My First Visit to Aldi

[Leonard Rouse]

Short Version: Loved it.

Long Version:

I finally visited an Aldi, the no-frills German grocery chain that's popping-up all over the US.

Great prices on quality merchandise. And no-frill really means no-frills. . .Dollar General is positively flamboyant in comparison.

It's a place to do part of your shopping--the part that constitutes the "aisles" of a typical grocery store. Anything pre-packaged. . .mustard, mayonaisse, potato chips, tuna, cereal, etc.

If you aren't picky, you can get (probably all of) your dairy goods there.

The vegetable section is small but very good looking in quality and price.

I had been briefed about the check-out bag situation (there are none), so I picked up an empty potato chip case to use first thing.

The grocery carts. . .

It's a little boy's dream, and what am I but a grown little boy? The system is beautiful in its simplicy. Each cart outside is daisy-chained to the one in front of it. To release your cart, you insert a quarter into a small device that is affixed to the cart's handle bar. When finished, you return your cart to the corral, plug it back in, and out pops your quarter.

It's reminiscent of the joy I used to have putting a coin in those things where it goes round 'n round to demonstrage centrifigul motion. Except this is imminently more practical--plus I get my quarter back!

Aldi is not a One Stop Shop for groceries, at least not for me. But I suspect I can begin saving maybe as much as 20% by putting it in the shopping rotation.

To borrow from Martha, Aldi is a good thing.

[Leonard Rouse]

I noticed quite the irony between the German Aldi experience vs. the American Wal-Mart experience.

Wal-Mart is a monolithic retail organism that treats its customers like criminals after they've paid for their merchandise and are leaving the store.

It's in many ways aligned with the caricature of Germans foisted upon us by jewry, low these many decades.

The actual German store, Aldi, is efficient, but in no way oppressive, as is Wal-Mart.

The Aldi shopping experience is radically different than anything I've encountered in the US.

[Leonard Rouse]

The mix of shoppers was interesting.

A large fraction of Aldi's shoppers when I was there were young White people.

There were a lot of Mexicans, in an area that has them but they haven't taken-over anywhere.

There were only a few Africans, in an area where they have a large presence.

There were the typical middle-aged White women/mothers. But they didn't constitute a majority, though they were a significant fraction.

There were very few old people.


FWIW

[Dan Allan]

Great store, usually. Some of them are full of/staffed by nonwhites, so those are places to avoid. I do like the overall concept and layout of the store, though. Some of the food they sell is junk, but if you look carefully you can find the same quality products for most foods that you find at a big-box supermarket, but for less. Best shopping experience I ever had: I was in an Aldi in Hamburg next to my hotel there. It was the cleanest, friendliest store I've ever seen. The cashier knew I was a foreigner, i.e. not German, but she gave me the same cheerful smile as all the other customers. You don't get that kind of sincere friendliness in America, at least not in the big cities.

[Leonard Rouse]

Originally Posted by Dan Allan

Great store, usually. Some of them are full of/staffed by nonwhites, so those are places to avoid. I do like the overall concept and layout of the store, though.

I could only see a handful of people working. . .3 I think: A black man stocking in the produce/meat area and two women, one black, at the check-outs.

The blacks seemed mildly uncomfortable. They were acting in ways wholly atypical for niggers, ie, they were doing their jobs as quickly and efficiently as possible. The nigger in the back was slacking a bit with the stocking. He looked really uncomfortable with the whole thing.

Originally Posted by Dan Allen

Some of the food they sell is junk, but if you look carefully you can find the same quality products for most foods that you find at a big-box supermarket, but for less.

Yep. But the junk quotient was a lot lower than I thought. I was pleasantly surprised.

Best shopping experience I ever had: I was in an Aldi in Hamburg next to my hotel there. It was the cleanest, friendliest store I've ever seen. The cashier knew I was a foreigner, i.e. not German, but she gave me the same cheerful smile as all the other customers. You don't get that kind of sincere friendliness in America, at least not in the big cities.

The negress who checked me out was abnormally pleasant, in a curt, unusual way. I assume they have special Aldi training. It certainly seemed that way.

On the flip side, I would probably hate to work there. lol But maybe not. God, it couldn't be worse than a Wal-Mart, et al.

[Karl Radl]

Originally Posted by Leonard Rouse

Short Version: Loved it.

I've been a fan of Aldi ever since I lived above one in my undergraduate days in Nottingham. They also have a brilliant bakery selection: well all the ones I've ever been in have.

