This review is an overall look at the Aldi chain. I've visited several stores, and there are minor differences between them, but everything here is applicable to this Lawrence location.
If you've never been to an Aldi, you should go sometime. Aldi is a Germany-based discount grocery chain that operates throughout the United States. Because of German efficiency, all Aldi stores have a "same-ness" to them that expressed in their design and features. Aldi is also owned by the same trust that owns Trader Joe's.
First, if you're a first-time Aldi visitor, be sure you have a quarter on you. As I said, Aldi has a German efficiency to it, and part of this is to keep costs down by eliminating the need for employees to retrieve carts from the parking lot. Your quarter will release a cart from the cart-corral at the front of the store, and returning it to that cart corral will return your quarter to you. For some this might be a turn-off and seem tacky that you would need to pay for a cart, but indeed you're not paying for a cart, you are using a coin to release the cart from the corral, and you only "pay" for the cart if fail to return it. Because of this, I have never been to an Aldi where the carts are not lined up in an orderly fashion in the main cart corral, and I've never had to worry about having my car dinged because a customer left a cart loose in the parking lot.
The interior of Aldi is again indicative of that German efficiency. Aldi is grocery store, but one unlike many modern mega-marts or super-groceries. For many products, Aldi carries one type of that product, typically a store brand. You aren't going to comparison-shop one brand of flour versus another, as there is only one brand carried -- the Aldi store brand. In one sense this relieves some of the issues of grocery shopping -- if you want flour, you get the flour they have. If you want sugar, you get the sugar they have. Nearly every product in the store is a brand of Aldi; to be sure there are different manufacturer labels on packages, but nearly every product in the store is manufactured by Aldi or specifically for Aldi under Aldi's brand labels. The potato chips are Clancy's, manufactured by and for Aldi. The bread is L'Oven Fresh, manufactured by and for Aldi.
Prices vary, but Aldi prices on products are typically 10-25% less than comparable products from supermarkets. In my experience with Aldi merchandise, everything I have purchased has been very satisfactory to great. For household staples, there is really no way to go wrong. For other products, I have never been disappointed in the quality of foods bought there.
One other thing sets Aldi apart from a traditional grocery -- the "aisle of bargains" (for lack of a better term) that hold the Special Buys of the week. In addition to selling house-brand groceries, Aldi also carries a rotating stock of household goods, sold in a set of bins usually located in the middle of the store. The unusual quality of this is that the items carried vary widely from kitchen accessories, to small appliances, to household electronics, to clothing, to toys, et c. Typically these products change on a weekly basis, so if you saw the Aldi-brand silicone baking sheets on sale this week, you had better stop in and get them, because they will be replaced next week with a different product. Fortunately, you can check what the special buys are on the Aldi website, so you can see prior to your visit if there is something special to get in this week's bargain zone.
In addition to dry goods, Aldi carries a comparable selection of dairy, frozen goods, and produce, though these are again somewhat limited from the selection of a much larger supermarket.
There is some difference among Aldi stores in different states. One feature of Aldi Germany is that there is reasonable liquor selection. In Kansas, our grocery and liquor laws don't allow for these products to be sold in groceries, but the Aldi website shows stores in other states that carry beer and wine.
One last thing to consider is payment -- Aldi does not accept most US credit cards except for Discover (as stated on Wikipedia). Therefore, you must be ready to pay for your groceries with cash or debit cards (again referencing Wikipedia). Aldi also generally does not have freely available grocery bags -- you must either bring bags from home (like re-usable shopping bags), purchase bags at checkout (typically 5-10 cents per bag), or use the store's discarded boxes to pack out your purchases. My typical experience is to take the whole cart to my vehicle, load the groceries into bags or boxes at the car, and then return the cart to the corral for the return of my quarter.
In one sense, Aldi is very similar to the beloved Trader Joe's -- a small-store grocery chain that carries primarily house-brand products. Aldi falls in a bit more as a locus of household staples whereas Joe's appeals more to an upscale consumer. read more