The ALDI Cart 'N' Quarter Swap

[brucelucenta]

Aldi is one of the best places to get quality groceries for a cut rate price. I personally think that the quarter to use the cart and then get it back when you put it back is a stroke of genius on someone's part! It give them the ability to hire less staff and be able to keep prices lower. They may not have much selection, but what they have is quite good. I shop there whenever I can. I have never had to bring my own bags, since there are always boxes that are almost empty I can pick up along the way. It is somewhat like shopping at Sam's or Costco.

 

[joeekaitis]

ALDI Nord, ALDI SÜD and the ALDI Equator

Details are lacking about who wanted to do what but the Albrecht brothers Theo and Karl took over their mother's grocery store and introduced the concepts that made ALDI famous. ALDI is an acronym for ALbrecht DIskont. Sometime in the 1960s, the brothers disagreed over selling cigarettes and split the country of Germany north and south. Their line of demarcation was dubbed The ALDI Equator. To get the best prices from suppliers they combine their buying power but operate as independent companies.

In the 1970s ALDI Nord acquired Trader Joe's but always maintained a hands-off ownership. ALDI SÜD acquired Hofer in Europe and combined the Hofer name with the ALDI "A" icon.

The two ALDIs have similarly split the planet. Go to www.aldi.com and hover over each country name. If you're redirected to aldi.us, click "ALDI International" at the top of the page.

Oh, and, the correct spelling of either is ALDI, NOT Aldi, Aldi's or Aldis.

 

[gyrafoam]

Aldis, shmaldis, everybody knows what I am saying. Thanks for all the information. It's interesting to see how each division connects. Not sure how much I care to remember.

 

[rapunzel]

If you were to marry into that family you would care a great deal.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Well, getting back to my case w/ the "need to be freed"-quarter, I simply stated: "I don't know what the misunderstanding was about!" as I paid up what was in the cart and what I would have left at the register, waiting for someone who wouldn't need a cart to unload his/her stuff into, as I didn't...

Seemed as though I was a notable offender to leave the cart there, hitched to the one there, that was waiting for a mega-order coming after mine, but, really? There should have not been any 'first' or 'last' time this sort'athing could'a happened!

I forgot to mention that I had to be at work in that hour that I was hard-pressed to get milk I like (Vitamin D/Whole) and stuff my daughter will drink (2%) that is also useful for puddings, mashed potatoes and other recipes--and either/both w/ syrup & soda water make a good egg cream when there is that minute amount left and nearing (or past) expiration date as was the case with my jugs I used up & had that rare amount of space in my refrigerator for--hence the juggling jugs & popping 'em in there just to have my remaining 1/2 hour to make it to my job on time...

End of story--...

-- Dave

 

[yogitunes]

the CASE of the BASKET, and all this added chaos over a Quarter!

if the guy offered you a buggy, and you didn't need it, you would just wave him along, and say, "Thanks, but I don't need a cart today!".....and move along....

it's respectful to offer the quarter, and their choice to accept it, or tell you to keep it......

I am sure you held up the line, creating chaos for the cashier to subtract that quarter from your order, for the cart you wanted to leave behind....first of all, WTH?....

its your choice to leave the cart in the store, and lose your quarter, or return it out front, LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, and retrieve your quarter.....

in your case, now the cashier, while waiting on the next customer, had to stop, and deal with you again, and then return to her customer.....I'm sure the customers waiting in line weren't annoyed.....they have lives too!

expecting the cashier to return your cart, to retrieve the quarter, so her drawer wont be short.....IS NOT HER JOB!......that's one of the ideas of passing on savings to the customer, is the quarter/cart exchange....

just sounds like you created a bunch of chaos for yourself...which could have been avoided from the start.....

then again, maybe ALDI is not for you.....give Walmart a try, the experience there might be better, doubt it, but it could happen....."you might rabbit, you might!"

then again, seeing all the short buses in the employee parking is not hopeful!

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Well, I didn't expect to create chaos here w/ my post--I enjoy my Aldi, but in no ways is it a quick in & out place--well, seeing as how at least I'm not immune to the impulse & unplanned purchases, what grocery place is?!

 

Seems as though, however, there's a unanimous impression--here on this forum & what happened over that incident, and even by my own immediate observation right now, looking back, that in short: 'I won't shop there anymore, ever again!!!!'... (Oh my gosh! What did I start?! I guess I cannot be seen in there ever again...)

