Photo by Stephan Mosel (Moe_)
Following a New York Times story on the topic DCentric takes a gander at people's different reactions to Aldi coming to town versus Walmart. I've never been to an Aldi, so I'm curious about the one going in right over by Hechinger Mall.
7 comments:
Given the shape that the safeway is in across the street, I wouldn't recommend shopping at this Aldi unless you're on an extremely tight budget.
@Anon 5:19: Huh?
I've never been to this particular Aldi, but Aldi in general is just OK to me. If you shop there often enough, you can figure out which products are good and which you don't like and stick to the good ones.
Aldi and Trader Joe's are owned by the same people and sometimes I swear some of the frozen entrees are the exact same thing in different packaging.
Mom always said that Aldi's was hit or miss when i was growing up, and she said the crackers tasted stale and absorbed the smells of the store. Whatever that means. Its not the greatest place in the world but a person can find deals.
I'm somewhat of a fan of Aldi and make a regular trip every 3 weeks or so. Contrary to previous post, there is a connection between TJ and Aldi, but it is not outright ownership/joint management.
It is a different shopping experience, with certain quirks that some people won't like (no bags, deposit on carts, few name-brands, cash/debit only) but the savings on certain things are worthwhile. Best to think of it as offering basic groceries, and most stuff is generic/house brand.
I know its offensive, but I describe it to friends as a ghetto Trader Joes, or a Costco without the compulsion to buy only enormous quantities.
A few things I go for: cheap wine, dairy, snacks & cereal, frozen foods, basic fresh veg. They have a weekly specials aisle that are usually somewhat themed, and the product mix cycles. One week it might be a lot of mexican foods, another week it might be home oriented products.
You won't find high-end gourmet, organic stuff, but you can find all the fixins to make great meals, and their prices are definitely cheap.
Anyone know when the NE Aldi is scheduled to open?
They're digging now - I would guess 1-2 years.
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