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Aldi Store Opened Today

18 years ago

My hubby and I checked out the New Aldi store that opened here in Lakeland. We bought a few items today that would have cost me over 20.00 in another local store and I paid only 7.89 for 3 bags of frozen broccoli, a 5 lb bag of potatoes, a 2 lb bag of onions and a bag of tortilla chips. I will be shopping more at that store after I get paid tomorrow.

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Comments (16)

velodoug
18 years ago
Just watch out for "new grocery store syndrome." Every time I visit a new grocery store I DO notice the things they have that our local Acme doesn't and the things that are cheaper, and I DON'T notice the things they don't have and the things that are more expensive. (The latter is not likely to be an issue because prices at our nearest Aldi really are low.)
daylilydayzed
Original Author
18 years ago
Velodoug,
I will be looking at all the prices since it is MY money(not hubby's paycheck) that buys the groceries. I tend to squeeze every penny out of the amount I set aside for groceries I spend a good portion of my paycheck since I have to buy enough food to feed 5 of us and it last for 2 weeks till I get paid again.
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arkansas_girl, and I only say this because I care, they have decaffeinated brands now that taste just as good as regular! :) lydia1959, While they don't carry Fritos® *brand*, they do carry corn chips, their generic/store brand is Clancy's. And no they don't carry Diet Rite® brand cola, again, they have their own diet cola. They have very few brand name items however quite regularly have Oscar Meyer® bacon, Miracle Whip® salad dressing and a few other name brands at times but the whole point of the store is that about 95% of the products are generic/store brands. One rep said they will get a brand name if they can't get the quality or price they want or they just won't carry it. They guarantee the items so if you don't like it, they'll refund your money and replace the item on most items. Since you want brand name items, discount stores like these are not for you. I've found some of their products to be better than brand names, most are equal to and a few are not as good IMO. But I'm not a brand-loyal person on too many things so I find Aldi and the comparable type stores to be great. Keep in mind the average Aldi carries about 1400 SKUs so they're obviously not going to have as big an assortment of major things. They also go for items they get the right price and the right quality so produce can be hit and miss. Aldi is a store you shop first then go to another store to pick up the things like zucchini. Onions will vary. Sometimes they'll have red but sometimes they'll have white or yellow. Again, it varies. If you want a *guarantee* they'll have a particular type, then it's not for you. But then, no store can guarantee it! LOL (I see more out of stocks and perpetual OOSs at Malwart than any other store.) I'm surprised about the salsa. Around here they always have it and it's usually in the aisle as you come into the store, by the chips. Casa Mamita is their brand name, however if you're going to look for a variety of "heat" and a variety of flavor, don't expect it. Generally they carry one of each types. Green onions are hit and miss. Generally I think it's because they spoil quite quickly so I seldom see them there. Shredded cheese is in the cooler, most stores it's against the back wall with salads, sausage, milk, eggs, sour cream, etc. You need to get used to what they *have*, and know they will *not* have 50,000 to 80,00 SKUs as a large grocery store nor 100,000+ SKUs like a super center to cover all needs. (In fact, that's one of their advertising bits You don't have to search through aisles of camping gear to find your ketchup.) Nor will a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods for that matter. People that shop these stores realize they're not going to get *everything* in one stop. They're specialty stores. Whole Foods for "natural" stuff, TJ's for yuppy stuff and Aldi for low priced staples. I'm not surprised you didn't find green onions, red onion, zucchini and canned green chiles. They do carry a substitute "Rotel" tomato and chilis though. And of course your brand names are pretty much a given, though they do carry diet cola and corn chips, though not the flavor you were looking for. Frankly you could simplify your trip for those two things by picking them up when you get gas and you're not really doing an additional store. Most gas stations carry Diet Rite and Fritos. I'm very surprised you didn't find salsa and shredded cheese. I take it you didn't ask someone about it? I started making a list of things they have that I would buy. I check my Aldi List before going there, then do an Aldi trip. Although I pretty much do the same for any other store. I keep a price log so I know which stores have better prices on certain things. Keep in mind, Aldi is about a 10,000 square foot store with about 1400 SKUs as mentioned. They cannot physically carry the variety an 80,000 sq ft common grocery store would nor a 130,000-150,000 sq ft "super store". Their model is to carry bargain basics and some special things. An air conditioner for $60, cast iron pans for $30 and under, flash drives cheap, lawn chairs, and more. But they won't have it all the time. I consider it garage sale shopping in that you never know for sure what you can get, just like I experience