[Karl Radl]

Originally Posted by Dan Allan

Best shopping experience I ever had: I was in an Aldi in Hamburg next to my hotel there. It was the cleanest, friendliest store I've ever seen. The cashier knew I was a foreigner, i.e. not German, but she gave me the same cheerful smile as all the other customers. You don't get that kind of sincere friendliness in America, at least not in the big cities.

Sounds like Billa in Austria come to think of it.

[Alex Linder]

In response to the above:

- they do have bags, they're at the checkout counter/conveyor belt - but you have to buy them, either plastic bags or paper, a few cents apiece. And, as you did, you can take the packing boxes for storage, if you want.

- most of their stores are of similiar size, I believe. They do smallish stores to medium, not giant. This keeps with their comparatively small selection of items.

- yes, the shopping cart solution is ideal: enough money is at stake (.25) to make the customer take care of a problem they'd otherwise have to pay someone to deal with, and in a suboptimal way. The shopping cart solution Aldi uses is the sort of neat precision detail you find all over Germany - actual thought has been put into most design decisions.

- the way to understand grocery is to look at what niche it's trying to serve, which is always going to be low price, big selection, unique items, or convenience. Most shops will fit into one of these niches but not the others.

[Alex Linder]

Sociologically, what's notable about the Aldi here in Kirksville is that almost every time you go there you see Mennonites. Menns have big families, so they buy in bulk, and they need cheap prices. You also see them at big community sales - anywhere there is a deal to be had, they are very thrifty.

As for Aldi staff, it is kept to a minimum. Typically what you see is one manager, one stocker, and one checkout girl. And if there's a backup, then the stocker opens a second lane. And that's pretty much it. The checkers and manager do tend to be friendly and efficient.

[Leonard Rouse]

Originally Posted by Alex Linder

In response to the above:

- they do have bags, they're at the checkout counter/conveyor belt - but you have to buy them, either plastic bags or paper, a few cents apiece. And, as you did, you can take the packing boxes for storage, if you want.

Yes. To clarify, they don't supply, gratis, shopping bags the way Wal-Mart, Kroger, et al. do.

I didn't see any plastic or paper bags available at my location. It's possible I missed them, caught-up in the glow of my first time. I don't recall anyone alse buying something like that. People seemed to be bringing their own bags from home.

I did see, right in front of the conveyor belt, a stand that had a cloth shopping bag and one of those "cold bags" for sale. What struck me is that the cloth bag was larger, of a better weave, and less expensive than what you see at the check-outs of "normal" grocery stores. I think it was $1.99, maybe less. I've seen them $2.50 to $5 at regular stores. Counter-productive pricing, really, for the other stores.

Originally Posted by Alex Linder

- most of their stores are of similiar size, I believe. They do smallish stores to medium, not giant. This keeps with their comparatively small selection of items.

Every one I've seen (from the outside) has appeared about the same size--think a Walgreens/CVS + some percentage. Smaller than any normal supermarket. About the size of the mom & pop groceries that stuck around long enough to try to compete with the majors before finally succumbing. About the size of a lot of IGA (maybe older IGA) stores.

Originally Posted by Alex Linder

- yes, the shopping cart solution is ideal: enough money is at stake (.25) to make the customer take care of a problem they'd otherwise have to pay someone to deal with, and in a suboptimal way. The shopping cart solution Aldi uses is the sort of neat precision detail you find all over Germany - actual thought has been put into most design decisions.

Whenever I watch shows about German industry. . .everything's like that. They'll show an Audi factory, and the employees are nice looking, clean, uniformed, and using tools and processes that are especially designed for the tasks at hand. Then they'll show a UAW plant in the US (GM/Ford/Chrysler) and it's staffed by crude, disheveled street people "working" in some cacophonous clusterfuck.

Aldi vs. Bi-Lo or Food Lion. . .similar deal.

The guy stocking had a special cart that I had never seen before. It looked like something NASA (or Daimler Benz) would come up with if they were trying to update a pallet jack. I'm guessing that special cart probably saved at least one paid position.

Originally Posted by Alex Linder

- the way to understand grocery is to look at what niche it's trying to serve, which is always going to be low price, big selection, unique items, or convenience. Most shops will fit into one of these niches but not the others.

Aldi is definitely in the low price niche. And they're not spreading themselves too thin by stocking too much stuff, which would necessitate increased fixed costs. They're like a laser beam.

One thing I did notice. . .they have an area in the middle of the store that's devoted to one-off lots. Like maybe they happened to get a good deal on a container of frying pans. . .so they have a good quality frying pan for sale less than what it would comparably be at Wal-Mart. Or patio furniture. Whatever. But they aren't regularly stocked items.

