Aldi

[Plutonic Panda]

This article says up to 9 more Aldi's could be built in the OKC Area!

http://journalrecord.com/2014/08/08/...e-real-estate/

[Brett]

I'm glad to hear the good news.

[Prunepicker]

I like Aldi. Mostly buy dairy, snacks and dog food. The rest I get at the commissary.
The milk isn't as good as Braum's but at $2.69 per gallon it's worth the money.

[ljbab728]

I'm certainly not opposed to that but it's not good news for me personally. I went into an Aldi's once and have never wanted to go back since.

[mark]

no subscription, can't read

[pickles]

This is really going to start putting the squeeze on Homeland's and Wal Mart's and who knows maybe even Target's.

[ljbab728]

Sorry, but I just don't see Aldi's putting the squeeze on anyone.

[bombermwc]

Nope. And with Winco coming in, I really doubt it.

I will say Aldi can serve as the faster in and out grocery store in town. But those cashier lines are often pretty slow, which is sad since they don't even bag anything.

[JohnH_in_OKC]

I'm hopeful that Aldi will open a store nearer my home (near NW 41st & Independence). But with Sam's & WinCo coming to 39th Street on both sides of the Hefner Parkway, they may shy away. Aldi is my favorite grocery store & also my sister-in-law's favorite.

I can't understand anyone not liking Aldi. It is just a different way to shop. The store has new non-grocery items every week that are just amazingly priced. It's just fun to see what new crazy items Aldi is selling each week. Their grocery prices are really great compared to Walmart, Target, Crest and Homeland. You just don't have many name brand choices since they're almost entirely a generic store. And their sweetened foods are usually made with sugar, not high fructose corn syrup. Aldi is perfect for me since I'm a generic shopper almost ALWAYS!

[ljbab728]

I'm hopeful that Aldi will open a store nearer my home (near NW 41st & Independence). But with Sam's & WinCo coming to 39th Street on both sides of the Hefner Parkway, they may shy away. Aldi is my favorite grocery store & also my sister-in-law's favorite.

I can't understand anyone not liking Aldi. It is just a different way to shop. The store has new non-grocery items every week that are just amazingly priced. It's just fun to see what new crazy items Aldi is selling each week. Their grocery prices are really great compared to Walmart, Target, Crest and Homeland. You just don't have many name brand choices since they're almost entirely a generic store. And their sweetened foods are usually made with sugar, not high fructose corn syrup. Aldi is perfect for me since I'm a generic shopper almost ALWAYS!

To each his own but I went in Aldi's once and have no desire to go back. It is a different way to shop and that's not my way.

[zookeeper]

To each his own but I went in Aldi's once and have no desire to go back. It is a different way to shop and that's not my way.

I think we get that now. You've mentioned it three times in only eight posts. I wouldn't usually point something like this out, but you do write back remarks like mine to people all the time. BUT, we do get it - you don't like Aldi's. Check.

[JohnH_in_OKC]

From Clarkhoward.com:
Does Aldi Save You as Much Money as They Claim?

By Andy Prescott, Contributor
ClarkHoward.com

When it comes to grocery shopping, is Aldi really as cheap as they claim to be?

I recently received this advertisement (see picture) in the mail from Aldi grocery stores, which showed a sample basket of goods purchased both at Aldi and at another grocery store. The claim made is that the groceries purchased at Aldi represented savings of 42% versus the other grocery store.

While 42% is tremendous savings, the ad immediately struck me as flawed and unfair because it wasn’t comparing apples to apples (so to speak).

While the food purchased at the other grocery store were name brand goods, the food from Aldi was all store brand stuff, so of course it was cheaper.

Aldi vs. Walmart -- Battle of the Cheaps


The whole thing got me to thinking about the much more important question of how Aldi would do in a fair fight in its own weight class, against another store's house brand.

“Somebody should investigate this I thought,” then quickly realized that I was just the sort of guy who went around investigating that type of thing! So I set out to do a little grocery shopping and answer two questions.

The first question was “Is Aldi’s advertisement fair?”, but the more interesting question was “Do you really save money shopping at Aldi?”

I took a trip both to Aldi and to Walmart, the nation's largest grocery store. The first thing I did was try to price the exact items featured in the ad to see if Aldi’s claim was accurate. My results are in the following table:
(John's note: the tables below look much better in the Clarkhoward.com article)
Item National name brand
at Walmart Store brand at Aldi
100 sandwich bags $2.98 $1.99
14.4 oz graham crackers 2.98 1.39
12 oz vanilla wafers 3.28 1.49
26 oz applesauce 2.15* 1.39
9 oz fruit snacks 2.25* 1.39
17 oz sandwich cookies 3.50 1.49
6 oz raisins 1.12* 1.19
8.4 oz granola bars 2.18 1.79
30 oz mayonaise 3.98 1.99
32 oz grape jelly 2.98 1.59
1 lb ham 4.98 3.29
12 oz cheese 3.12 1.79
1 lb turkey 4.48 3.29
20 oz mustard 2.11* 0.69

Total price 42.09 24.76

Savings 41%
*Items marked with an asterisk were not available in the same size as the Aldi item. The price was adjusted to the Aldi equivalent size on a per unit basis.

