Shopping at an Aldi Grocery Store

Good Food for People on a Very Small Budget

You may have seen and Aldi store and not even realized it sold groceries, which is understandable. Aldi's buildings are very drab looking, and their logo looks like it hasn't changed since the 70's. When I look at Aldi I tend to imagine it sells carpet or something equally boring. But hidden behind the walls of those non-nondescript buildings are groceries. Unbelievably cheap groceries.

When you visit an Aldi store, the first thing you'll notice is the karts outside are all chained together. In order to get a kart (which you really will need) you have to insert a quarter into a locking mechanism on the handle. Don't worry, you'll get your quarter back when you're done, but don't make the mistake of showing up at Aldi without at least one quarter. Aldi's reasoning behind the rent-a-kart, is to eliminate the need for keeping extra employees around to gather karts. This in turn, passes savings onto the customer (and of course Aldi Inc.).

Once inside, you'll notice that it looks nothing like any other grocery store. No shelves, no advertising, and almost nothing above head level. Aldi aisles consist mostly of pallets of various food products, that are replaced as they empty. Imagine if grocery stores were all run by the military, and you'll get an idea of what the interior looks like. Signs are limited to “what it is”, and “how much it costs”. For instance, a normal grocery store might have a sign on the shelf that reads “Try Frenches Mustard”, complete with a Frenches Mustard logo. Aldi store signs tend to read “Mustard. $.49”.

There are rarely more then four or five employees around at any given time, most being cashiers and a few acting as stockers that only appear when a new pallet of food needs to be brought out. All of these features are cost saving measures that keep the prices down in the store.