I noticed this was the prime focus of their circular. It's a great idea, and I'm sure it hooks a lot of women. It allows the store to seem "fresh," when in reality 99% of their inventory, from what I can tell, is going to be the same from week-to-week, basically year-to-year.

The frying pan isn't a hypothetical. It's what I actually saw on my trip. I happened to be in the market for one, and had already been to Kmart and WalMart. Walmart's stuff is made in China, and its top of the line Tfal (12 in.) was about $21. Aldi's was made in Italy, appeared to be much better quality (heavier, with a better looking coating), and was $14.99. But it's some name you've never heard of.

[Swede]

Aldi is great, Lidl is better.

[Alex Linder]

Originally Posted by Leonard Rouse

Yes. To clarify, they don't supply, gratis, shopping bags the way Wal-Mart, Kroger, et al. do.

I didn't see any plastic or paper bags available at my location. It's possible I missed them, caught-up in the glow of my first time. I don't recall anyone alse buying something like that. People seemed to be bringing their own bags from home.

They are easy to miss, at least in the one here. If I recall, they're tucked inside the structure holding up the conveyor belt.

The way they do it in Germany, at least in '87, many of them go shopping with very large wicker baskets. I have not seen the equivalent here. Germany actually had laws, maybe still does, that stores have to shut down by say 1pm on Saturday - and stay closed until Monday morning. If you sleep in, you can only get stuff from a kiosk in a train station. Maybe it's become more Americanized, I don't know, but going to the market with your wicker basket is kind of a "thing" there, for the women.

I did see, right in front of the conveyor belt, a stand that had a cloth shopping bag and one of those "cold bags" for sale. What struck me is that the cloth bag was larger, of a better weave, and less expensive than what you see at the check-outs of "normal" grocery stores. I think it was $1.99, maybe less. I've seen them $2.50 to $5 at regular stores. Counter-productive pricing, really, for the other stores.

That would be like an environmental thing, a longer-term use bag. The Germans pretty much started environmentalism, for good and bad. In fact, NS can even be viewed as an offshoot of this, or at least has some of its roots in this tendency,.

Every one I've seen (from the outside) has appeared about the same size--think a Walgreens/CVS + some percentage. Smaller than any normal supermarket. About the size of the mom & pop groceries that stuck around long enough to try to compete with the majors before finally succumbing. About the size of a lot of IGA (maybe older IGA) stores.

Yep. That mid-range type shop has been driven out - it falls between the stools of price and selection. You end up shopping there for only one or two items, and over time, that doesn't cut it.

Whenever I watch shows about German industry. . .everything's like that. They'll show an Audi factory, and the employees are nice looking, clean, uniformed, and using tools and processes that are especially designed for the tasks at hand. Then they'll show a UAW plant in the US (GM/Ford/Chrysler) and it's staffed by crude, disheveled street people "working" in some cacophonous clusterfuck.

I saw a good article awhile back, can't remember if I posted it here, talking about how Germany has gone a different route than outsourcing. One of its points was Germany, which is a huge exporter, makes the machine tools that China uses to make the items that are about 99% of the typical 'Kwan inventory.

Aldi is definitely in the low price niche. And they're not spreading themselves too thin by stocking too much stuff, which would necessitate increased fixed costs. They're like a laser beam.

That limited selection is part of the reason costs are low. They negotiate with manufacturers to buy in large lots. They recognize that a segment of the population actually doesn't LIKE choice, it just wants to buy some fucking steak sauce or eggs, and doesn't care what brand they are. It feels intimidated by the 8-foot-high stacks with 52 brands of refried beans.

One thing I did notice. . .they have an area in the middle of the store that's devoted to one-off lots. Like maybe they happened to get a good deal on a container of frying pans. . .so they have a good quality frying pan for sale less than what it would comparably be at Wal-Mart. Or patio furniture. Whatever. But they aren't regularly stocked items.

Correct - they do buy certain lots of things that are one-offs - certain electrical items, or workout stuff, just a variety of things. And they're always much cheaper than other places. I don't know about the quality, I would assume it meets their food standard.

I noticed this was the prime focus of their circular. It's a great idea, and I'm sure it hooks a lot of women. It allows the store to seem "fresh," when in reality 99% of their inventory, from what I can tell, is going to be the same from week-to-week, basically year-to-year.

There is some turnover, but basically they do grocery staples, one type of each, and that's it. If you're unhappy, they give you double your product and money back. Aldi is actually is what it purports to be. Well, would purport to be if it advertised itself, which it really doesn't. It is, then, German by my definition: to be rather than to seem.

