The ALDI Cart 'N' Quarter Swap

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joeekaitis

joeekaitis

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Location
Rialto, California, USA
So I see a woman who has just unloaded her shopping cart in the ALDI parking lot and I offer her a quarter to replace her quarter in the cart lock. She was so grateful that she wouldn't have to walk the cart back that she waved off the money but I insisted.

When I come back to the Subaru with my 4 made-in-USA cotton canvas reusable shopping bags, another customer is waiting, quarter in hand.

I wonder how many times this went on, with only the last customer returning the cart to the cart corral.
 
<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">It actually happens to me quite often at our local Aldi's.</span>
 
I love the genuine atmosphere found at an ALDI store. People are always so polite and cheerful. Everytime I've gone between a couple of years ago where that's where all the food I lived on came from, to now when I go for odds and ends and specials, there is always this sense of decency that just isn't found anywhere anymore. I'll offer my quarter to someone walking a cart up, and they get the biggest smile on their face, and likewise when someone offers me a quarter for the cart I'm taking back. I don't know what it is about it that brings those genuine smiles because to me, it's just a quarter that I would be getting back or giving anyway, but it makes me smile just seeing it. ALDI seems to be the place for people who appreciate the little things in life.
 
Great idea

I use my large plastic Aldi shopping bag usually. I go there for the "deutsche cook" brand specialty items on occasion mostly.
The selection has been thin lately. No Spaetzel, or those little chocolate dipped cookies in the Pepperidge farm size bags from Germany. They still had the sauer kraut last time. It's very good, also from Germany. So is the chocolate selection.
 
also they hire the most friendliest staff......and not just one location, we have 3 local ones, but have been to other states with them, as is they hire only a certain personality, cheerful, friendly and helpful.......you wont find that at most Walmart!....

not to mention their quick on those registers....lines move along quickly
 
Yes the Aldi is great...

we have 2 of them within a few miles here, and it's always a nice experience!

But we also have Wegman's, year after year rated the #1 grocery chain in the US.
Part of which is because they offer excellent benefits to ALL their employees, and it shows in their great and helpful attitude! Plus they have best products anywhere! Never been to a better grocery store, it's shame they are only found in the Northeast.
 
I have done the quarter/cart exchange many times in the Aldi parking lot - and the concept works. There are never carts all over the parking lot, and when there is the occasional stray cart I see in the lot, I feel it's my lucky day because I'm a quarter ahead!

They almost always have the best milk/eggs/butter/sour cream prices - unless one of the big stores is running a super sale. I love their specialty food items and the excellent Belgian and German chocolates.
 
 

 

ditto.

 

I just got back from Aldi's.  I like the walkable store sizes, too.  Some of those other grocery stores are needlessly large and heaven forbid you forgot something from another wing.  It's a trek back to that section.   And those other stores with no ceiling, no floor, it's literally shopping in a warehouse.   Drafty there too.  Can only imagine the gas and electric bills for such stores.  Not green friendly.

 

Another thing about Aldi's, is the quality.  Last week I heard a women ask a rep. about a certain item and why it wasn't in the vegetable section.  "We had a problem with quality she responded."  If Aldi's has a problem with a suppliers product, they won't sell it.  They'll pull it off the floor so other customers don't get disappointed.  

 

Last week the women behind me bought just a few things, as I was boxing up my purchase.  Her order came to $1.53.   "That's all for all those things?"  She asked.  Everyone smiled, and I teased her "She's complaining".  "no, no I'm not complaining." She smiled while responding.

 

Frankly, I like the quarter for a cart idea.  Never do you have to worry about a shopping cart that has gone careening into your car when it's windy.  And the carts are always neatly lined up by the door.  What a good idea.
 
We had the coin for a cart system for ages here in Europe. It helps indeed to keep the surroundings of the supermarket tidy. No staff needed to collect the carts and never a cart where it doesn't belong. One supermarket does it without this system, as a service I guess, but it's always tidy there too. I guess the system taught people to always bring the cart back to where it belongs.
 
A common denominator at ALDI stores in Sunny SoCal

Everyone I've chatted with while either bagging groceries at the communal table or doing the Cart 'N' Quarter swap in the parking lot has the same story to tell:

We miss Fresh & Easy, and Save-A-Lot keeps jumping around trying to find a neighborhood where it can catch on and build clientele. ALDI seems to have hit the elusive sweet spot with Californians.
 