at Malwart for that matter! LOL All stores run out. Not all stores carry "everything". They can't. No one store is for everyone, that's why there's so many. And as I mentioned earlier, rumor has it that Aldi gets its pop/soda from Dr Pepper Snapple Group, who make Diet Rite. Can't verify this yet, but wouldn't surprise me. BTW, while they don't carry a 100' aisle of various breads, they carry white, wheat, a few buns, and they also have a 12 grain bread that I really like and it's about $1.69. Considering the comparable bread at any other store is $3-$4 there's times I'll make a stop just for a few things that they have that I like better or save me lot. I don't like having to stop at multiple stores to get what I want, but unfortunately these days it's nearly a requirement. I can't get decent produce at a Walmart here, they just don't have it in stock or the quality is SO poor I wouldn't feed it to farm animals. (They don't get anything locally.) Cub and Rainbow are hit and miss. When Aldi has produce, I've had 95% good luck with the quality and of course the prices are substantially less. I got used to the Aldi concept long before Aldi came into this area. We had a store called Save-A-Lot owned by Nash Finch and it basically was the same concept. No frills, bag your own, store brand mostly and closeouts/special purchases. Again, not the place to buy everything but a great place to save money. I was saddened to see them close but I understand when they saw Aldi moving in, they gave up and closed the doors.
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Daltile is a 75 year old tile manufacturer, not a chain store. 90% of their products are physically manufactured in plants all across North America. That means better insurance against out of stock or shipping issues. That American made focus, and low wait time are just the top reasons they are one of my preferred suppliers. One other reason they are one of my preffered vendors is that they are wholesale only, to builders, designers, tile stores, and tile contractors. While the showrooms may sell to walk ins at ”house account” non wholesale pricing, their showroom’s primary mission is to assist clients of their wholesale customers. I can send in clients with a style direction that I have determined, and they will help them narrow down options for our final selections. Kath, one of the major ways in which designers help you IS by narrowing down material choices that are suitable to your taste, and that fit your home. That is a major way in which they differ from salespeople who just tell you that ”whatever you like goes together”. 🙄 You can do some of that initial legwork yourself on this holiday weekend. Start an Idea Book with pictures from your home. Focus on your permanent material choices of flooring, stone, brick, tile. Then look at your lighting and lighting choices. That affects how you see those choices, and what color they appear to be. Then move to upholstery choices and paint colors. Inventory what you have already chosen for your home. Or what exists that you are not willing to replace. Now, create an Idea book from images on Houzz that appeal to you. You know that you don’t like gray, which is a good start! Knowing what you do not like is as valuable as knowing what you do like. :) Make notes on each picture you save. ”I like the green tile” ”I like the wood vanity”. “I hate how black and white the colors are, but love how they framed out a feature tile.” A couple of days of that, and you should start to see a consistent thread between the comments or images. If you do not, you have done a lot of legwork to enable a skilled designer to easily take those Idea Books and hone in on choices that will work for YOU. This is how I start every consult relationship, and I didn't even send you the $300 bill. 🤣 Do not let the trades push you when you are not ready to move forward. Happy Thanksgiving! I’m waiting on the batches of apples to roast while playing on Houzz. Enjoy your family time!
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shirleywny5
18 years ago
Most of my shopping is done at Aldi's. Two stores no more than 3 miles from me. Prices are still lower than supermarket. 5# AP flour is $1.79 and 5# sugar has been $2.19 forever. Just went yesterday for canned chicken broth at $.39 14oz can. They have been replaced by a 32oz box of the same brand for $1.29. I figured three 14.5oz cans were $1.17 for 43-1/2oz. compared to $1.29 for 32oz. boxed. Quite an increase. The 12 grain bread is wonderful at $1.89. Butternut squash is $1.49 each. Some of then weigh 5 lbs. Salad dressing and mayo at $1.69 taste just like Kraft.
mustangs81
18 years ago
Daylily, Was it a zoo? I forgot that ours opened today too. It's across from USF so I'm sure it will get a lot of traffic. I wasn't going to shop but I was going to drive by to see if it was packed with customers.
daylilydayzed
Original Author
18 years ago
Mustangs,
It was pretty crowded when we went. I didn't have time to really look around at all of the items but just wanted to see what everyone here had said about it being less expensive than other stores. We picked up the items I mentioned above and had to get home so we could fix some lunch before I had to go out on my school crossing guard duty. I am lucky that I don't have to drive to go to work, my job is less than 50 yards from my back door.
ilene_in_neok
18 years ago
We've had an Aldi about 15 miles from us for awhile and I admit I haven't gone there much because it's out of the way for me.