 

By the same token--oh, there I go!--I feel reluctant to shop there, knowing I'll be short on the entire amount of money I owe, (even for just that 25¢) despite this being the cheapest place for milk, bread, and perhaps such a number of other staples, such as veg. Oil, cheese, and eggs my store I work at--yes, I work at Walmart, but let's spare ourselves a rant too dirty even for Dirty Laundry to do any mud & poop slinging there!

 

Such as the idea if we chained our carts together & sequestered peoples' shopping funds, I wouldn't have to go out in the cold, get damp in the wet, or get heat stroke in the hot!--that I bought last night as I was getting off, were probably over-priced! I will have to stop here, then... I have no intention of making any enemies here, and apologize for speaking too much of my mind, then...

 

You like "Aldi's"--sorry, that apostrophe-S makes me equate very openly with "Undies", so I won't detract from or take away anyone else's enjoyment! (But, yikes! Did I, just now?!)

 

If you enjoy shopping there, then I will shut up!

 

Sorry for being so overly-negative...

 

 

-- Dave

[this post was last edited: 1/29/2017-06:24]

 

[joeekaitis]

Not worth a new thread but something I noticed on YouTube

 

 

 

In TV commercials for ALDI from both sides of the Pond and even farther away, Yanks say "ALL-dee", Brits and Aussies lean toward "ELL-dee".

 

Yeah, I know, too much time on one's hands.

 

[mattl]

ALDI seems to elicit  quite a dichotomy of opinions. I do maybe 50% of my shopping there now, like many of their products, some not so much, but all in all I find it a very good option.  I have a cousin who refuses to shop there.  She went through a rough patch employment wise and is now making much better money and her attitude is that she does not want to buy second rate stuff, she's done that - no more.  I'm perhaps more picky than her and find little to avoid there but we are dealing with people's perception and that is hard to change.

 

As to the 25 cent cart issue, what is the big deal?It's QUARTER!  If I can buy milk a gallon for $.95 and eggs for $.69 were they are easily double that anywhere else and I'm in a hurry I say screw the quarter.

 

[joeekaitis]

The closer an ALDI is to a full-service supermarket . . .

 

 

 

. . . the more the negative Yelp reviews look like competitors' smear tactics, especially the "I didn't buy anything" reviews that then list off the same often outlandish bullet-points:

 

Quarter for the cart

Small dingy dirty store reminiscent of an Eastern Bloc food rationing center

Few nationally advertised brands, ergo, inferior quality house brands and/or short-dated overstock from failed chains

Meat and produce minutes away from rotting

Buy or bring bags (now statewide at ALL grocers in California, moot point)

Bag your own groceries

 

[vacerator]

Lidl is also

coming to the USA.

 

[joeekaitis]

Say "leedle", not "liddle"

 

 

Yup, hittin' the east coast first.  Lotta catch up if they're going to rival the firmly established big players (ALDI, Save-A-Lot, Price Rite and Grocery Outlet).

 

[bajaespuma]

Missed this the first time around

I'm so glad you folks did this thread. I am a very happy Aldi shopper and I think they're shopping cart system is brilliant. I'm often struck how lazy people who shop at all the other supermarkets are, leaving their carts WHEREVER, to inconvenience other shopper-parkers even doing damage to peoples' cars. And many of these people are gym-bunnies who spend thousands of dollars to "work out" but they don't ever seem to have the time, energy or inclination to perform a little bit of effort to return the shopping cart, which is provided as a service by the store, to it's proper place. Give Americans the incentive of a freakin' quarter and they feel compelled! I've also played the swap game at Aldi; it's funny: people act as though they're doing something almost naughty.

 

[mattl]

A relative sent me this...

 

<h1>Aldi: the incredible story of the German supermarket taking over the world</h1>
 

 

MSN

 

[joeekaitis]

ALDI has definitely hit the right chord with Southern California shoppers, possibly due in part to the checkout process. At Save-A-Lot, a dwindling presence here, you have to quickly pile your stuff on the belt then push your empty cart to the end of the checkout lane and put it all back in before proceeding to the communal bagging table. Sometimes it's a race and you lose if the next customer has fewer items and has to wait until you clear the area.

Food4Less uses the gate, splitting the bagging area at the end of the checkout between the two most recent customers who are all too often a chatty pair who stop what they're doing to laugh at each other's anecdotes.

ALDI piles your groceries into a waiting empty cart, immediately freeing up the line after you pay. Oh, and, they really smile when you drag your empty cart into position as you walk away. Your only worry is if the customer ahead starts to play credit/debit card roulette with a deck of overbalanced and underfunded plastic.