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Thread Number: 65520
/ Tag: Other Home Products or Autos
The ALDI Cart 'N' Quarter Swap |
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Post# 881169 5/17/2016 at 10:44 (2,898 days old) by joeekaitis  (Rialto, California, USA) |
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 So I see a woman who has just unloaded her shopping cart in the ALDI parking lot and I offer her a quarter to replace her quarter in the cart lock. She was so grateful that she wouldn't have to walk the cart back that she waved off the money but I insisted. When I come back to the Subaru with my 4 made-in-USA cotton canvas reusable shopping bags, another customer is waiting, quarter in hand. I wonder how many times this went on, with only the last customer returning the cart to the cart corral. | ||
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Post# 881175 , Reply# 1 5/17/2016 at 11:31 (2,898 days old) by polkanut (Wausau, WI ) |
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| Post# 881176 , Reply# 2 5/17/2016 at 11:32 (2,898 days old) by murando531 (Augusta, Georgia - US) | ||
I love the genuine atmosphere found at an ALDI store. People are always so polite and cheerful. Everytime I've gone between a couple of years ago where that's where all the food I lived on came from, to now when I go for odds and ends and specials, there is always this sense of decency that just isn't found anywhere anymore. I'll offer my quarter to someone walking a cart up, and they get the biggest smile on their face, and likewise when someone offers me a quarter for the cart I'm taking back. I don't know what it is about it that brings those genuine smiles because to me, it's just a quarter that I would be getting back or giving anyway, but it makes me smile just seeing it. ALDI seems to be the place for people who appreciate the little things in life.
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| Post# 881184 , Reply# 4 5/17/2016 at 11:54 (2,898 days old) by Maytagbear (N.E. Ohio) | ||
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The quarter thing? Always. Lawrence/Maytagbear | ||
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Post# 881192 , Reply# 5 5/17/2016 at 12:54 (2,898 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey) |
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also they hire the most friendliest staff......and not just one location, we have 3 local ones, but have been to other states with them, as is they hire only a certain personality, cheerful, friendly and helpful.......you wont find that at most Walmart!....
not to mention their quick on those registers....lines move along quickly | ||
| Post# 881193 , Reply# 6 5/17/2016 at 13:06 (2,898 days old) by firedome (Binghamton NY & Lake Champlain VT) | ||
Yes the Aldi is great...
we have 2 of them within a few miles here, and it's always a nice experience!
But we also have Wegman's, year after year rated the #1 grocery chain in the US. Part of which is because they offer excellent benefits to ALL their employees, and it shows in their great and helpful attitude! Plus they have best products anywhere! Never been to a better grocery store, it's shame they are only found in the Northeast. | ||
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Post# 881196 , Reply# 7 5/17/2016 at 13:14 (2,898 days old) by kevin313 (Detroit, Michigan) |
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I have done the quarter/cart exchange many times in the Aldi parking lot - and the concept works. There are never carts all over the parking lot, and when there is the occasional stray cart I see in the lot, I feel it's my lucky day because I'm a quarter ahead!
They almost always have the best milk/eggs/butter/sour cream prices - unless one of the big stores is running a super sale. I love their specialty food items and the excellent Belgian and German chocolates. | ||
| Post# 881197 , Reply# 8 5/17/2016 at 13:15 (2,898 days old) by delaneymeegan (Midwest) | ||
ditto.
I just got back from Aldi's. I like the walkable store sizes, too. Some of those other grocery stores are needlessly large and heaven forbid you forgot something from another wing. It's a trek back to that section. And those other stores with no ceiling, no floor, it's literally shopping in a warehouse. Drafty there too. Can only imagine the gas and electric bills for such stores. Not green friendly.
Another thing about Aldi's, is the quality. Last week I heard a women ask a rep. about a certain item and why it wasn't in the vegetable section. "We had a problem with quality she responded." If Aldi's has a problem with a suppliers product, they won't sell it. They'll pull it off the floor so other customers don't get disappointed.
