I heard a lot about Aldi but never lived near one, so I was excited to see this grocery move into the space. I went today because it told me online that today was the opening date, but apparently it is a soft open today and the grand opening is tomorrow (8/7). The supermarket is not huge, but the aisles are very wide and all of the spaces were neatly stocked, save for the beer section which has a "coming soon" sign. Compared to its sister supermarket Lidl which is nearby in Farmingdale, the prices seemed fairly comparable. I felt there was more variety in certain things and less in others in comparison. They share a lot of the store-branded items. This Aldi doesn't have a fresh bakery section but the refrigerated and frozen section and the home goods section were much bigger, and I was tempted to buy some of the home organization products that were on the shelves.
Overall, it seems like a nice neighborhood grocery store, though with Shoprite across the street and Walmart, Stop & Shop, and the most similar Lidl quite nearby, Aldi has some steep competition. All of the workers and customers were very excited, though, and I hope Aldi will last a little big longer than its predecessors at this spot in the strip mall.
Carts require quarters to remove & you're able to get the quarter back once you return the cart-- not a common thing to see around these parts, but could be a nice touch as this parking lot gets fairly busy. read more