Aldi reigns? (Aldi)

Member Name: takeachance

Product:	Aldi
Date:	07/11/08 (194 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: local, value for money,some good deals if you can get them when you want them

Disadvantages: no milk in the evenings on my way home!

An Aldi store seemed to shoot up in no time at all half way between my house and my parents house a few years ago and since then ive often stopped off 'to pick up a few bits' on my way home.

A brief history Aldi.

In 1946 the Albrecht family's small grocery store in Essen , Germany was taken over by the two sons, Theo and Karl. By 1950, they had opened a further 12 stores, focusing on low prices, and a limited range .By the 1960s they had around 350 stores. The Aldi 'sign' first appeared in 1962 in Dortmund.

By 1989, Aldi had 2,000 stores in Germany, 200 stores Holland, 150 stores in Belgium, 50 stores in Denmark, and 150 stores in Austria .It also trades in France.

Aldi's first UK store opened, in April 1990, in Birmingham.

1992, Aldi had over 1,000 stores in the UK, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Austria, and the USA.

By 1998 they had 5,200 stores in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, France, Spain, Australia, and the USA.

1999 Aldi entered Eire

2003 Aldi had 5,000 stores worldwide.

2005, Aldi was expanding in impoverished Michigan, opening shops in an area abandoned by many grocery retailers.

By 2007, Aldi had 7,500 stores worldwide, and this year Aldi is to enter Hungary, with 400 stores in 8 cities planned for there.
So as you see they mean business and must be doing something right!! Indeed in this difficult year as many supermarkets are seeing a fall in sales Aldi's are rising steadily!

Free parking was the first thing to strike me as I always hate digging for change in my handbag before ive even left the car! Indeed ive been known to park at the supermarkets before, have no change so give up and go home and dial the local takeaway!

On entering the stores they all have similar lay outs and it would be difficult to remember which town you were in - actually thinking about it I would liken them to Mcdonalds- seem to appear overnight and all have the same layout.
They are immaculately kept though, very clean with neat rows of products, often stacked high and wheeled out on their pallets (all aimed at keeping our bills low with less handling/less staff)

Im not too sure what the thinking is behind no baskets? cost or perhaps making us get a trolley we're more likely to buy more? But anyhow there are no baskets and at my local one at least, the trolleys take a returnable £1. ive actually bought one of those trolley keyring things now with the £1 shaped 'coin' to use.

If I dont have many things to buy I use a shopper bag that I take along myself and just make sure that I empty it at the till. No ones ever commented onit before so I guess that its ok.

Now onto the shop and i cant fault Aldi for their fresh produce. The bakery has a good selection and its always fresh with good shelf life as is their fruit and veg - This year theyve been running their 'super 6' month long seasonal offers on a range of 6 different fruit and vegetable lines. These change monthly and are currently 69p for the following: A pineapple, 6 green apples, 250g cherry plum tomatoes, 2.5kg baking potatos, 3 pk mixed peppers, a butternut squash.

Recently they have followed in the footsteps of other major supermarkets and have enlisted celebrity chef Phil Vickery for their adverts. They have shown his adverts, cooking that months particular dish, during prime time tv. His recipe can also be found in their brochures or online on their website.
Moving on to the website, I think its worth signing up for their emails as you get to find out in advance what their next offers will be which can be anything from fruit and veg as mentioned or literally the kitchen sink! They are as big in the non-food sector as in the food sector. Id say my local store is 2/3 foods to 1/3 non. In the past year I have purchased along with my food trolley , a stepladder, a laptop, hedge trimmer,branded toys for my daughter,wrapping paper, kitchen utensils. (worth mentioning here that electricals etc come with 12 month warranty and they are excellent at exchanging faulty products).
These offers come out on a Thursday and a Sunday and people are often seen queueing for the more popular bargains well before the store opens! (Im personally waiting for them to get the WII in stock!!) The only down side of these offers is theyre only really any good to you if they have the item you are after at the particular time you want it - they do seem to have a quick turnover but if a particular item doesnt sell it seems to go down in price the following month- Reduced prices are usually shown above the item on red card as opposed to the usual yellow carded signs.

Although I dont usually go in for a weekly shop I do like to stock up on a few tins and cereal. My favourite items which i find value for money but also better tasting than the leading brands are their mozzarella, their creamy yoghurts, eggs and sultana bran.

The tills I often find are hectic with long queues but to be honest the staff are really quick and the queues seem to move quickly. I love the fact that they move so quickly until it is my turn ! Then as the cashier runs my items through her til there is no room to pack and more often than not my items get thrown back into my trolley for me to pack out of the way at the back of the store.
My store used to operate cash only but I find myself visiting more often now even if only for milk and bread as I can use my debit card without a minimum spend.
Oh yes a quick one whilst I remember, speaking of milk there are only ever the 4pt bottles in my local Aldi and I have to say if you go towards the end of the day it is usually out of stock.
All in all I find Aldi a pleasurable a shop as any supermarket and cant fault their prices.

Summary: Im no snob and dont mind being seen in Aldi