Last week the women behind me bought just a few things, as I was boxing up my purchase. Her order came to $1.53. "That's all for all those things?" She asked. Everyone smiled, and I teased her "She's complaining". "no, no I'm not complaining." She smiled while responding.
Frankly, I like the quarter for a cart idea. Never do you have to worry about a shopping cart that has gone careening into your car when it's windy. And the carts are always neatly lined up by the door. What a good idea. | ||
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Post# 881198 , Reply# 9 5/17/2016 at 13:20 (2,898 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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We had the coin for a cart system for ages here in Europe. It helps indeed to keep the surroundings of the supermarket tidy. No staff needed to collect the carts and never a cart where it doesn't belong. One supermarket does it without this system, as a service I guess, but it's always tidy there too. I guess the system taught people to always bring the cart back to where it belongs.
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Post# 881202 , Reply# 10 5/17/2016 at 13:43 (2,898 days old) by joeekaitis (Rialto, California, USA) |
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A common denominator at ALDI stores in Sunny SoCal Everyone I've chatted with while either bagging groceries at the communal table or doing the Cart 'N' Quarter swap in the parking lot has the same story to tell: We miss Fresh & Easy, and Save-A-Lot keeps jumping around trying to find a neighborhood where it can catch on and build clientele. ALDI seems to have hit the elusive sweet spot with Californians. | ||
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Post# 881250 , Reply# 11 5/17/2016 at 19:32 (2,898 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Ah Aldi, one of my favorites. The quarter/cart exchange has happened to me too, also at ShopRite. ShopRite is good when they have sales. BJ's, Costco and Sams are my regular stores. But for everyday/specialty items, love my Aldi.
I remember when I first visited Germany back in '87 I encountered the coin for cart concept. I was so pissed at that. LOL. To be honest, I still view it as a nuisance. Those smiles are from relief that you don't have to take the damn cart back or get one in the first place. If it's brutally cold, raining, snowing or I'm just too tired, fuck it, I just leave the cart somewhere it doesn't block anyone.
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Post# 881259 , Reply# 12 5/17/2016 at 21:22 (2,898 days old) by rp2813 (Sannazay) |
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 I'm patiently awaiting Aldi's northward migration to the Bay Area, and I hope they land here in town first. We ended up with yet another damned Safeway where Fresh & Easy used to be.
Does Aldi generally take over space that other grocers have vacated, or do they also build their own facilities to suit? Either way, applicable real estate convenient to me is scarce, so I can see myself having to make Aldi a destination. | ||
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Post# 881268 , Reply# 14 5/18/2016 at 01:06 (2,898 days old) by Supersuds (Knoxville, Tenn.) |
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| Post# 881401 , Reply# 15 5/19/2016 at 01:25 (2,897 days old) by delaneymeegan (Midwest) | ||
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I've seen quite a few Aldi's, in several states. Most, were in new buildings, usually free-standing.
Considering their projected clientele, I'd doubt they would push to get into SanFrancisco, one of the most expensive places to buy real estate ON THE PLANET. The median home price is over a million. Sacramento ? Yes. Santa Rosa ? Yes. But they'd be competing with Grocery Outlet. Frankly, I'd shop Aldi's over Grocery Outlet anyday, though I did like shopping the Rohnert Park store when I lived there.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO delaneymeegan's LINK 
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| Post# 881424 , Reply# 16 5/19/2016 at 08:59 (2,897 days old) by firedome (Binghamton NY & Lake Champlain VT) | ||
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Evidently | ||
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Post# 881436 , Reply# 17 5/19/2016 at 10:26 (2,896 days old) by joeekaitis (Rialto, California, USA) |
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ALDI Nord, ALDI SÜD and Trader Joe's ALDI is an acronym of ALbrecht DIskont. In the 1960s, Theo and Karl Albrecht had a disagreement over selling cigarettes, so they split the company in two as well as dividing Germany north and south. ALDI Nord (ALDI North) acquired Trader Joe's in 1979 but always maintained a hands-off relationship. ALDI SÜD (ALDI SOUTH) owns ALDI Food Markets in the USA and have been in the States since the 1970s. Ignore the inevitable "Trader Joe's Cut-Rate 'Schwester' (sister) Comes To Town!" headlines. This post was last edited 05/19/2016 at 11:17 | ||
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Post# 881446 , Reply# 19 5/19/2016 at 12:05 (2,896 days old) by joeekaitis (Rialto, California, USA) |
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Apparently Lidl supermarkets are coming to Oz this year. | ||
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Post# 881461 , Reply# 22 5/19/2016 at 14:43 (2,896 days old) by mrboilwash (Munich,Germany) |
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Don`t remember exactly for how long we`ve had those coin lock carts here. Might be way beyond 20 years. However it doesn`t keep some individuals in poorer neighborhoods from accumulating carts on the sidewalk.