As you can see from this table, Aldi’s advertisement is pretty darn accurate. Surprisingly, the prices at my local Aldi were actually a little lower than in the advertisement, and the savings of 41% were almost exactly the same as the advertised savings of 42%. But that really isn’t important. Anybody that really cares about saving money buys store brands, so how does Aldi stack up against Walmart’s store brands?

Here are those results:

Item Walmart store brand Aldi store brand
100 sandwich bags $2.48 $1.99
14.4 oz graham crackers 2.18 1.39
12 oz vanilla wafers 2.00 1.49
26 oz applesauce 1.07 * 1.39
9 oz fruit snacks 1.48 1.39
17 oz sandwich cookies 1.95 * 1.49
6 oz raisins 1.48 1.19
8.4 oz granola bars 2.00 1.79
30 oz mayonaise 2.54 1.99
32 oz grape jelly 2.92 1.59
1 lb ham 3.48 3.29
12 oz cheese 2.88 1.79
1 lb turkey 3.48 3.29
20 oz mustard 0.91* 0.69

Total price 30.86 24.76

Savings 20%
*Items marked with an asterisk were not available in the same size as the Aldi item. The price was adjusted to the Aldi equivalent size on a per unit basis.

There you have it. On the basket of goods Aldi chose to compare, the real savings versus the store brands of Walmart is 20%. While that doesn’t come close to the advertised 42%, it is very impressive anyway.

So what do you think? Is 20% enough to convince you to do your shopping at Aldi?

Comments

About the author: More of Andy Prescott’s work can be found at ArtofBeingCheap.com, where unlike his groceries, the articles are never generic.

[JohnH_in_OKC]

Here's one comment posted on Clarkhoward.com that may dissuade Trader Joe's OKC advocates:

Posted by MimsyGA at 7:21 p.m. Oct. 23, 2014 Report Abuse
Just the fact that Walmart is Walmart and refuses to pay a living wage to their retail employees while the Waltons bathe in dollar bills every night is enough to make me take my business anywhere else. And Aldi is a good place to take it. It's also interesting to note that Aldi and Trader Joe's are cousins, and you can frequently find many of the same items at both stores (albeit branded Aldi's at one and TJ's at the other). $0.50-$1.00 less than TJs, average.

According to Wikipedia: Trader Joe's was founded by Joe Coulombe and has been owned since 1979 by a German family trust established by Aldi Nord's owner Theo Albrecht. The chain has offices in Monrovia, California and Boston, Massachusetts.

John's Note: The U.S. Aldi stores are owned by Aldi Süd (South) and don't overlap with Trader Joe's stores. They both carry many of the same products, but labeled with their own store brands.

[JohnH_in_OKC]

I was incorrect about Aldi and Trader Joe's stores not being in the same cities.

[Pete]

Finally went in an Aldi this weekend...

First of all, it is absolutely nothing like a Trader Joe's. I didn't see one product in there that would have been common between the two stores, or anything similar whatsoever.

Secondly, I thought it was pretty awful in terms of merchandising. Completely bare bones with everything stacked in boxes and a bunch of weird, random cheap stuff (also in boxes) that took the better part of one of the few aisles. Odd household items, toys, etc.

Perhaps the prices are good? But how much better could they be to justify a relatively small store that looks more like a stockroom than a modern grocery store?


Not for me. There isn't one anywhere close to where I live but even if there were, I can't see shopping there.

[White Peacock]

Finally went in an Aldi this weekend...

First of all, it is absolutely nothing like a Trader Joe's. I didn't see one product in there that would have been common between the two stores, or anything similar whatsoever.

Secondly, I thought it was pretty awful in terms of merchandising. Completely bare bones with everything stacked in boxes and a bunch of weird, random cheap stuff (also in boxes) that took the better part of one of the few aisles. Odd household items, toys, etc.

Perhaps the prices are good? But how much better could they be to justify a relatively small store that looks more like a stockroom than a modern grocery store?


Not for me. There isn't one anywhere close to where I live but even if there were, I can't see shopping there.

I felt the same way the first time. As I've mentioned before in another thread, you learn how to shop at Aldi, it will suddenly click, then you come to love it.

[barrettd]

I felt the same way the first time. As I've mentioned before in another thread, you learn how to shop at Aldi, it will suddenly click, then you come to love it.

With 3 kids of all ages, Aldi's prices are terrific for a lot of the staple, mundane groceries. I've purchased some meat there, but the selection isn't great. My wife and I have made Aldi our default grocery store, and recently have added Crest to the mix for the higher tier stuff. I was not inclined to shop at Aldi for the longest time, and probably would prefer somewhere else if I didn't have so many people to feed, but the savings are real.

