With the exception of two employees, most of the staff here are rude, dismissive, & can't even be…read morebothered to greet you or wish you well. One employee in particular, a caucasian woman with reddish hair, seems particularly uncivil with absolutely no social skill or grace whatsoever. You work with the public. Civility is one of THE most important tenets of customer service. If you can't treat people in a congenial manner even when being PAID to do so, you do not need to work with the public. I am not asking for a smile or a chat, but wow, just the bare minimum of civility seems to be too much to ask for here! I am autistic & have better social skills, which is saying a lot!
Furthermore, last year I slipped & fell because a cashier was mopping the floor. There was NO wet floor sign anywhere in sight, the cashier saw me fall, & didn't even ask if I was alright! I was not hurt, but it was embarrassing!
As for product quality, in the past couple of years, I have yet to buy a bag of potatoes here that wasn't green, a bag of onions that wasn't already half rotten, or a cut of meat that I didn't have to return because it stank after opening even though it had several days left before the sell-by date. I no longer buy meat from this Aldi after having to return bad meat 5 times last summer. Before I stopped purchasing meats here, the chicken breasts were ALWAYS woody & weirdly textured after cooking. They also get an attitude if you have the audacity to ask for the doubled money-back guarantee!
The potato & onion section often has insects, especially in the summer. The baby potatoes are always soft. I can't remember the last time I bought a bag of russet, white or yellow potatoes that weren't already turning green & starting to sprout, but that seems to be most grocery stores now. Red potatoes are usually the safest choice if you have to buy potatoes here. Sweet potatoes always look EXTREMELY dried out. Don't even bother trying the red onions in any season, because at their best they are very close to sprouting & quite bitter, the flesh already more purple than white & starting to ooze juice, though that seems true for every store in town. Where can you buy a fresh red onion with crisp, white flesh, so sweet you could bite into it like an apple? Not in this town! Maybe not anywhere anymore.
Avocados are either rock hard or mush with almost no in-between. If you let them ripen at home, they taste off, no matter what ripening method. Apples are often mushy & mealy & if you do find some that seem crisp, it is hard to find a bag where most aren't bruised. Cucumbers are always too soft & bendy, like they are on the verge of rotting. I used to love the mini cucumbers, but haven't been able to find a bag that doesn't start to form slime after one day in the fridge, for a very long time. Berries are often moldy on the shelf, especially in the summer, & if they aren't moldy on the shelf, they start molding a couple of days after purchase, especially blackberries and strawberries!
A good thing I will mention is that at least they don't spray their produce with water like other places do, just so they can pump up the price with water weight, so at least you can buy lettuce that isn't already starting to rot & you don't have to feel like you are taking a second shower in the produce section. Tomatoes, carrots, peppers, celery, citrus fruits, grapes, cherries, romaine lettuce hearts, artisan lettuce, french green beans, green snap peas, green onions, cabbage, cauliflower, butternut squash and brussel sprouts are usually good buys.
Bagged spinach & salad mixes & any mix of greens that come in a plastic clamshell usually start out fresh but start to develop slime VERY quickly. Removing them from their original packaging & using various techniques to extend the life of produce does not help at all. Summer squash, zucchini, broccoli & corn are usually decent if you eat them right away, but start to rot VERY quickly, no matter the storage method.
The dairy and frozen sections are decent. The non-perishable grocery sections are probably the best, with a decent selection of interesting snacks, especially during the holidays, but they are almost ALWAYS out of the few staples that I still buy here, resulting in multiple trips to get the few items I can find nowhere else. Also, did you find something new that was AMAZING? Don't fall in love with it. You will most likely never see it again!
This Aldi started out great, but like most other new places that open up around here, the quality and store conditions quickly deteriorated into a low-quality & depressing shopping experience on par with Walmart.
Sad!