"Costs" just one Euro, so it`s no more expensive than a reusable bag and it has useful wheels. | ||
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Post# 881505 , Reply# 23 5/19/2016 at 20:43 (2,896 days old) by rapunzel (Sydney) |
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Cart or Trolley In New Zealand they call them trundlers and if you have 6 you'd call them sex trundlers. | ||
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Post# 881506 , Reply# 24 5/19/2016 at 20:56 (2,896 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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ALDI's, not Un-dies! Prefer no "s"/apostrophe-&#
Sometimes if I'm in a generous mood I do pass my cart to another shopper, which I think of being a good way of "paying it forward", and often I get a free-pass if someone does that gesture towards me, though most-often it's a parent with hands full is prone to leaving his/her cart in the lot after loading
Kids, groceries, etc. into the family vehicle, in a hurry to leave, afterward... Surprised how mine is the best place to get refrigerated biscuits that come in the "explosive tube", gallon jugs of milk and even REAL maple syrup! -- Dave | ||
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Post# 881521 , Reply# 27 5/20/2016 at 00:29 (2,896 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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Ha, ha! I collect carts at the store I work at... We use a machine we walk behind and when moving carts with it that attach to the front of it... Often by the HUNDREDS!
So in order to get these buggies out of the parking lot and in the store, just for droves of them to be put back out, we ourselves go at blindingly fast speeds, and believe me, we NEED right-of-way to shoppers, fellow-workers, pedestrians, vehicles--you name it!--'cause this is hard to stop on a dime, and to me, the slightest second to allow a car to back out of a parking spot, which is the only thing I give right-of-way to, cuts production time--I just got too much adrenalin going and too little patience to stand around for--no, no, you gotta think of me as a server at a restaurant trying to get stacks of plates of food to ten parties of hungry patrons waiting for their meals they are paying (and probably going to be tipping) dearly for, that I better not drop a crumb of... So have that kind of mercy on us Lot Asscociates, then, too... -- Dave | ||
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Post# 881527 , Reply# 29 5/20/2016 at 01:53 (2,896 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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Off-topic Detour: Ani metaber katan Ivrit... (I speak a little Hebrew!)
I'm studying and trying to learn my in-law's language or native tongue--and what I'd wished I'd learned in Sunday School forty-years-ago, that my daughter knows a little of from her grandparents & from her other mother's relatives, as well as going to Sunday School, herself... --And to think if I'd hung out w/ 'em, for ten-years, marrying into their clan, I would be bilingual by now...
With all the foreigners we have here and the "Speak English or Leave!" attitude we have, I figured I better have a sort of 'answer language' to all the non-English speakers we have--and a tongue meant to be SHOUTED, rather than spoken softly, at that... Just need to learn colors and numbers, and have confidence in counting...
-- Dave This post was last edited 05/20/2016 at 07:27 | ||
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Post# 917799 , Reply# 30 1/27/2017 at 06:14 (2,644 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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"You're under my cloud", he said--Get off mine! Well, here is where the renting or hiring a cart for a quarter DIDN'T work for me:
A gentleman gave me his cart for me to shop with, but wanted the quarter for it, which I gave him (although why couldn't he be like this lady who let me keep the quarter--as I seemed to have mostly saved her the trouble of giving it back) and me only going into my corner Aldi grocery store was only going in just for a couple jugs of milk that I would've just carried in each hand--though with me being the impulse shopper that I am, would'a probably just filled that cart right up! (Even though I had to quickly stock up on milk & be out of there ASAP...)
