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Home » Food & Kitchen » An ALDI Grand Opening!

An ALDI Grand Opening!

November 13, 2016 By Al 14 Comments

An ALDI Grand OpeningA couple of weeks ago a brand-new ALDI opened in our town, and if you’ve read our previous series on ALDI, you’ll know that it’s our favorite grocery store–you might even call us ALDI superfans. 🙂

Disappointingly, we were out of town the on the day of the grand opening, or else we totally would have been there.  ALDI pulled out all the stops!  They were giving out “Golden Tickets” to the first 100 customers worth up to $100.  There was a drawing where the lucky winner could win a full year of free groceries.  They had free samples (ALDI never has samples!) and even were giving out free ALDI eco-friendly shopping bags!  Forget lining up for Black Friday or new iPhones, we might’ve been willing to camp out overnight for this!

Fortunately, not all was lost because in the mass mailed grand opening announcement postcard was a $5 coupon good for any purchase of $30 or more.  It was a great way to incentivize people in the area to check them out.  Evidently either that campaign worked marvelously or they didn’t need to do it at all because I hear from one of the ALDI employees at that location who attends my church that they are jam packed with customers all the time.

Our First Visit

Baby Crumb Saver Visits ALDI

Baby Crumb Saver wondering what the fuss is all about.

So upon returning from our trip, we made plans to check out the new store.  What a thrill it was to make the 10-minute drive rather than the old 25-minute slog.  Moreover, this store is much more conveniently located to other places we visit opposed to the old store which was by the airport and basically the only reason why we head that direction.

The new store is also much bigger than the old store.  It incorporates the newest design of ALDI stores, with more retail space, more refrigerated sections, higher ceilings, brighter lighting, and in general a more open feel.  It almost has a warehouse feel now.  Some might feel that it’s more sterile than before, but it certainly feels more efficient to me.  We were surprised also that they gave us another set of $5-off coupons, one for each remaining week of the month.

One thing that was for sure, though.  My friend from church was absolutely right that it was quite busy with shoppers!  The product on the shelves looked a bit disheveled in places and there were a number of out-of-stock merchandise—likely all results of being pawed through by the deal-craving masses.  Apparently, we aren’t the only ALDI superfans in town.

Our New ALDI

The first look at our new ALDI

Not All Went Well in ALDI Land

Even though we were the farthest thing from snooty ALDI critics, our first visit to our brand new store wasn’t without issues.  After checking out, we investigated our receipt carefully (what, you mean you don’t do this?) and discovered that a large number of our produce items were mispriced.  These weren’t just a few small mistakes, but we were charged anywhere from 66% to 100% more than the printed prices on the shelves for!  We got back in the long line to talk with the manager who was manning a register, who with a frazzled look, simply said that they probably were entered incorrectly into the computer but didn’t offer to correct it.

We were a bit disappointed with our first experience with the new store, but having a deep reserve of goodwill toward ALDI, we didn’t go into full-blown “don’t-you-dare-rip-off-a-crumb-saver” mode.  When we got home, we decided to write a private message to ALDI on Facebook to let them know what had happened. Not that a couple dollars were a big deal, but so they could be aware of the issue and prevent leaving a bad first-impression on new customers.  (We definitely want our store to stay in business!)

Amazingly, they responded personally on Facebook within a few hours and then followed up with a phone call to apologize and to get more details for further training of their staff.  They even mailed us a $5 gift card for our trouble.  I’m quite certain that the ALDI team in our location will hit their groove and get better over time, but their customer service department (and social media savvy!) was stellar, and has further fueled our loyalty to this store.

Other ALDI Quick Bites

As if there could be any more good things to say about ALDI, here are few random facts about ALDI that we thought were noteworthy:

  • Their Products Vary By Regions. We recently visited an ALDI in Southern California and were surprised to see that they sold their own private label tofu for $1.39.  Hey, don’t forget us tofu-lovers in Tennessee too, ALDI!   Moreover, bananas have been as low as $0.29/lb. in Tennessee not long ago, but in that same California store they were going for $0.15/lb!
ALDI Tofu

The legends are true…ALDI does sell tofu!

  • Solar Powered Savings. The Southern California store had a little placard that said that the store was fully powered by solar panels installed on the store roof.  Since you already know how I feel about solar power, you know how intrigued I was about this!  Don’t know if it’s just a California thing, or if it’s a renewable energy initiative that ALDI is rolling out nationwide.
  • ALDI Now Accepts Credit Cards. Speaking of Southern California, it was only earlier this year that ALDI opened their first stores in that region.  Apparently in concert with that expansion, ALDI started accepting credit cards around the same time.  (I guess Californians won’t shop anywhere that doesn’t accept credit cards?)  Most significantly, their prices have NOT increased since that change.  (We’ve actually noticed a few of our staple items go DOWN in price.)  Getting cashback from our ALDI shopping trips now almost feels like stealing!
  • ALDI vs. LIDL. Speaking of expansion, ALDI’s biggest competitor in Europe is making the leap across the pond to the US.  Lidl is another German discount grocer that’s been taking the Old World by storm. They’re headed to the US East first, but if the success of ALDI is any indication, you may be seeing one near you soon.  Interestingly, we went to a Lidl on a trip to Austria a few years back and we seriously thought that it was ALDI going by a different name.
Lidl in Austria

At a Lidl in Austria.

