I am not sure if this chain of grocery stores is popping up all over or not, but I'm glad we have them here in TX. I have been craving fresh fruit & veggies all week & finally got a little $ in my pocket...so I decided to pop into Aldi and check things out. Aldi is very different from any other grocery store around. Let me tell you 1st that their were 2 employees outside to "school" newbies...and here are a few things I learned:
1. I had to deposit a quarter into this contraption on the cart to unlock it from the other carts. Not to worry...the quarter is returned to the customer once the cart is returned to it's proper place. This is meant to ensure that the carts don't run amuck & ram into cars or go missing. When the carts go missing the store has to buy more thus raising prices to consumers...makes sense. The downer: who the hell has cash? I usually don't but today I did - whew.
2. There are very few items that are name brand. I tend to be an off brand snob & I am trying to get over it, but I know there are certain things on which a person can not skimp! Anyway, I continued shopping through the small store (the one in my town is fairly small...I am not sure if this is the Aldi standard) and found myself in opened mouth awe almost everytime I checked the prices. This place is really inexpensive! Then I thought "Well, sure...this stuff is cheap. It's off brand, so of course it costs less. We'll see if I am still pleasantly surprised when I get to the meats and produce."
3. They have THE MOST BEAUTIFUL fresh fruit & veggies. Oh my gosh! I just wanted to sit on the floor & eat the stuff right there in the store. All of the produce is so fresh, the colors are so bright & the prices are soooooooooooooooooooooo low! Holy crap! It used to be so cheap to eat badly, but now there's no excuse to not eat healthy!
4. Customer Service - very friendly and informative. They all explained the process and the company's thought process behind everything. The cashier asked if it was my 1st time and then asked what I thought. I told her I was very impressed with the produce & prices. The cashier explained that the company is "going for that angle". They really want to be known for having the freshest and cheapest produce around (they proved that to me already...mmmmkay). Now, here's where it gets a little more different...I have heard they are doing this in CA already & I have to say that I know it's the right thing to do - it's just SO not something that's been done here. Customers who don't use their re-usable fold away bags have 3 choices...they may take their groceries to the car all kinds of loose like, they may purchase plastic bags for 10 cents each or they may purchase paper bags for 6 cents each. Hum.
5. Once you've made your purchase, your cart is moved out of the way & you bag your groceries "the way you like".
I will say that I must have looked like a very confused human in a foreign grocery store on a far away planet, but I was very surprised & happy when my 26 items (mostly produce) rang up at a total of $35.53.
I hope you can see everything in the pic - it was taken with my cell (maybe one day I can blog about my new fancy camera, but until then all pics will be from the cell).
large eggs .89
bananas (2lbs) .82
string cheese 2.79
shredded cheese 2.29
red grapes (2lbs) 2.29
strawberries x2 .99 each
cantalope .99
bag o' apples 2.49
OJ 1.79
chips .99
bag o' onions 2.79
off brand fruity pebbles 1.89
tomato x2 .89 x2
iceberg lettuce x2 .89 x2
bag o' baby carrots .99
bag o' 3 bell peppers (green, red & yellow) 2.69
can of corn x2 .49
ground beef (93% FF) 3.08
grape tomatoes 1.99
& then 22 cents for 3 bags...
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