done. I've never taken more than about 20 minutes in the store. I personally like their Raisin Bran; it's about 50 cents cheaper than Sam's/Walmart version, and the W/M version is about $1.75 less than the name brands! I'm saving about $3 a box. Go Aldi!!!

 

[gizmo]

Another AU Aldi fan here.

I only buy a few things there, but the prices are great, they have a reasonable range of organics (pasta, tea, dried fruit), free range chicken and eggs. I bought my digital TV set top box from Aldi, it works well and this is a poor reception area so it can't be too bad. I have returned a couple of things, including so-called "Sensitive" laundry powder which caused big skin rashes; and a stick blender which vibrated so hard it was awful to use. Our household water pump is from Aldi too - it cost $99, similar ones from water supply shops cost over $200. They were the first supermarket here not to supply free plastic bags, the first to have unit pricing.
The pay rates seem pretty good, I have seen their advertisements for staff, they are offering about the same per hour for checkout operators and shelf stockers as I earn, and I am a qualified cook with over 20 years experience. (boo hoo.)

Chris.

 

[andrewinorlando]

The new Aldi's is less than a mile from my house. I am looking forward to giving it a try. The store looks impeccably clean and well organized.

 

[iheartmaytag]

I buy just about all my canned goods from Aldi

I will say that I have never purchased anything from them that was not first rate.

Their spaghetti sauce for example is labled under their name, but it is in all actuallity Ragu sauce for about 1/2 the price. Allens Cannery cans most of their goods and is of othe same quality as Libby. Some are seconds or irregulars but for the price I can slice the peach, and pick out the green bean stem.

 

[jamiel]

I have had good experiences at Aldi...interesting that they translate so directly from their model in Germany. In the olden days the checkers had to memorize prices in the US...they were very late to UPC scanning. They have a rigor at store level that's pretty amazing...only had to return something once...a tea which wasn't to my taste and they were very nice about it.

They seem to treat staff with dignity (is there any systemic reason why cash register checkers need to be on their feet all day if the systems are set up properly...) so everyone works hard but is paid better than scale.

You can sometimes see the same products (particularly their German imports) at both Aldi and Trader Joe's