We had a new to us store open here two weeks ago in what had been another grocery store. Haggens. if I have spelled it right, and most of the items were exactly what the other store had carried and stocked in the same location. A few brands were new to me, and I avoided them as I tend to prefer the brands I buy. I have not made up my mind if I like them any better than their predecessor or not. I prefer shopping at a store where I can find everything I need and in the brands I like although I do buy store brands too.

Haggen opened/is opening dozens of stores at once. They went into where a nice, big chain grocery was near me. I haven't been in, but it makes sense they'd sell out the inventory and slowly move theirs in before they redo the whole stocking system. Otherwise it would be too much work! I think they're from Seattle. I've never seen an Aldi. Do you know where they come from?

Here in Southern Oregon, some of our Albertsons and Safeways are being replaced by Haggens. I see their ads in our paper. May visit, but honestly, we love our Fred Meyer (Kroger) stores.

ALDI is a store I go to for some things but it's not a good store if you like a one stop stopping experience (IMHO). For people that like to run in a store and grab a few things quickly, this is the store for you. Do not expect any name brand items either, it's 99.9% their own label stuff which isn't bad, from my experience. I hate having to pay with cash though, that is my biggest complaint. I wish they would at least take checks.

I like shopping at ALDI but the one nearest to us is 50 miles and I seldom go that far. I found this an interesting read about them and their history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldi

I My husband has shopped in ALDI's. He said its all discounted no name food items. I prefer Kroger. My son loves Aldi's. I have eaten some of the food that he and his girl friend have purchased there and it doesn't taste as good to me and the as name brand products do. Snack foods aren't the same either. I am handicapped so to have to bag my own groceries is hard for me to do.

Just my opinion.

Mary

gave up krogers years ago..our store needed (still does) to be cleaned and refreshed...and our loca Walmart beats their prices at least by pennies, if not more. dd1 shops Aldi's all the time and I went with her..wasn't impressed...nanny I had no idea that krogers owned fred Meyers...but the funny thing here in mi, we have meijers...seems I can't get away from the name, lol...my fave ground beef is from sam's club....

plllog, Haggen closed some of their own stores and purchased like upwards of 140 Vons, Pavilions, Albertsons, Safeways late last year. They are based in Bellingham WA. I've been watching with some interest - we have two acceptable grocery stores locally and one a Haggen Top Foods, the other a Safeway. Any other grocery including Costco is 55 miles away. I'm willing to drive with a cooler and make groceries part of my errands part of the time, not every shopping trip.

It looks like our Haggen Top foods will stay but it needs some updating. I do shop there, but the pharmacy, Starbucks have been moved out. The clerks have been telling me there is a major overhaul of the local store planned and that none of them expect to lose their jobs, but they've been saying that for 6 months and no sign of anyone lifting a hammer or saw.

Our Safeway is not one of the stores they purchased, is OK for shopping (not wonderful). It's always crowded (with shoppers, and with display items partially blocking aisles too), does have Starbucks, pharmacy, deli, floral.

Life in a smaller community ;) I did know Fred Meyer was part of the Kroger family of stores, I buy gift cards somewhat often for my mother for Freddies and that is printed on the card. I find myself shopping Freddies for things for her when I'm in her city, the store is well stocked, carries kitchen and garden items too, is conveniently located to her house.

We love Aldi's for produce. Prices and quality are really good. I really like their blue wrapper large chocolate bars and the red wrapper dark chocolate bars. These are high quality Swiss type chocolate. For under $2 US. I like to buy their Black Forest half hams when they have them, usually 3# for $9.99 (or about that), then use our electric slicer to slice for lunch meat sandwiches. At roughly $4/# I can't beat if for DH's lunches. Not when Black Forest Ham in deli's go for around $8. Their bread is good also. I buy their dried pastas also. And baking supplies, but they do not carry bread flour. I have 2 freezers with meat in that we buy from people we know, so I don't buy meat there. I do buy some of their frozen items also. I won't buy their soups and broths, as they are way too salty for me. We do sometimes buy snack items also.

I shop Aldis and a small local grocery about once a week, and the big box grocery store maybe once a month or so. And that is mostly for the gift cards I buy for restaurants and other stores, so I can get the gas points!

An example of why I buy produce at Aldis is iceburg lettuce. If I buy a head at my local big box grocery, usually for at least $1.49, it won't keep a week. If I buy a head at Aldis, usually for about $0.99, I can feed my DH salads in his lunch for at least 5-7 days, with out it going bad.

Thanks, Donna, for the Aldi's article, and Morz8 for the Haggen info. I was interested to read that the other Aldi's owns Trader Joe's nowadays. If I read the article right, they share some sourcing, at least in the U.S. Makes sense. But really interesting about the brothers dividing the company and the world and still sort of working together even though the companies are separate. :) All of our local chains have been bought by bigger chains from elsewhere.

