Situated just across the road from Sainsbury's on Archer Road, this Aldi has been a firm favourite of ours for years. Now it seems as though everyone's cottoned on!
Aldi is a budget chain that keeps its prices down by occupying smaller sites than its competitors, and by only stocking one type of each item - no luxury/value ranges here. They very rarely sell branded goods, although many of the products look very similar to their branded equivalent and are often of equal quality. This does mean that it's a bit hit and miss - you need to give things a try to see if you like them. There are web forums where people have posted good and bad buys, but there are a lot of disagreements over things like baked beans! I personally really rate the continental meats, the antipasti and the tear and share brioche - much nicer (and cheaper) than from other supermarkets, and reminds me of things I might buy when abroad in Europe. They do some lovely sweet treats for Christmas too.
Aldi also have a twice-weekly range of special buys, so the middle aisle of the store is filled with all sorts of non-food goods, such as clothing, household goods and electricals. Generally these goods are of good quality - I've bought a PC from there, and my other half swears by their cycling gear. Staff at this store are helpful and if you can't find one of the special buys on display, they'll go out the back and have a look for you.
This store has got much busier over the past year, and the car park is often packed. Aldi keeps their costs down by only having a couple of tills open, so be prepared for a long queue - although they do seem to move fairly quickly.
This usually doesn't put us off though, and we often combine a trip here with a visit to Sainsbury's over the road, to pick up items that we can't get at Aldi. read more