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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

#611

Post by ahartmetz »

tannhaeuser wrote: post #596
ahartmetz wrote: post #459

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The drugs thing is only Berlin, at least in Germany. Drinking everywhere (though not at all times) is normal in all of Germany AFAICT. It's legal and nobody cares if you still behave.

Drug selling and smoking pot in the public (or even schools) is also not uncommon in other major cities in Germany eg. Hamburg, Frankfurt, Köln, etc. Hamburg has areas near the habour feeling quite extraterritorial in this respect. Munich I don't know; it's a much cleaner place than those other cities. Though drinking beer there and going to the Biergarten is kind of their way of living, and it's certainly a relaxed…

Definitely not Munich. But Hamburg, Cologne and maybe other places, yes, you're right.

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

#612

Post by frosted-flakes »

Scoundreller wrote: post #222
frosted-flakes wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a store called Bulk Barn here in Canada where cashiers still do this. Everything is sold in bulk (flour, nuts, candy, etc.) out of giant tubs with scoops, that customers use to fill clear, unlabelled bags. The cashiers have this spinning cylinder thing that lists all the prices, but I've never seen them use it. Instead, they plop each bag on the scale and type in the code, which takes two seconds each. I don'…

You’re supposed to write the bin code on the tag you use to close the bag!

I don't shop there often, but I've never seen any tags you can write on, or even writing implements of any kind. That's just how the store works.

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

#613

Post by jldugger »

swiftcoder wrote: post #220
jvagner wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

? Do you mean debit cards too? They do take those, and gosh, I feel bad for people who need to put food on credit.

It's often not about needing to put food on credit. Many relatively well-off people run all of their expenses through a credit card (and pay it off in full at the end of the month) - some in chase of reward points, some just for convenience of carrying a single card.

It's a combination of convenience of carrying a single card plus the rewards, plus the interest free loan plus not having to remember a PIN.

This confluence of facts led to a situation where my bank chose PINs for its customers and I didn't remember my PIN. Fortunately I had some cash, but that was a bit annoying.

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

#614

Post by sam0x17 »

jryan49 wrote: post #326
sam0x17 wrote: post #248

The one in my area is crap, many of the items are stale, and there is no produce.

I live in a major city and 10 years ago it was like that. It's only recently, after a neighbor said it had changed, I went back. They have fresh produce there now, and it's good quality, and cheap. The selection isn't huge, but it has like 90% of what I want.

Yeah this one is still like that :/

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

#615

Post by test6554 »

froindt wrote: post #96

I'm an industrial engineer and geek out about Aldi frequently. Here are a few things I've noticed (and researched) which differentiate them from others. -they have barcode on 5 or 6 sides of their products, and they're typically huge! They nearly never need to orient a product to scan it. Their scan speed is far faster than any other supermarket I've been at. -if two products are very similar, they'll change the pack…

And yet I will never shop there again. Quality of meat, produce and snacks are very poor. They are great at what they do, but they do nothing I want.

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

#616

Post by y4mi »

function_seven wrote: post #500
y4mi wrote: post #448

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As if. All coke products are way over priced. Just look at the pricing between different serving sizes. Their price differs often less than 30%, even if you compare 0.5l to 2l.

Given their sales numbers, I’m sure the prices are spot on. The people buying a 500ml bottle of Coke aren’t looking to lug around a 2L bottle, and the people buying a 2L bottle are focused on saving money. Me, I like cans. They’re about 35¢ apiece. That’s cheap enough to not worry about, and way better than getting a fountain soda at a fast food restaurant. Market segmentation at its finest!

i meant overpriced in the context of the parent comment calling them loss leaders.

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

#617

Post by lugg »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #493
Zarel wrote: post #490

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume this is a metaphor. But even for products that _are_ byproducts, it seems like the correct solution is to sell the less-popular one at a lower price.

Or... not buy it, as c3534l suggested. The fact that I produce egg whites and egg yolks together doesn't mean everyone who buys my whites is obligated to also buy a proportional quantity of yolks. That would defeat the whole purpose of separating them in the first place.

It wouldn't defeat the purpose at all but it is along the lines of the point I was making.

The yolks are a by product no matter what.

There was an interview on the Daily show or last week tonight where they made fun of a guy eating a plate of fried eggs that looked like 5 yolks and 2 egg whites. My guess, the dinner sells a lot of eggwhite omelettes and makes use of the extra yolks as another option for other people to buy.

In the supermarket scenario, the supplier only has one customer and has to somehow make them buy both no matter what.

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

#618

Post by stjohnswarts »

barbecue_sauce wrote: post #610
jacquesm wrote: post #507

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we'd sell 75% yellow American cheese and 25% white American cheese Both are terrible. If there is one thing I really missed on the other side of the Atlantic it was the European quality and variety of cheese.

Am I the only person who likes both American cheese and more complex artisanal european cheeses?

Nothing beats a hamburger with fresh chopped onions, american cheese, mustard, and pickles on a brioche bun. I will fight over that.

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

#619

Post by stjohnswarts »

function_seven wrote: post #500
y4mi wrote: post #448

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As if. All coke products are way over priced. Just look at the pricing between different serving sizes. Their price differs often less than 30%, even if you compare 0.5l to 2l.

Given their sales numbers, I’m sure the prices are spot on. The people buying a 500ml bottle of Coke aren’t looking to lug around a 2L bottle, and the people buying a 2L bottle are focused on saving money. Me, I like cans. They’re about 35¢ apiece. That’s cheap enough to not worry about, and way better than getting a fountain soda at a fast food restaurant. Market segmentation at its finest!

and the aluminum gets recycled!

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

#620

Post by stjohnswarts »

spinachdippa wrote: post #566
luckydata wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American grocery stores are so comically bad and poorly managed it's hard to imagine for a European until you move here. Trust me, it's a shitshow. The only one that works is Trader Joe's for completely different reasons and personally in my first couple years I was completely obsessed with it, now a little less.

You have obviously never shopped in a HEB or Meijers.

I get online, select the stuff I want, and then go pick it up (to save delivery fee) that beats all this efficiency stuff about cashiers and aisles and people and UPC. I don't have to worry about any of that. Just a leisurely drive and then they load up my trunk.
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