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.

I just don't like the personal chore of it. I don't like to go often, so I make a big plan and try to go every two weeks. It requires making a meal plan and a very thorough list to feed the 6 of us. So, I get frustrated trying to get my family to participate in the planning, getting ideas of what they'd like for meals so I don't get in a rut. They "don't care" when I make the list, but then ask for things later that I didn't get. Shoulda told me when I asked! I come home with a full minivan, it takes 3 hours, I go to 2-3 stores and take a cooler to keep cold foods. Then it takes me 1/2 a day to put it away. I hate that. But at least it's done for a while. If I am in a bad mood, I know the grocery is not the place for me. The mood will get worse, I won't stay focused, and the job won't get done right. So if I can help it, I wait until my mood improves. I might have to take a little time to myself and find my Zen, get my mind ready. ;o) Most of the time, people are polite and will correct it apologize if the commit a faux pas. Having said that, there is still one thing that will irritate the beejeebees out of me. In the parking lot, people walking diagonally across the driving lanes as slow as molassas while having a conversation. Then they slow to a stop in the middle and have a chat. They will look up, knowing full well cars are stopped waiting for them, and it's like it doesn't cross their mind they are in a parking lot not a park!! These are not physically limited people who cannot walk any faster, I am patient with that, they gotta do what they gotta do. I would get out and hold traffic for them. These offenders are young, tight jeans and high heals, toddler in the cart, bags piled everywhere, hands on their hips "I got all day to stand here and chat so that's what I'm gonna do." It is as if they are from another planet where this behavior is the norm b/c there is no indication that they know any better. Some days I just have to take a cleansing breath and remind myself that I don't want to hurt anyone. I really want to get out and explain to them "Welcome to our planet where we don't have reunions in parking lots."

Such wonderful stories (except for the gas one)! Thanks for sharing! The first New Years after my Mom passed away we were having dinner at a local restaurant. A woman who would have been about the same age as my Mom came in and sat down, by herself and ordered dinner. I felt sad for her thinking here she is alone on New Years and here I was missing my Mom like crazy and was wishing she could have there with been with us. I thought since I couldn't buy my Mom a Christmas present that year that we would buy this lady's dinner, which we did. We paid the bill while she was still eating, and left quickly so she couldn't see who paid. Flash ahead 6 months. We are at a community event having dinner with friends and an elderly woman comes running out of nowhere and says to my dh, "There you are, I've been looking all over town for you. You thought you could get away with what you did, didn't you!!!!!" We were like "huh?" Then she asked why we bought her dinner on New Years Eve. By then people were looking and listening. (She waas pretty loud) I asked her how she knew it was us and she said that she made the waitress describe us. lol. DH rides a scooter and has snow white hair, so she had been looking for this man for months and finally saw him at this community event. We had completely forgotten about the dinner thing. Well, she thanked and thanked us (it was embarrassing, really) but she was so surprised that someone would do that. She asked us if we thought she was poor. lol She said she wasn't through with us yet! Flash ahead another 6 months. A couple of days before Christmas and we're having a dandy blizzard. The door bell rings and that WOMAN is at the door her hair all white from the snow. She brought us some of her homemade jam and cookies. I asked her how she found out where we lived and she just laughed and said that nothing gets by her! We still laugh about that. We just wanted to do a little something anonymously and we get a stalker! lol I've met her daughter who said that she told everyone about the dinner and that's how she found out where we lived. Apparently she has quite the network! lol! BJ

quote: amylou321 "I reiterate my belief that not everyone should be allowed to breed. And I do think that if your kid is unsupervised running around like a rabid weasel or screaming like a possessed monkey on crack, you should be removed from the business." I'm not much of a people person but as far as I'm concerned, you just moved to the top of the heap with your accurate and honest comment. You mam, may jump in line ahead of me any time, no matter how much you have in your cart nor how much longer it might increase the time I have to get to the cash register! Nicely refreshing... One of the nicest things I've found about being retired is that I can go to the grocery or other stores at hours when I'm having to dodge only a bare minimum of little ankle biters, hormonal pre-teens and the full on nasty teens that are intent on mayhem.