Think of Aldi's as the estranged brother of Trader Joe's. The abbreviated history is that Aldi's and Trader Joe's were owned by German brother's who fell out over whether or not to sell cigarettes. One headed the chain that became Aldi's and the other chain became Trader Joe's. While Trader Joe's has great prices, Aldi will beat them and just about everyone else's prices every time. You can still signs of that German heritage all over Aldi's like in their German line of products called Deutsche Kuche, which offers offers beer, chocolate, roasted coffee, and uncured Bavarian bratwurst.
If you want to save money on groceries, Aldi's is a great way to do it. In order to bring you those low prices Aldi's has instituted some cost cutting measures. If you want a cart you will need to bring a quarter and to get your money back you need to return your cart from the parking lot back to the store saving employees from having to collect the carts. You will also have to bring your own bags or pay for theirs. Lines will most likely be long because they keep their staff to a bare bones minimum. Best of all is the check out. To get people through the line more quickly they will literally throw your groceries into the cart they keep chained at the check out. You will frantically try to grab your items out but will never be fast enough. I used to just carry groceries around the store in bags I brought but getting my own cart has made the checkout process a lot smoother so now I always keep a quarter hanging in an Aldi's keychain made for that purpose attached to my purse. I have noticed that a lot of stores are leaving carts where the quarter slot is locked in the parking lot for shoppers but not at this store.
The more I shop at Aldi's the more I save and now I have become a regular shopper. Thanks Rachel M. for turning me on to the Aldi Nerd Community Groupon Facebook which gives me tons of great ideas. I end up stopping an Aldi's at least once a week wherever I end up. This week it happened to be at a brand new store in Coral springs on Wiles Road where the Lucky's used to be. I love a brand spanking new Aldi's and now I see them popping up everywhere. My favorite section of the store besides the fresh fruit and vegetables is the freezer case where I can pick up inexpensive prepared foods that makes dinner a snap during the busy week. This store has a huge freezer section with even more cases than I have ever seen at other stores and I have been to a lot, LOL I found my beloved apple strudel that has been MIA since Oktoberfest. That this the one problem with Aldi's., you fall in love with a product and they stop carrying it so stock up. Other great finds included an ergonomic laptop stand, Wicked Grove elderflower hard cider, Olive Garden salad dressing, and the pork schnitzel. The new lighting, especially in the wine case looks great. Everything is so nice and new. If you like to save money, come check out the latest and greatest Aldi's. read more