 

 

Ah Aldi, one of my favorites. The quarter/cart exchange has happened to me too, also at ShopRite. ShopRite is good when they have sales. BJ's, Costco and Sams are my regular stores. But for everyday/specialty  items, love my Aldi. 

 

I remember when I first visited Germany back in '87 I encountered the coin for cart concept. I was so pissed at that. LOL.  To be honest, I still view it as a nuisance. Those smiles are from relief that you don't have to take the damn cart back or get one in the first place. If it's brutally cold, raining, snowing or I'm just too tired, fuck it, I just leave the cart somewhere it doesn't block anyone.

 

 

 

 
 
I'm patiently awaiting Aldi's northward migration to the Bay Area, and I hope they land here in town first.    We ended up with yet another damned Safeway where Fresh & Easy used to be.

 

Does Aldi generally take over space that other grocers have vacated, or do they also build their own facilities to suit?  Either way, applicable real estate convenient to me is scarce, so I can see myself having to make Aldi a destination. 
 
I do a fair amount of my shopping at Aldi's, more than I used to as my local Meijer's closed.  Only thing I rarely buy there is eggs - Aldi's are the smallest large I've ever seen.  I use  Meijer extra large all the time for baking and eating.  I make a chiffon cake that calls for 1 cup of egg whites, if I use the extra large it's 7 just as the recipe says, if I use Aldi's it 8 or 9 to get a cup.

 

One issue I have is their early hours, I'm a night person and it was not unusual to see me in Meijer's at 1 or 2 AM in the morning, but Aldi's closes at 8 PM, if I need something after that it's Kroger's.
 
I've seen quite a few Aldi's, in several states.  Most, were in new buildings, usually free-standing.

 

Considering their projected clientele, I'd doubt they would push to get into SanFrancisco, one of the most expensive places to buy real estate ON THE PLANET.  The median home price is over a million.  

Sacramento ?  Yes.

Santa Rosa ? Yes.  But they'd be competing with Grocery Outlet.  Frankly, I'd shop Aldi's over Grocery Outlet anyday, though I did like shopping the Rohnert Park store when I lived there.

 

http://www.zillow.com/san-francisco-ca/home-values/
delaneymeegan++5-19-2016-01-25-9.jpg
 
ALDI Nord, ALDI SÜD and Trader Joe's

ALDI is an acronym of ALbrecht DIskont. In the 1960s, Theo and Karl Albrecht had a disagreement over selling cigarettes, so they split the company in two as well as dividing Germany north and south. ALDI Nord (ALDI North) acquired Trader Joe's in 1979 but always maintained a hands-off relationship. ALDI SÜD (ALDI SOUTH) owns ALDI Food Markets in the USA and have been in the States since the 1970s.

Ignore the inevitable "Trader Joe's Cut-Rate 'Schwester' (sister) Comes To Town!" headlines.[this post was last edited: 5/19/2016-11:17]
 
Hardly anyone here uses Aldi carts. Shoppers usually get their carts from Coles or Woolies, which are usually located next door and that do not require coins, to shop at Aldi. Here Aldi carts use one and two dollar coins and Aldi also sells key ring tokens that can be used. However, its a pain in the arse, just like their reusable bags. I find that I forget them at home or in the garage. So I just use my shopping trolley and put my Aldi shopping in the trunk or I get a bunch of plastic bags from one of the other supermarkets.

Apparently Lidl supermarkets are coming to Oz this year. They are similar to Aldi, but supposedly have better merchandise.
 
We can't do that anymore,

As mentioned upthread, we have had coin carts in UK for about 20 years now - in nearly all supermarket chains.

It's got such to the stage now where most people have "poundsavers" (a metal disc, the shape/weight of our £1 coin, which is the coin the we use in the carts (or should I say Trolleys))

So you never know who has actual £1's and who has poundsavers.

But yes, at one time, this was standard parking lot (or carpark lol) etiquette.

Mind you, the UK is changing their £1 coin next year, so the existing pound savers will be useless. And I can't see them not changing the coin slots on the trolleys, as the original £1 will be out of circulation.

Just thinking, this may explain why some supermarkets (namely Morrisons at the moment) are doing away with coins on theirs.
 
Lidl vs Aldi

Over here, I tend to find they're pretty much on equal footing.

However, the newer Lidl stores are actually really trendy (even being compared to Waitrose (which is considered the ultimate high end supermarket).

One thing I have notice with Lidl's is they tend to sell a lot more mainstream brands along side their own brands, Aldi tend to focus more on their own brands, with a small selection of the popular selling brands.

I have linked an article discussing the new type Lidl stores, sorry for the newspaper it is from (UK folks will know that no self respecting person reads the Daily Fail).

