Bargain hunting (Lidl)

Member Name: Tracy_1127

Product:	Lidl
Date:	16/06/09 (95 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: see review

Disadvantages: see review

Until a couple of months ago I'd never been to a Lidl. Not because I'm a snob but because we live in the sticks and we have a small town 7 miles away where we normally shop and our nearest Lidl is in the opposite direction 15 miles away so we don't often go to that town. However a couple of months ago we happened to be out that way and I saw the Lidl and thought I'd have a look.

The first thing you notice about Lidl is they don't have baskets only trolleys. This isn't a problem really but it's unusual. The next thing I noticed about our branch was they had areas of wet floor with no signs up to alert customers to this which is a claim waiting to happen!

Besides that though I was suitably impressed. Although there are alot of naff items in there that I'd never heard of before and couldn't read the labels on because they were all written in foreign languages there are also some great bargains to be had.

I'm a regular bargain hunter and love to get something cheap so when I saw cans of salmon fillets, not salmon flakes but whole fillets, in oil with dill for £1.29 this pleased me immensely and packs of parma ham for half the price the other supermarkets sell them for I knew I was onto a winner.

The other day we went again and I bought some mozarella cheese for just over a pound which is not something we could get from our usual supermarket, some caramel desserts for just over a pound for my partner, a joint of beef for £4, a twin pack of bacon for £2.50, some boneless sardines in tomato sauce for 59p each can, a pack of garlic bread for 89p and some fresh vegetables for a couple of pounds cheaper than elsewhere. I admit I get quite excited when I find real bargains like this!

On the downside I definitely could not do a full weekly shop at Lidl, there are a number of items I buy that they don't have or they don't have the brand I insist on, for example my lad's cat food isn't available at Lidl and they won't eat cheap cat food. Likewise some toiletries I use cannot be found at Lidl and overall I think they have less choice than other supermarkets but for my partner and I this isn't a big problem because we tend to use Lidl for luxury items.

I know this sounds like I've missed the point but there are a number of items I often look longingly at in the other supermarket but know they aren't really feasible at that price whereas at Lidl some of these luxuries are available at half the price or less so I can have them instead of just wishng for them! In fact on my first visit I said we would definitely be paying a visit to Lidl just before Xmas so I could get some bits and pieces that I usually have to do without to create nibbles for Xmas day.

There are some hokey items too though like "musky octupus" which I keep seeing and wondering what it is but have no desire to try it! Generally though most items are covered basically, fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese, meat, frozen duck and goose, fresh beef joints and chicken, cakes and biscuits even if you can't always read the labels, fruit juice, soft drinks, canned fish, jars of sauces, cheap pet food, kitchen roll, loo roll, alcohol and more besides. They don't however sell cigarettes like other supermarkets do.

The tills are a bit different to normal supermarkets at our branch, they have a super long conveyor belt with bags under it for 3p and 9p so you add your bags to your shopping as you go but at the other end there's nowhere for the checkout person to place the items once they've scanned them which seems odd with all the space they have before the till. The staff are as friendly as staff in any supermarket I've been to though, people are people wherever they work so I wouldn't expect them to be any different because they work in Lidl.

Overall I have to say I'm impressed, I couldn't do a proper shop at Lidl every week but it does enable me to buy certain items I usually can't. We now go every few weeks just to pick these kind of bits up and I fully intend to buy some luxuries there at Xmas time too. If you haven't tried one I can recommend it as long as you don't expect all your favourites brands to be there.

Summary: Recommended