So I stumbled upon 3.5 stars for this location when I was looking up their hours and thought, "WTF, they have a lower review than the Pines location," which I can say the management there is definitely not as good as it is at this one. Granted this one is new.
Aldi is a German chain that exclusively produces and sells their own private label. They do get weekly items from brand name distributors, which is obviously discounted to them. I hear many of the brand name items are produced in the very same factory and the taste will prove that. You're just paying more to offset the branded company's advertising cost and shelf space at the supermarkets.
Aldi is not a one stop shop. They purposely don't carry 10 brands and varieties of peanut butter for a reason. They don't give plastic bags and lend you a shopping cart for 25 cents because un-be-know-eth to most grocery shoppers, Publix and Walmart actually factor that into the price of their items. Also, when you return the cart you get the 25 cents back because it saves them having to have an extra employee fetch your carts. You do want your quarter back, right? That's also why their layout is like Costco where they don't shelf items. Also, why they don't accept credit cards. That is how Aldi saves and can transfer that savings to you.
Aldi can be a hit or miss when it comes to produce and seasonal items. They run out of produce or items even, produce does not look fresh and/or turns bad rather quickly. They don't refrigerate their produce (NOT meat, of course they refrigerate that) because they get daily shipments. Guess it saves them an extra fridge, too. So one week I'll find treasures like organic items or super cheap fruit, and the next week maybe not so much. It just makes for an interesting shopping trip for me. Never know what I will get except their staples which I stock a few because I know they can sometimes run out as mentioned. Oh, and I really don't want to get into how the line can be so slow if someone in it doesn't realize they don't accept credit cards or just requires more attention. That's my minus star.
Today I bought 2lbs of red grapes for $2.29, organic chicken stock, ketchup and spaghetti sauce are $1.79 (everyday items). There's a lot more that I don't feel like typing out today. Let's just say for the items they do carry and especially the organic and season items it is by far cheaper than Walmart much less Publix and/or Whole Foods. Granted it's not a lot or 5 varieties of it. They are even selling gluten-free items. I will also include this link about their removal of artificial ingredients. Yeah, you're not getting that at Walmart or Publix for the price that Aldi sells it for.
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So you see it's all very strategic in what they do with their shopping carts, lack of bags and how they have their aisles set up. I appreciate how Aldi saves me money and I know and have adapted to their business model with what I just mentioned. So I'll leave by saying, so what if I went to The Forge or HakkaSan and then stormed out crying because I didn't do my research and they charged me $10 for tap water in a carafe (true story) among other very expensive items? Does my whining make their food any less legit (granted The Forge was underwhelming)? Did my lack of knowledge and research make that restaurant any suckier just because they are hella expensive or whatever? Uhh yeah, you be the judge. read more