  • ALDI is Becoming Healthier Than Whole Foods. According to this Business Insider report, ALDI may now be considered more health-conscious than even Whole Foods. With their control over their private label products (90% of what they sell), ALDI has a tremendous competitive advantage in being able to make sweeping changes to what they put into their products.
  • We Aren’t the Biggest ALDI Fans. While we love ALDI, we admit that the title of biggest ALDI superfans probably should go to this Alabama couple who loved the store so much that they had engagement photos taken there!  See for yourself!

Is there an ALDI near you?  Have you been there?  Tell us what you think below! 

You may be interested in our previous series on the details of why we love ALDI so much, and also our post on how we research the grocery stores that save us the most money:

  • 5 Steps to Find a Grocery Store that Save You Money
  • Why ALDI Should Be Your Best Friend
  • Supercharge Your Savings at ALDI: Part 1 – Weekly Specials
  • Supercharge Your Savings at ALDI: Part 2 – Double Guarantee
  • Supercharge Your Savings at ALDI: Part 3 – Price Matching
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Filed Under: Food & Kitchen Tagged With: aldi, food, frugality, groceries, kitchen

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Comments

  1. Brandon says

    November 14, 2016 at 12:10 am

    I hope to have one of these stores near us in South Dakota in the future.

    Reply
    • Al says

      November 15, 2016 at 9:37 am

      I hope so too! Here’s a map of the states where they currently operate, and there’s a big black strip in most of the western States. Hope those light up soon.

      Reply
  2. Carole says

    November 14, 2016 at 3:05 pm

    Aldi’s have been around for many years, but seem to have come into their own in the last few years. I don’t know if they have improved or if people have been slow to discover them.

    Reply
    • Al says

      November 15, 2016 at 9:35 am

      Yes, I didn’t realize how long they’ve been in the States until I started looking more into them. My personal opinion is that the combination of the economic crunch and resulting decrease in spending made a low-cost store like ALDI more appealing. Plus, it seems that they’ve taken a much more assertive approach to expansion lately, which may be related to the previous point.

      Reply
  3. Annabella says

    November 18, 2016 at 7:10 pm

    I am a big Aldi-Fan too, in Switzerland living costs are quite high, so Aldi is helping with my savings.
    Love your blog!

    Reply
    • Al says

      November 19, 2016 at 8:07 pm

      Welcome, Annabella! All the way from Switzerland, no less! So glad you found our blog, and glad to have another ALDI fan among us. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Debbie says

    November 20, 2016 at 11:33 pm

    I have never been to Aldi , but have heard very good things

    Reply
    • Al says

      November 21, 2016 at 8:32 am

      Hope you’ll be able to check one out soon!

      Reply
  5. Pam says

    November 27, 2016 at 4:02 pm

    Aldi just opened their first store in my town earlier this month. I don’t think I’ve ever been to an Aldi before, but I’ll have to check it out! Unfortunately it is not as conveniently located as my regular grocery store (about a mile away and I pass it on my way home from work) and Walmart (approximately a mile away in the other direction), but it is still doable at less than 10 miles away. It looks like there is another discount grocery store very close to the new Aldi which I have not yet visited – I’ll have to do a little comparing. Do they let you bring your plastic bags saved from other stores to use for your Aldi purchases or do you have to buy/have cloth/reusable bags? Do they all permit credit cards now? If so, I’ll be able to use my card that gives me 2% back on groceries :).

    Reply
    • Al says

      November 27, 2016 at 6:11 pm

      Yes, ALDI allows you to bring any reusable bags you’d like to bag your own groceries. And yes, they all accept credit cards now. Even if ALDI isn’t the most conveniently located for you, you can take advantage of price matching at places like Walmart to still take advantage of ALDI prices. Deb wrote a post about it here, if you haven’t read it already.

      Reply
  6. Pam says

    November 27, 2016 at 7:27 pm

    Thanks!

    Reply
  7. Millennial Money says

    November 28, 2016 at 7:47 pm

    Wow, I’ve never heard of an Aldi grocery store before. Thank you for telling us about this shopping option

    Reply
    • Al says

      November 28, 2016 at 8:14 pm

      You’re very welcome, hope there’s one near you!

      Reply
  8. Eunice says

    December 11, 2016 at 12:19 pm

    I am thankful for the many tipps and saving ideas from you!
    As a family we liked to shop at ALDI (here in Austria its called Hofer). But since I started working on farms and getting to know my farmer colleagues better, I dislike ALDI more and more, because they pay very low prices toward the farmers. It is so low that many farmers can’t survive by just delivering their crops/veggies to ALDI.

    So I’d please you in behalf of my farmer colleagues to consider going to local farmers and farm markets and buy your food there. It’s not only more healthy but also more environmental friendly and it strengthens the local agriculture business. Yes, it might cost a bit more than at ALDI, but it is definetely worth it!!!

    Reply

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