Aldi Markets is a national grocery chain started in 1976. You will find them mainly in the eastern US. thrift store shopping I have lived in New York and Pennsylvania. All stores are basically the same. If you’ve never shopped at Aldum here are the pros and cons of shopping at one of their stores.
Variety
Couples have a good variety of essential food items. The chain carries a variety of fish, meats, fruits and vegetables. There is no lack of flavors and purity at Aldum. You can find low fat and low sodium if you look for them.
One of the biggest negatives I found about this store was the lack of fresh meat. Everything is either frozen or packed with pre-shelf life. While they have fresh fruits and vegetables, you often have to pick them carefully because the fruits start spoiling and do not keep refrigerated . If they are looking for a local result, there is no way to tell where the result came from on either side.
access
Everything in the Aldi markets I have been in is very accessible for disabled persons. The big plus is that you don’t have to reach far to get an item. Almost everything is within arm’s length without stretching. The stocked items are not stocked at Aldum stores and you can see through most of the stacks. The purpose of the stores is to make it easy to navigate because the entire store is only five aisles wide so you don’t need overhead signs that tell you in each aisle.
While plenty of space makes it easy to get around, the smaller layout means less room to take turns or stop. The aisles are narrower than normal stores and you almost need to pile them up so that two people with cars can pass each other. The program also has a single directive problem, meaning that if you need to return to something, it’s not as simple as walking around the middle of the hall. You must continue through the store and make a loop around to reach the other side. Stores also have “one way, one exit” so that if you need to go outside you have to go through the whole store again to get to where you were.
Election
Aldi’s offers choices for different items in terms of size, flavor and items for families. If the customer comparison is not or “brand snob” would not miss the lack of national brands. There are some national brands, such as Millville’s cereal and Stroehman’s bread. Perdue and Hatfield are found in the meat section.
If you are used to comparison shopping, this is not the place for you. They store almost everything in Aldi. There are no national details on how pricing is likely to be cut. But there is no way to tell the quality or value of an item by comparing it to another similar item. They sell one brand of each item such as Farmville, or Golden Goose, or Country which are all branded items. If you think the salt or sugar content is too high, you’re out of luck. There is also a lack of alternative foods, such as “organic”, “diabetic” or “kosher”. Yes, they have Mexican and Chinese, but they produce mass frozen foods.
layout
One more thing that Aldum markets offer is a clear view of all pricing. No need to guess what item is on special, or what the fixed price is. Huge black-and-yellow signs tell you what the item is and what it costs. There is plenty of parking available, meaning you don’t have to walk far to get to your car. There are also two entrances to the lot so you won’t often find yourself stuck in traffic.
A big problem with any trip I’ve made to Aldi’s is the backlog at the checkout stations. While the stores have multiple checkouts, there always seem to be short open stations. You see this when people run in lines waiting to buy their products; because of the size of the force, these lines often run into silos and slow down the entire front of the force. Another problem I have with the layout is some placement of products. When you first walk into most sore”>food in the fruit, vegetable or salt section; at Aldum, you walk right into the chip section and candy, and this is not to be avoided is made unless
