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Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

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Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#61

Post by briandear »

B1FF_PSUVM wrote: post #45
post_break wrote: post #31

I guess I'm a weirdo who likes shopping there. Compared to Kroger or HEB I usually walk out of Aldi with a bill 50% cheaper than the other stores. We have our own bags and a picnic like basket thing we keep in the truck for Aldi stops. Yes it's "generic" but my uncle worked for a big food company that made big brand food and "generic" is often just a label change over the brand name. I can see why the rich people wou…

> a quarter to get a cart, 4-6 isles, no in car delivery, you have to bag your stuff yourself. Europe.

Except in France it’s a Euro to get a cart and you can definitely get car delivery. Most of the Carrefour/Super U type stores do that. And many of their stores are at least as big as a US store. Seems like both cultures are converging.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#62

Post by crazygringo »

ThJ wrote: post #46
amelius wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like most of the points you listed are a deterioration from the customer's perspective.

As I've mentioned elsewhere in this thread, Scandinavians are big on DIY and minimalism, and not big on service. This is a common complaint from foreigners who visit, but it's the working culture here. You, the customer, a a big boy and can take care of yourself.

I mean... that may be the attitude, but that doesn't make it good.

The last time I went to IKEA, their website had said they had 50+ of an item in stock, but there were 0 where it was supposed to be. I had to spend 10 minutes with an employee for them to find where the entire box had been misplaced by another employee, in another aisle.

When employees mess up (which is very common, we're all human), you can't take care of yourself. You need another employee to fix it. It has nothing to do with being a "big boy".

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#63

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

kemayo wrote: post #40
post_break wrote: post #31

I guess I'm a weirdo who likes shopping there. Compared to Kroger or HEB I usually walk out of Aldi with a bill 50% cheaper than the other stores. We have our own bags and a picnic like basket thing we keep in the truck for Aldi stops. Yes it's "generic" but my uncle worked for a big food company that made big brand food and "generic" is often just a label change over the brand name. I can see why the rich people wou…

The article does cover all these points about well-off people shopping there, too. In fact, it points out that "Aldi’s core shopper tends to make more money and have a slightly higher education level than the overall grocery shopper".

Their streamlined checkout is the secret. Much better than waiting 10 minutes in line at Wal-Mart for the privilege of checking yourself out and then exiting past the "greeter" who assumes you're a thief.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#64

Post by oftenwrong »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #19

In addition to being the cheapest, I'm often impressed by the quality of some of Aldi's pantry staples. Specifically, I'm blown away by their onions. I buy a bag of onions every 1-3 weeks. Since I can't individually inspect every onion in the bag, I'm resigned to the fact that anywhere from 10-30% of the onions will be unusable when I start to cut into them and find the rot. This is true of pretty much every grocer I…

Most markets here sell onions loose, so one is able to select only nice ones. The stores in the city are small and heavily trafficked, so the onions tend to turn over quickly. I suspect the stocking crews also eliminate the damaged onions before putting them in the bin.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#65

Post by sokoloff »

briandear wrote: post #61
B1FF_PSUVM wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a quarter to get a cart, 4-6 isles, no in car delivery, you have to bag your stuff yourself. Europe.

Except in France it’s a Euro to get a cart and you can definitely get car delivery. Most of the Carrefour/Super U type stores do that. And many of their stores are at least as big as a US store. Seems like both cultures are converging.

I could have sworn I remembered the Euro thing was just a deposit, returned when the cart was cart was returned. Is that not the case?

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#66

Post by itronitron »

velcrovan wrote: post #58
mthwl wrote: post #47

Just a quick alternative viewpoint: as a parent, I’ve been turned off by Aldi in the past. Often with a toddler and/or car seat in hand, unlocking a cart (for example) is not just an inconvenience, it’s a dealbreaker. I’m into the pursuit of efficiency and low prices, but there are some real world benefits of “full service” grocery stores. One being an nicer experience for the disabled (in my case, due to being a par…

My kids are 3 and 5 and we've shopped at Aldi continuously since they were born. I'm not sure what you're talking about. Unlocking a cart takes almost no extra effort beyond what you'd expend to get one at any other store.

Unlocking a cart is a foreign concept in the US. Not sure if the parent is in the US but any grocery store that has locked carts there is doomed to fail.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#67

Post by naves »

B1FF_PSUVM wrote: post #45
post_break wrote: post #31

I guess I'm a weirdo who likes shopping there. Compared to Kroger or HEB I usually walk out of Aldi with a bill 50% cheaper than the other stores. We have our own bags and a picnic like basket thing we keep in the truck for Aldi stops. Yes it's "generic" but my uncle worked for a big food company that made big brand food and "generic" is often just a label change over the brand name. I can see why the rich people wou…

> a quarter to get a cart, 4-6 isles, no in car delivery, you have to bag your stuff yourself. Europe.

Europe indeed. No AI/ML taking over jobs. The customer took those jobs away more than a lustrum ago.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#68

Post by wvh »

B1FF_PSUVM wrote: post #45
post_break wrote: post #31

I guess I'm a weirdo who likes shopping there. Compared to Kroger or HEB I usually walk out of Aldi with a bill 50% cheaper than the other stores. We have our own bags and a picnic like basket thing we keep in the truck for Aldi stops. Yes it's "generic" but my uncle worked for a big food company that made big brand food and "generic" is often just a label change over the brand name. I can see why the rich people wou…

> a quarter to get a cart, 4-6 isles, no in car delivery, you have to bag your stuff yourself. Europe.

I think I just started to understand why the US has such a low unemployment rate but so many are paid minimal wage...

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#69

Post by flingo »

B1FF_PSUVM wrote: post #45
post_break wrote: post #31

I guess I'm a weirdo who likes shopping there. Compared to Kroger or HEB I usually walk out of Aldi with a bill 50% cheaper than the other stores. We have our own bags and a picnic like basket thing we keep in the truck for Aldi stops. Yes it's "generic" but my uncle worked for a big food company that made big brand food and "generic" is often just a label change over the brand name. I can see why the rich people wou…

> a quarter to get a cart, 4-6 isles, no in car delivery, you have to bag your stuff yourself. Europe.

In europe, it's 1 or 2 euro. (both work)

You get it back when you return the trolley though.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#70

Post by rolleiflex »

briandear wrote: post #61
B1FF_PSUVM wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a quarter to get a cart, 4-6 isles, no in car delivery, you have to bag your stuff yourself. Europe.

Except in France it’s a Euro to get a cart and you can definitely get car delivery. Most of the Carrefour/Super U type stores do that. And many of their stores are at least as big as a US store. Seems like both cultures are converging.

Carrefour / Migros et al are definitely mid-level though, they’re not competing with Aldi on prices.
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