The frying pan isn't a hypothetical. It's what I actually saw on my trip. I happened to be in the market for one, and had already been to Kmart and WalMart. Walmart's stuff is made in China, and its top of the line Tfal (12 in.) was about $21. Aldi's was made in Italy, appeared to be much better quality (heavier, with a better looking coating), and was $14.99. But it's some name you've never heard of.

Yeah - they make deals people to acquire odd lots for one-off sales.

[John in Woodbridge]

I went to Aldi for the first time last week. I was surprised how small it was - much smaller than the typical grocery store. It seems the polar opposite of a store like Wegman's, which has gourmet everything but prices are high.

Aldi seems to have very low overhead. What they have are brands I never heard of but seem to be good quality and vegetables are fresh. I like those cans of beef stew which make a good quick meal if one is short of time. A bit awkward is you need to bring in your own box or bags and bag your own stuff. I noticed later there's a long table to organize everything.

[J. Kerr]

Originally Posted by Swede

Aldi is great, Lidl is better.

Im with the Swede.

Although the two stores have the same atmosphere, i find Lidl better for value and in the UK stores they have Real-Ales for £1/each.

Although they both appear to support the illegal state of Israel. Big thumbs down if this is true.

http://www.inminds.com/article.php?id=10273

[Hudson]

Aldi's seems to be competitive by eliminating labor and encouraging the customer to provide labor + materials to remove the products that Aldi's sells.

Once the entire capitalist economy becomes like Aldi's by eliminating as much labor as technologically possible, how the heck is anyone gonna have the money to buy anything, anyway?

Sure, the guys who invented the labor saving devices will be rich, but the people who sell their labor will find fewer takers. What are they going to do all day but focus on the fact that they are poor, while only a small percentage are well enough off.

Less than 7% of U.S. workers are self employed. Among people under 40, only 2% are self-employed and people over 40, 20% are self-employed. (So we can see why the over 40 demographic keeps electing conservatives who are against the working class, because it is in their best interest as small employers to do so.)

[Mark Faust]

Aldi takes care of their employees.... Full benefits and wages that are far greater than other food stores. An Aldi manager makes over 50k yearly and pays zero for benefits.

[Alex Linder]

Originally Posted by Hudson

Aldi's seems to be competitive by eliminating labor and encouraging the customer to provide labor + materials to remove the products that Aldi's sells.

Once the entire capitalist economy becomes like Aldi's by eliminating as much labor as technologically possible, how the heck is anyone gonna have the money to buy anything, anyway?

Wait, they're ending capitalist exploitation of labor by reducing the number of positions.

Which is it?

The money people save buying at Aldis can be put in the bank, used to buy gold, or to buy products/services from other White stores.

Sure, the guys who invented the labor saving devices will be rich, but the people who sell their labor will find fewer takers. What are they going to do all day but focus on the fact that they are poor, while only a small percentage are well enough off.

I'm starting to think you are just a troll, because you're now arguing directly the opposite of what you were earlier. Or is that just the communist dialectic? Lie, lie, lie, then lie some more.

There are different ways to skin the cat: Aldi can only be low price by streamlining everything: items stocked, employees, advertising. If you want the extras and niceties, you go to Hy-Vee, which has a smile in every aisle. A deli. A bakery. A flower shop. A pharmacy. A wine 'n' liquor area. If you want thousands of items and the broadest selection, you go to Wal-Mart.

The market works. Better than any other way of doing things.

[Alex Linder]

Originally Posted by Mark Faust

Aldi takes care of their employees.... Full benefits and wages that are far greater than other food stores. An Aldi manager makes over 50k yearly and pays zero for benefits.

Yes, I've seen ads here directed at TSU (Truman State) students. Aldi does seem to pay well. It's just an overall good company, as best I can determine.

[Swede]

Originally Posted by J. Kerr

Im with the Swede.

Although the two stores have the same atmosphere, i find Lidl better for value and in the UK stores they have Real-Ales for £1/each.

Although they both appear to support the illegal state of Israel. Big thumbs down if this is true.

http://www.inminds.com/article.php?id=10273

If that's true, no more Lidl for me.


To fight NWO (and the jew) we must think locally instead of globally. Instead of buying shit from China we can buy it locally, or even produce it our own.

Do you need socks? Buy it from a producer near you, or learn how to stich. Need vegetables? Talk to a farmer or grow it your own.

If you do this you will be more independent and support your local neighborhood.