[White Peacock]

With 3 kids of all ages, Aldi's prices are terrific for a lot of the staple, mundane groceries. I've purchased some meat there, but the selection isn't great. My wife and I have made Aldi our default grocery store, and recently have added Crest to the mix for the higher tier stuff. I was not inclined to shop at Aldi for the longest time, and probably would prefer somewhere else if I didn't have so many people to feed, but the savings are real.

Meat and produce are both generally lacking there, but half the time you'll find something outstanding there. It's not consistent, but still worth looking. The meat item of theirs I always keep stocked is the Polish sausage...like 14 links for under $4, it's an absurd price and they're tasty. Ground beef is also pretty good, and the frozen burger patties are another item we keep in stock. They tend to have great avocados at great prices, but hit-or-miss availability.

[Patrick]

I think most people like Aldi because of the price. They have most standard general staples available in generic for very cheap.

[Bullbear]

I usually shop at Crest. I gave Aldi a try and then compared receipt next time I went to Crest. Aldi beat every price in Crest with one exception and it was something that Crest just happened to have on sale. The store is definitely no frills and the odd toys/household items isle I find odd as well. But overall the products were good value and everything I have tried tasted great. so I will continue to shop there for staple items for sure.

[White Peacock]

The toys/household items area can have some pretty ace finds. We got a BMI calculating digital scale (programmable with weight goals/progress and multiple user profiles, etc.) for like $20 on that aisle.

[soonermike81]

Yeah Aldi is a discount grocery store with the majority of the products being private label. The main reason why they do certain things the way do, such as stocking case directly onto the shelves or having a quarter deposit for the shopping, is to cut on expenses and enable them to keep prices low. They are definitely consistently lower than their competitors, and I feel like the majority of their product is up to par as well. Honey Bunches of Oats is an exception; it's my favorite cereal. I tried Aldi's version about 10 years ago and told myself I'll stick to the name brand. Tried it again for the first time in 10 years a couple of months ago, and it still wasn't as good as the real thing. As for the random hodgepodge area, those are called "special buys." They bring in new items weekly that range from patio furniture in the summertime to Christmas toys during the holidays to Valentine's day stuffed animals. Those have been hit or miss over the years, imo. My best quality air mattress that we would take on camping trips came from Aldi. One of my wife's friends ruined it, and I have yet to find one of similar quality. And I have bought them from Wal-Mart, Target, and Bass Bro. We don't shop there as much because it's not as convenient as Target, Sprouts, and Buy 4 Less. But if it was closer and had a slightly larger assortment, I guarantee we would be saving a lot of money.

[soonermike81]

And as far as the comparisons to Trader Joe's, the reason they are completely different is b/c they are completely different companies. ALDI USA is part of Aldi Sud (South), owned by one of the Albrecht brothers after they split the company. Theo, the other brother, owns Aldi Nord (North) and bought Trader Joe's in the U.S. (1980s, maybe?). Other than Germany, the brothers agreed not to compete with each by opening stores in the other's territory. Operations-wise, they don't share anything in common outside of the main website, I think. Trader Joe's and ALDI USA have absolutely zero connection, operations-wise, other than their owners being brothers. I feel like TJs is a much more welcoming store with a lot of unique items that you may not find in a traditional grocer. While the prices on many things aren't terrible, they're nothing in the ballpark of ALDI, which is a different concept.

[bchris02]

And as far as the comparisons to Trader Joe's, the reason they are completely different is b/c they are completely different companies. ALDI USA is part of Aldi Sud (South), owned by one of the Albrecht brothers after they split the company. Theo, the other brother, owns Aldi Nord (North) and bought Trader Joe's in the U.S. (1980s, maybe?). Other than Germany, the brothers agreed not to compete with each by opening stores in the other's territory. Operations-wise, they don't share anything in common outside of the main website, I think. Trader Joe's and ALDI USA have absolutely zero connection, operations-wise, other than their owners being brothers. I feel like TJs is a much more welcoming store with a lot of unique items that you may not find in a traditional grocer. While the prices on many things aren't terrible, they're nothing in the ballpark of ALDI, which is a different concept.

This.

Most people who have heard that Trader Joe's is simply a flagship Aldi don't know that they are different companies and there is a difference between Aldi Sud (Aldi USA) and Aldi Nord (Trader Joe's).

I have nothing against Aldi. There are a lot of small towns in the Midwest where they are/were pretty much the go-to grocery store, especially before Wal-Mart started building Supercenters. My family shopped at Aldi a lot when I was very young. I haven't been in one though since probably the mid 90s.

[rezman]

I'm not too proud to shop Aldi. I'm not buying their decor. We get a lot of the main dry goods there and shop elsewhere for the meats and veggies.