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...arket-rival-bid-attract-wealthy-shoppers.html
 
Don`t remember exactly for how long we`ve had those coin lock carts here. Might be way beyond 20 years. However it doesn`t keep some individuals in poorer neighborhoods from accumulating carts on the sidewalk.
"Costs" just one Euro, so it`s no more expensive than a reusable bag and it has useful wheels.
 
ALDI's, not Un-dies! Prefer no "s"/apostrophe-&#

Sometimes if I'm in a generous mood I do pass my cart to another shopper, which I think of being a good way of "paying it forward", and often I get a free-pass if someone does that gesture towards me, though most-often it's a parent with hands full is prone to leaving his/her cart in the lot after loading
Kids, groceries, etc. into the family vehicle, in a hurry to leave, afterward...

Surprised how mine is the best place to get refrigerated biscuits that come in the "explosive tube", gallon jugs of milk and even REAL maple syrup!

-- Dave
 
About 20 years ago, around this area, BJ's had carts with the coin return thing.

I don't know what it says about this area, but it worked for, I dunno, maybe a year?

Then people started going "screw it, it's just a quarter!" and leaving carts all over the place, and they removed the locks from the carts. My impression is that actually more people return the carts to the corrals now that they don't have to pay to use the carts and there are plenty (at least 6 or so) corrals at the stores distributed throughout the parking lots, and you don't have to walk that much to return the carts.

A similar thing happened a few years ago, when childcare facilities started charging 20 bucks each time parents were late picking up their kids and found out that parents will, in fact, *happily* pay the 20 extra bucks to be able to pick up their kids late, particularly given traffic at that time of day, so they had to stop charging and being more strict about the policy of "you pick your kid on time or else", and given that I am not a parent I'm not sure if they send the kids to the child-protective services or what, but I'm told compliance improved.
 
In less affluent suburbs carts are left standing around anywhere. Usually they end up clumped together curbside in front of apartment buildings, as people walk to their local supermarket and then cart their shopping home.

There are cart collection bays in the shopping center car parks and the center management employs people to collect the carts. They drive around on small tractors with a specially modified trailer that carries dozens or even hundreds of trolleys. It pays to keep an eye out for these as they are merciless speed freaks, ready to scare the crap out of unsuspecting shoppers.[this post was last edited: 5/20/2016-01:17]
 
Ha, ha! I collect carts at the store I work at... We use a machine we walk behind and when moving carts with it that attach to the front of it... Often by the HUNDREDS!

So in order to get these buggies out of the parking lot and in the store, just for droves of them to be put back out, we ourselves go at blindingly fast speeds, and believe me, we NEED right-of-way to shoppers, fellow-workers, pedestrians, vehicles--you name it!--'cause this is hard to stop on a dime, and to me, the slightest second to allow a car to back out of a parking spot, which is the only thing I give right-of-way to, cuts production time--I just got too much adrenalin going and too little patience to stand around for--no, no, you gotta think of me as a server at a restaurant trying to get stacks of plates of food to ten parties of hungry patrons waiting for their meals they are paying (and probably going to be tipping) dearly for, that I better not drop a crumb of... So have that kind of mercy on us Lot Asscociates, then, too...

-- Dave
 
The cart collectors take their vehicles on public roads as well. They scour neighborhoods for stray trolleys; not only the shopping center car parks. The tractors and trailers are registered with number plates. I approach the trolley collectors with caution and fear. It's the only way to survive them. Here they hire Indians and Pakistanis to do this kind of work. Apparently they are used to dodging all kinds of road obstacles in their own countries and are highly adept at weaving in and out of tight situations. If you make them angry they yell at you in their own language.
 
Off-topic Detour:

Ani metaber katan Ivrit... (I speak a little Hebrew!)

 

I'm studying and trying to learn my in-law's language or native tongue--and what I'd wished I'd learned in Sunday School forty-years-ago, that my daughter knows a little of from her grandparents & from her other mother's relatives, as well as going to Sunday School, herself...  --And to think if I'd hung out w/ 'em, for ten-years, marrying into their clan, I would be bilingual by now...

 

With all the foreigners we have here and the "Speak English or Leave!" attitude we have, I figured I better have a sort of 'answer language' to all the non-English speakers we have--and a tongue meant to be SHOUTED, rather than spoken softly, at that... Just need to learn colors and numbers, and have confidence in counting...

 

 

 

-- Dave

[this post was last edited: 5/20/2016-07:27]
 

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