Anyway, little did I know that quarter stuck in the cart had to be used to pay for my purchase... The check-out gal would not let me hitch the cart up to one she had at her register... Or let me keep my cart up there until somehow the quarter I was giving her would get to her... (I wanted to carry the jugs of milk without the use of a cart... --After all, I didn't even need them to go in a bag or bags...)
But, she made me run the cart out side, retrieve the quarter that was in it & give it to her after she'd begun ringing up the next orders, and my milk sat on an adjacent counter--and I didn't even get a receipt... The drawer randomly open at the moment, she'd impersonally took the owed money from me & threw it there...
-- Dave This post was last edited 01/27/2017 at 09:55 | ||
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Post# 917878 , Reply# 32 1/27/2017 at 19:52 (2,643 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey) |
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if a quarter saves a bit of money at the register, I am all for it.....
I am also in favor of shopping carts returned to the front of the store....versus some jackass slamming a cart into the side of my car.... oddly enough, for visiting numerous ALDI's in the tri-state area......and don't know where they find them, but they have some of the most upbeat, friendliest cashiers around.... plus they can ring merchandise through those scanning registers like no ones business... unlike any location of WalMart, those cashiers don't know the word speed, you could grow a beard standing in line....and that's the Express Lane! | ||
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Post# 917885 , Reply# 34 1/27/2017 at 20:26 (2,643 days old) by joeekaitis (Rialto, California, USA) |
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Time to settle this once and for all: You're welcome.
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Post# 917896 , Reply# 35 1/27/2017 at 21:34 (2,643 days old) by Gyrafoam (Wytheville, VA) |
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Ok, so all that information and no explanation of the difference between the two Aldis? BTW Happy Birthday! | ||
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Post# 917912 , Reply# 37 1/28/2017 at 00:49 (2,643 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey) |
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one fun thing of ALDI.....
there may be school kids out front, offering to push your cart, help load your groceries in to the car, and return your cart......in exchange for the quarter, as a way of fund raising for their school activities..... I will even offer a dollar or more...at least they make an effort to offer some sort of service! UNLIKE WalMart.....where you have 6 or 7 little kiddies standing at the exit doors, texting on their phone with one hand, and a tin can in the other...BEGGING for money for their school functions.....CHECK THAT, shoving that can in your face, expecting money.... my thoughts: what sets that from panhandling? well, I do understand why some animals eat their young, or at least swallowed while they had the chance! | ||
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Post# 917951 , Reply# 38 1/28/2017 at 09:29 (2,642 days old) by joeekaitis (Rialto, California, USA) |
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See if I'm not right . . . Go to Yelp, read ALDI reviews and note how many environmentally enlightened Millennials (who drive to ALDI in mommy's gas-guzzling Fordillac Escascursion) piss 'n' moan the loudest about bringing your own shopping bags and the whole quarter-in-the-cart thing, as opposed to us planet-bashing Baby Boomers who happily load the Subaru with our reusable grocery bags brimming with ALDI comestibles. | ||
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Post# 917956 , Reply# 40 1/28/2017 at 09:43 (2,642 days old) by joeekaitis (Rialto, California, USA) |
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ALDI Nord, ALDI SÜD and the ALDI Equator Details are lacking about who wanted to do what but the Albrecht brothers Theo and Karl took over their mother's grocery store and introduced the concepts that made ALDI famous. ALDI is an acronym for ALbrecht DIskont. Sometime in the 1960s, the brothers disagreed over selling cigarettes and split the country of Germany north and south. Their line of demarcation was dubbed The ALDI Equator. To get the best prices from suppliers they combine their buying power but operate as independent companies. In the 1970s ALDI Nord acquired Trader Joe's but always maintained a hands-off ownership. ALDI SÜD acquired Hofer in Europe and combined the Hofer name with the ALDI "A" icon. The two ALDIs have similarly split the planet. Go to www.aldi.com... and hover over each country name. If you're redirected to aldi.us, click "ALDI International" at the top of the page. Oh, and, the correct spelling of either is ALDI, NOT Aldi, Aldi's or Aldis. | ||
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Post# 918013 , Reply# 41 1/28/2017 at 18:08 (2,642 days old) by Gyrafoam (Wytheville, VA) |
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Aldis, shmaldis, everybody knows what I am saying. Thanks for all the information. It's interesting to see how each division connects. Not sure how much I care to remember. | ||
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Post# 918018 , Reply# 42 1/28/2017 at 18:41 (2,642 days old) by rapunzel (Sydney) |
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If you were to marry into that family you would care a great deal. | ||
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Post# 918031 , Reply# 43 1/28/2017 at 21:54 (2,642 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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Well, getting back to my case w/ the "need to be freed"-quarter, I simply stated: "I don't know what the misunderstanding was about!" as I paid up what was in the cart and what I would have left at the register, waiting for someone who wouldn't need a cart to unload his/her stuff into, as I didn't...