Given the divisions, I wonder if there are Aldi's anywhere near a Trader Joe's?

First, FWIW, the name of the store is "Aldi", not the possessive "Aldi's". It's short for Albrecht Diskont, translated is Albrecht Discount. Two brothers who took over their father's store and made it big, then split up a dynasty over an argument over (of all things) CIGARETTES! LOL

There's a lot of misconceptions about the entire business plan of the store. People claim they "rent" carts. Nope. There's a quarter entered to unlock the cart and it's returned when the cart is returned. People think all the store brand items are manufactured by major manufacturers of similar products. Doubtful, in most cases. There are several big manufacturers of store brand items and most likely that's where most of them originate, although there is no documentation to prove it that I've seen since Aldi keeps their sourcing a secret. It's very safe to say that their laundry detergent in the big orange bottle is NOT Tide, since P&G does not do store brands at all. And the fact is that about 10% of Aldi SKUs are "name brand" items. It will vary since they buy things they get a good deal on.

As far as payment, all Minnesota and some Wisconsin stores accept major credit cards. This is a relatively recent change that I expected would happen. People don't carry cash although they do have ATMs available and would take debit cards from many sources.

I don't understand people who go in and have one bad experience and write off over 9000 stores because of it. "It was dirty" has been said at times but I'd challenge anyone to find a chain of 9000+ stores where every one is sparkling, perfectly maintained and has totally friendly people working there. Frankly I feel sorry for the employees there. Managers don't even get to hire/fire their employees. They operate very short staffed. Unless it's very busy times you'll see 1 or 2 employees manning (womaning?) a store and they have to stock, cashier and more. I've seen bad and good in all chains. I'll usually give the benefit of the doubt. You can probably count on different staff the next time you come in if you're not their daily.

There are a lot of Aldi stores in my area but not a lot of Trader Joe's so AFAIK there aren't any across the street from each other but where there's a TJ's, there's likely an Aldi nearby.

You won't get everything you shop for in one trip to Aldi. And (like the big "W" store) their SKUs will change frequently so don't expect that they'll have certain items every time. You can expect they'll have the staples of some type each trip but some of the other things, nope. And they have their "specials" which range from computer accessories to cookware to camping gear to medical equipment and more which are one-time things so if you want it, get it while you can. I consider it almost like a garage sale at times. You never know what to expect and don't expect it to be there again. You need to learn how to shop an Aldi. Many people don't like it. Some like the challenge. No free bags but you can take boxes from the shelves. They're not open 24 hrs. No greeters, baggers or carry-out people, no listed phone numbers, modest size and limited SKUs. Their model is high volume, low overhead and low margins. It's the Aldi business model that has worked for a number of stores but not as well as for Aldi. They also will not have 7 brands and 28 different sizes of ketchup and peanut butter. They'll usually have one of each.

I like that the stores are relatively small in size. As a cripple, it makes it shopable for me, even though they don't have the cripple carts I can still get around and get out without being totally exhausted. Not everything is the cheapest I can get, but everything is reasonable. If you know your prices you'll save more by getting some things elsewhere and you likely have to go elsewhere too for some of your needs. Personally I've had great experience with their meats and produce. I don't really like their canned goods. I don't think they're the best value they have.

Aldi is a place that I think most people should try if they're willing to give to get. Most every time I have gone in there, I estimate the "savings" in the area of 40% or more. It's a good place to bring your price book and make notes for the future. And they have a double guarantee, if you don't like something (applies to most items), they'll refund your money and give you a replacement item. If you're interested in that.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/02/09/horsemeat-scandal-aldi-ready-meal-supermarket_n_2650876.html

Horsemeat Scandal: Aldi Ready Meal Range Contains 'Up To 100% Horsemeat', Supermarket Confirms

Actually I find I like some of their brands better than major supermarket brands oddly. I make an Aldi shopping trip every 3 weeks or so, and regular grocery stores about once a week. That works out for me.

We have Aldi stores all over the place where we are but local feedback has never been great, so I've never had the desire to go into one.

IMHO, there is a huge difference between a clean store that needs updating and a dirty store. It doesn't matter how many stores the chain owns, where it's located, or how many people staff it. If it is dirty, it's a reflection of a poor business model and/or management. It also makes me wonder where else they compromise their funds, could it be food quality? So in response to Cynics rant about writing off 9,000 stores, I have to ask, why would or should anyone compromise and shop in a dirty store especially if they don't have to? I know I wouldn't. Personally, I don't shop at any of the larger food chains either but in Michigan the pickings are unbelievably thin. Other than Kroger, we only have Miejer and Walmart. Instead I like to shop at our locally owned farmer markets where the cost of veggies and fruits are cheaper than the chain stores and depending on the season, many are locally grown, the quality over all can't be beat. They also carry great fresh meat, locally bottled milk and locally raised chickens. Most everything else I buy, I can get in bulk at Costco or I go to a small locally owned clean and fairly updated store called Busches. I feel very fortunate that so many fresh options are available.