Since seeing posts about it on this forum, I've gone twice. I have found flour, real butter and ice cream are quite a bit cheaper than anywhere else, although the ice cream is never frozen very solid and both times I have worried that I won't get home before the cartons start to leak. They don't seem to offer the plain vanilla in the big tubs, just in one gallon paper boxes, or I would buy the tubs instead. I bought potatoes there last time and they were covered in dried mud and deteriorated really fast once I got them home. The rest of their produce looked pretty fresh, though. Canned vegetables were about five cents a can cheaper than the other stores.

I'll probably shop there again, stocking up on the things I use that will store well. I haven't tried their meats yet.
beanthere_dunthat
18 years ago
Daylily, their canned fruit in natural syrup is good (I like the citrus salad). Who cares that every piece isn't exactly the same size? I also used to stock up on their breakfast burritos, and DH liked their "just fruit" popsicles.

I usually buy one of something to try it before getting more. Some things are fine (the abovementioned fruit, the chicken vegetable soup, yougurt) other things were flops (some of the other soups, the bread).
daylilydayzed
Original Author
18 years ago
We went back to the Aldi tonight, and bough some more groceries. I used a calculator to keep track of how much money I was spending. I add .10-.50 on everything I buy to cover taxes and even by doing that sometimes I get very close to the price I pay at the register. This time I was not even close to what I actually paid. I spent about 86.00. This was with grandson saying "can we get this" every time I turned around.My answer to grandson was "NO" due to it being not an essential product we needed.
pkramer60
18 years ago
We had thier Shrimp Fried Rice for dinner the other night as I was short on time and we were amazed at how good it was. Enough for the 2 of us with a lunch left over, all for $3.99. The bag included shrimp, veggies, rice and a sauce, all complete and done in 15 minutes. I did add some red pepper strip to the mix, only because I had them ready to go.

Cathy, if you can brave the crowd at TJ's, do the same at Aldi's.
mustangs81
18 years ago
I drove by yesterday (Friday) and there was a parking space right in front of the store. So I went inside to find fewer people than in my regular store! I scanned the store buying only a few things since I wasn't prepared with my own bags.

Peppi, You are right in remembering that I went to TJ's opening week! Thanks for the suggestion for the Fried Rice dinner. I'll give it a try.
riverrat1
18 years ago
Cathy, I call that kind of parking "Princess Parking":')

We don't have an Aldi's or a TJ's...
lindac
18 years ago
I call that kind of parking "Rock Star" parking....and to do it right you must leave someone in the carw ith the moror running and the place you leave your car should be in the fire lane.

I can hardly read this....our Aldi's closed about a year ago...they said the store was too small. Meanwhile, one other grocery chain closed their 2 stores and merged into one humongous store, where you have to walk 1/2 a mile to buy a carton of milk...
We need another store in town!!
Linda C
vacuumfreak
18 years ago
Shucks... the closest to me doesn't open until November 11th!

A couple weeks ago, I passed the Aldi i Lakeland on my way to buy a mixer and I saw porta potties out in front. Now I know it's a "cheap" store, but porta potties? Come on!

I can only assume they were for the construction workers since it hadn't opened yet, and not for the customers!
paddy_99
17 years ago
Up date on some Aldi products: Dish machine soap for $2.39 for 65 oz. gel,can see no difference between it and Cascade except it costs $2.50 less. Five # pounds Butter Gold potatoes,Yukon Gold look alike,for $1.50 and a one # bag of frozen green beans $.99. I am not a fan of frozen beans but these are the long thin Haricot Vert type and are excellent.

The sliced,pickled Jalapeno peppers were just OK at the best. Trappey's makes the best Jalapeno's.
arkansas girl
17 years ago
I'm not that crazy about Aldi's, the main problem is they only take cash and debit cards..no checks or credit cards! It's one of those stores that's mostly full of cheap generic products...somewhat like a Save A Lot. Normally I go in there and leave with just a handful of items. I like their brand of "pop tarts" they are a million times tastier than the brand name ones!!!!! My husband is addicted to them!!!!!
daylilydayzed
Original Author
17 years ago
We have been shopping at the Aldi store since it opened a few weeks ago. My hubby like the fact the milk is less then 3.00 and produce is some what limited. I like the canned soups and the spaghetti sauce is good so we will continue to shop there. My husband finds it is convenient to stop there and pick up a few things when he picks our son up from work . Son's job is near the area where the store is.

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