Seemed as though I was a notable offender to leave the cart there, hitched to the one there, that was waiting for a mega-order coming after mine, but, really? There should have not been any 'first' or 'last' time this sort'athing could'a happened! I forgot to mention that I had to be at work in that hour that I was hard-pressed to get milk I like (Vitamin D/Whole) and stuff my daughter will drink (2%) that is also useful for puddings, mashed potatoes and other recipes--and either/both w/ syrup & soda water make a good egg cream when there is that minute amount left and nearing (or past) expiration date as was the case with my jugs I used up & had that rare amount of space in my refrigerator for--hence the juggling jugs & popping 'em in there just to have my remaining 1/2 hour to make it to my job on time... End of story--... -- Dave | ||
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Post# 918050 , Reply# 44 1/29/2017 at 01:58 (2,642 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey) |
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the CASE of the BASKET, and all this added chaos over a Quarter!
if the guy offered you a buggy, and you didn't need it, you would just wave him along, and say, "Thanks, but I don't need a cart today!".....and move along.... it's respectful to offer the quarter, and their choice to accept it, or tell you to keep it...... I am sure you held up the line, creating chaos for the cashier to subtract that quarter from your order, for the cart you wanted to leave behind....first of all, WTH?.... its your choice to leave the cart in the store, and lose your quarter, or return it out front, LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, and retrieve your quarter..... in your case, now the cashier, while waiting on the next customer, had to stop, and deal with you again, and then return to her customer.....I'm sure the customers waiting in line weren't annoyed.....they have lives too! expecting the cashier to return your cart, to retrieve the quarter, so her drawer wont be short.....IS NOT HER JOB!......that's one of the ideas of passing on savings to the customer, is the quarter/cart exchange.... just sounds like you created a bunch of chaos for yourself...which could have been avoided from the start..... then again, maybe ALDI is not for you.....give Walmart a try, the experience there might be better, doubt it, but it could happen....."you might rabbit, you might!" then again, seeing all the short buses in the employee parking is not hopeful! | ||
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Post# 918053 , Reply# 45 1/29/2017 at 02:15 (2,642 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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Well, I didn't expect to create chaos here w/ my post--I enjoy my Aldi, but in no ways is it a quick in & out place--well, seeing as how at least I'm not immune to the impulse & unplanned purchases, what grocery place is?!
Seems as though, however, there's a unanimous impression--here on this forum & what happened over that incident, and even by my own immediate observation right now, looking back, that in short: 'I won't shop there anymore, ever again!!!!'... (Oh my gosh! What did I start?! I guess I cannot be seen in there ever again...)
By the same token--oh, there I go!--I feel reluctant to shop there, knowing I'll be short on the entire amount of money I owe, (even for just that 25¢) despite this being the cheapest place for milk, bread, and perhaps such a number of other staples, such as veg. Oil, cheese, and eggs my store I work at--yes, I work at Walmart, but let's spare ourselves a rant too dirty even for Dirty Laundry to do any mud & poop slinging there!
