So a few months ago I posted a not-so-glowing review of Aldi. It wasn’t pretty. It was definitely a minority opinion (judging by the number of comments that I had to delete), but I stood by my opinion that I would only shop at Aldi for a few select items.
Today I found myself near the store and in need of milk (I was “doing reasearch”, which basically means that I was bored out of my mind and we went for a drive in search of blog fodder quality family time…and milk). I thought it would be a great idea to grab it at Aldi! Given how I was so adamant that I would only shop there for a few select items, I knew it would be easy to stick to my “Month of No Spending”
I found out why everyone was so upset with me before!
I walked in and was immediately hit with the scent of Lysol. Some women are turned on by the smell of roses, some love Drakar Noir (most of those women went to high school in the mid-1980s). The smell of bleach and/or Lysol is my “Spanish Fly” (well – that and this song). Not only did it smell clean…it was clean!
Unlike the last time I went, the aisles were fully stocked and the selection was twice what it was before. Was it because the last time that I went, there was a disproportionate amount of space for gift-y items? Could be!
Grab milk ($3.15 per gallon? Did PA lower the minimum price and only Aldi lowered their price with them?). Grab cream cheese ($.99 – hey! now I don’t have to go to Genuardi’s!).
Breeze past the produce because I know that it is really rotten and disgusti…..wait a minute! What’s this? Could it be?
This time the produce looked great! The cucumbers were firm and the baby carrots weren’t slimy! It even looks like someone came in and taught them that piling 300 bags of bananas on top of each other isn’t the best idea. Not a smashed/rotten bag in sight. The grape tomatoes were starting to get a little “puckery”, but they would be fine if they were eaten in the next 24 hours!
If I didn’t have my GPS, I would have swore that I was not in the same store as last time.
And then the pessimist in me came out….
Yeah – you know they are being mystery shopped right now….you just skipped over a self-schedule job for them last week! They probably know it too and are making sure that they look good for the mystery shoppers!
But then the optimist in me poured the pessimist a big imaginary glass of Pinot Grigio and said:
If the employees are keeping the store in better shape just because they don’t want a bad shop, then why should you care? If they treat every customer that walks in the door as a possible mystery shopper, then every single customer benefits!
Yeah – the pessimist in me is pretty easy to squash….
Once I realized that I didn’t need to run screaming from the store before I was attacked by bad produce, I started looking around a bit more (Hey – Brad was waiting in the car watching a Pokemon video with the kids…this was the closest thing to “alone time” I had in 2 weeks!).
Apple Juice: $1.49 (I get excited when I can get it 3 for $5 at the supermarket)
Mac & Cheese: still $.34/box. (Yep – whenever I want to be lazy make my kids happy, they are still cheaper than Target brand).
Tortillas: still cheaper than Mission tortillas with a coupon. (It would be nice if they had a light/high fiber four tortilla).
Dried Beans: still cheaper for a 2 lb bag than the grocery stores are for a 1 lb bag (I just wish they had more than pintos and split pea…black beans and/or kidney beans would be nice. Jellybeans too!)
Bread: $1.39 (Hey – that’s only $.09 more than the bread outlet I visited an hour earlier. And unlike the bread outlet, this bread doesn’t expire today!)
Cereal: $1.89 per box (ok – when you get used to never paying more than $.80 per box for cereal, this can seem like an outrageous price for off-brand. If you haven’t yet figured out how to get a box of cereal for cheaper than a cup of coffee at Wawa, this is a good price!)
So in the interest of fairness, I would like to officially reverse my unfavorable opinion of Aldi’s. While I can still get many of the items cheaper than at the grocery store with a good sale and double coupons, I can now see why so many people love that store…especially those who live where the stores don’t double coupons!
And hey Aldi Peeps: the next time I visit, things better be as good as this time or you’ll be hearing from me again!
{ 4 comments }
Awww, Min… you’re sweet – I think that is all Aldi fans want you to see: that on any given day, with no effort whatsoever, you can get some really solid deals at Aldi… oh – and they have these little cream-puffs for $4.99 a box that are strap-me-to-the-side-of-a-pig-and-roll-me-in-the-mud delicious (frozen foods). My husband is addicted! Not me. Nope. Just him…
Anywho – at least you can see that Aldi is not without merit. And I don’t pretend to think that one can do as well at Aldi as you do with coupons, but you have to admit – not everyone can do what you do with coupons so Aldi may offer a nice alternative, or perhaps just a possible supplement…
I go to Wegmans for milk. Without a loyalty card, it’s $3.49 a gallon. With a loyalty card, it’s $2.39 a gallon. That’s a great price-just thought I’d share.
I was about to kill you for that last article. Anyone who badmouths Aldi deserves a fate worse than death!
lol Actually, I didn’t even read the last article. But glad you overturned your previous opinion! I’m sure you can do better with coupons, but anytime you have to do research and homework to save money, it defeats the whole purpose for me. I just love the idea you can walk in, buy shit, save money, and walk out. I don’t have to keep track of my “loyalty card”, or bring my coupon bag…I just go, and save.
Plus, they’re making a killing, especially in this economic crisis, so I’m surprised more stores don’t opt for this “bare bones” approach!
Plus…their eggs are $.99/doz. I can’t beat that anywhere. They are no Egglands Best…but when you eat a lot of eggs and do lots of baking $.99 eggs are great.
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