The first time I walked into an Aldi it took me about .4 seconds to walk back out only you can't walk straight out of an Aldi. They block your exit and make you run a lap around the entire store to get out. It's a good thing the stores are small. I was completely unprepared for the Aldi experience and the one in Birmingham just wasn't that great. Or maybe it was but I ran through it with a scowl of disdain so quickly I missed the bargains. I didn't go again until we moved to Greenville and a friend just would not stop raving about it so I gave it a second chance after she gave me the Aldi 101.
First, the history. Basically two brother ran a successful grocery empire in Germany. They got into a feud over whether or not to sell cigarettes and divided the stores into Aldi Norte and Aldi Sur. The two became Aldi and Trader Joe's. Both are still German run and German regulated so they do not sell products with artificial sweeteners, food coloring and other creepy additives that every other country bans except the U.S. You will not find sugar free unless it naturally grows that way. They now carry a growing variety of gluten free items. A section of the produce is organic.
There are some things you need to know about shopping at an Aldi.
#1- They only take cash or debit cards. There is no ATM. Don't forget or it is horribly embarrassing.
#2- You rent a cart for a quarter. This means that you put your own cart back and they don't pay some kid to go straighten them up because you do it quite willingly.
#3- They sell the best German chocolate. You will never buy Nestle's cardboard tasting crap again.
#4- They sell wine in Greenville. It is not very good. In other countries it is awesome. Too bad.
#5- There is a very loud buzzer that randomly goes off. I have no idea what it is but I tell Jackson it happens if he lets go of the cart.
#6- The cashiers are the fastest human beings on Earth. You put your things on the belt and they load everything into another cart. There is a low wall at the front of the store where you can go bag your own groceries if you remember to bring bags or if you are like me you just dump it into the trunk and vow to leave the bags in the trunk but never do.
#7- They sell basic paper products and cleaning supplies, a few baby care items, and a few personal grooming items. Pretty much the most important basics. TP, paper towels, trash bags, dish soap, etc.
#8- Because it is small and the cashiers are so fast it is rare that it takes more than a half hour to shop for groceries. That in itself is a good reason to go.
#9- Just close your eyes and avoid that middle aisle. It has all kinds of fun things you think you need to buy. You probably don't because until you saw it you never even thought about it. Trust me. It's like a candy aisle for homeowners.
#10- They don't take coupons. Yay.
Give Aldi a try. All I can tell you is that if I bought the exact same items at the dreaded Walmart it would cost twice as much and take twice as long. At Publix it would cost almost 3x more unless you really only buy things on BOGO every single week and nothing else. Who even knows about Whole Foods and anyone who does full grocery shopping there probably isn't reading this blog anyway.
- Let's Get Cooking
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