I am a huge fan of Aldi. There are three within 5 miles of my house, and a Trader Joe's, all clean and convenient. There are high end grocers, pick-n-saves, super walmarts, butcher shops, green grocers, bakeries, dairies, all in easy reach of my house. Paradise for a cook like myself, but I buy most of my groceries at Aldi, though not all. They don't have specialty foods, unusual spices, but they do have many delicious, fresh items.

They do have carts that don't wobble because they haven't been banged around in a parking lot. They don't supply bags, but the stores in my area all accept debit cards and will give me up to $200 cash back at no charge every time I shop.

Twice we have had guests who raved about the delicious meal I prepared with Aldi food when the discussion turned to some guests' refusal to enter an Aldi because they thought Aldi food was substandard or out of date or seconds, etc.. My husband and I looked at each other and kept quiet both times. I certainly had never considered that people would be afraid of Aldi foods or refuse to eat them.

Cynic is right, there are companies that specialize in so-called "private label" products and they are not the brand companies. Some are better than average, some aren't, you find out by trying them.

TJs sources its stuff from all over the world to carry items that are both unique and inexpensive, I suspect Aldi US is the same as far as geographic sourcing is concerned.

Someone asked about the proximity of any Trader Joes locations to Aldi locations around the US. Since Aldi markets in the US are owned by Aldi South and Trader Joes by Aldi North, they're as likely and unlikely to be located near one another as markets owned by any other two different companies. Aldi US is headquartered in Illinois, Trader Joes in inland Southern California.

Lukkiirish, perhaps you should personally investigate the stores in your area, instead of just going by word of mouth. I have 3 Aldi stores with in 10 minutes of me, and all are clean. One is even in an old building that I would expect would not be as clean as the others that are in a new building. You may find that you have a different experience that those who told you that Aldi stores were not worth your time. If you don't like what you see in each store, then don't go back. I also like to shop at our local small markets. I grocery shop at Giant Eagle, Apples, and Walmart as little as possible. I would rather pay less, or comparable prices elsewhere.

Hi Tami, thanks for the suggestion, maybe one day I will. When we moved to this area from California (where there was an abundance of shopping options), I was pretty shocked at the limited options here and feedback from the locals is all I had to really go on. My comments are applicable to any store though, no one should be expected to shop in a dirty store. I don't care about a store in need of updating, I shop at little farm owned stores, but dirty is another matter entirely. Anyways, I've gotten to know workers at the places I shop at now which is nice and I love that we're helping to support local businesses and farmers too. Since moving here, that has become especially important to us.

Yes, I totally understand not shopping in dirty stores. We have a couple of Save-A-Lots that I won't shop in. All three because they advertise a good price on a name brand item, then won't stock it until the ad is almost over, hoping you will keep coming in and buying something while you are checking to see if they have the main item in yet. One, because of the dirty store. I am a little more tolerant about it if it isn't real bad, and gave it a second chance, but DD absolutely refused to go back after the first time. It was that bad. I do like a couple of our small stores, even if I am paying as much or a little more, just because they are local, and small. We travel a lot in our RV, so we shop at a lot of different places without the benefit of feedback from others. Some we get the bare necessities because we have no choice, and some we get lucky and are good stores.

I think I may have seen a couple of those stores here, not in the best of locations though. The fresh markets are pretty much a wash for the things we buy, may pay more for fresh meat or chicken, but the veggies and fruit are much cheaper.

I know several people who've gotten RV's lately and I'm envious, that must be so much fun! Before my DH got sick, we used to take long day drives without a specific destination in mind and I always enjoyed it so much.

We have a lot of fun. We are not full time, but do try to take a month in the spring and fall, and any weekend in between that we can. I am sorry your DH got sick.

Oh wow, what one can do in a month! If you've never been, you should add Bryce Canyon in Utah to one of your adventures. I was there several years ago and it's breath taking.

Thank you, he's in remission but can no longer tolerate long trips...any time you want to share pics though!!! I'll watch for that thread! LOL

I remember the horse meat scandal. It did kind of put a "bad taste" in my mouth. I have never been to an Aldi although I understand they are building one in the little town where I shop. I don't think I will shop there.

We have been to Utah, in fact it was our second trip in the RV. We went for the Golden Spike anniversary, and made it to Arches Nat'l Park, and Monument Valley, and one other place I can't think of right now, but didn't make it to Bryce. We hope to go again. I do occasionally share pics of our trips.

Marilyn, it's good to hear from you. I know a few people have been concerned about you, me included, with all of the flooding. If you get a chance, post on face book that you are ok.
The horse meat scandal was supposedly not in the US, but I don't buy meat there anyway, except for the Black Forest Ham. And yes, it is ham.