Such as the idea if we chained our carts together & sequestered peoples' shopping funds, I wouldn't have to go out in the cold, get damp in the wet, or get heat stroke in the hot!--that I bought last night as I was getting off, were probably over-priced! I will have to stop here, then... I have no intention of making any enemies here, and apologize for speaking too much of my mind, then...
You like "Aldi's"--sorry, that apostrophe-S makes me equate very openly with "Undies", so I won't detract from or take away anyone else's enjoyment! (But, yikes! Did I, just now?!)
If you enjoy shopping there, then I will shut up!
Sorry for being so overly-negative...
-- Dave This post was last edited 01/29/2017 at 06:24 | ||
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Post# 921750 , Reply# 46 2/16/2017 at 09:45 (2,623 days old) by joeekaitis (Rialto, California, USA) |
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Not worth a new thread but something I noticed on YouTube | ||
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Post# 921770 , Reply# 48 2/16/2017 at 11:34 (2,623 days old) by joeekaitis (Rialto, California, USA) |
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The closer an ALDI is to a full-service supermarket . . .
. . . the more the negative Yelp reviews look like competitors' smear tactics, especially the "I didn't buy anything" reviews that then list off the same often outlandish bullet-points:
Quarter for the cart Small dingy dirty store reminiscent of an Eastern Bloc food rationing center Few nationally advertised brands, ergo, inferior quality house brands and/or short-dated overstock from failed chains Meat and produce minutes away from rotting Buy or bring bags (now statewide at ALL grocers in California, moot point) Bag your own groceries | ||
| Post# 921802 , Reply# 49 2/16/2017 at 16:07 (2,623 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan) | ||
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Lidl is also coming to the USA. | ||
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Post# 921805 , Reply# 50 2/16/2017 at 16:33 (2,623 days old) by joeekaitis (Rialto, California, USA) |
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Say "leedle", not "liddle" | ||
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Post# 921954 , Reply# 51 2/17/2017 at 07:39 (2,623 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut) |
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Missed this the first time around I'm so glad you folks did this thread. I am a very happy Aldi shopper and I think they're shopping cart system is brilliant. I'm often struck how lazy people who shop at all the other supermarkets are, leaving their carts WHEREVER, to inconvenience other shopper-parkers even doing damage to peoples' cars. And many of these people are gym-bunnies who spend thousands of dollars to "work out" but they don't ever seem to have the time, energy or inclination to perform a little bit of effort to return the shopping cart, which is provided as a service by the store, to it's proper place. Give Americans the incentive of a freakin' quarter and they feel compelled! I've also played the swap game at Aldi; it's funny: people act as though they're doing something almost naughty. | ||
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Post# 922751 , Reply# 52 2/20/2017 at 23:39 (2,619 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI) |
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A relative sent me this...
Aldi: the incredible story of the German supermarket taking over the world
CLICK HERE TO GO TO MattL's LINK | ||
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Post# 922853 , Reply# 53 2/21/2017 at 13:06 (2,618 days old) by Joeekaitis (Rialto, California, USA) |
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ALDI has definitely hit the right chord with Southern California shoppers, possibly due in part to the checkout process. At Save-A-Lot, a dwindling presence here, you have to quickly pile your stuff on the belt then push your empty cart to the end of the checkout lane and put it all back in before proceeding to the communal bagging table. Sometimes it's a race and you lose if the next customer has fewer items and has to wait until you clear the area. Food4Less uses the gate, splitting the bagging area at the end of the checkout between the two most recent customers who are all too often a chatty pair who stop what they're doing to laugh at each other's anecdotes. ALDI piles your groceries into a waiting empty cart, immediately freeing up the line after you pay. Oh, and, they really smile when you drag your empty cart into position as you walk away. Your only worry is if the customer ahead starts to play credit/debit card roulette with a deck of overbalanced and underfunded plastic. | ||
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