Any ALDI shoppers out there

[fat4D]

So a coupl if months ago I did a Career change, i'm only 21 and had spent my whole working life (6 years) busting my **** at maccas, I climbed the ladder there to a reataurant manager working for a bloke who owns 4 stores. Then just out of curiosity I applied for a job with ALDI to manage a store. I got this job so I took my certificates and left maccas and moved to ALDI.

Main point of this thread I'm interested in peoples opionions of ALDI most customers who have got used to the way things work think it's great save money and get good quality stuff. So the question is do u shop there why? Why not?

Cheers

[duaned]

My wife and I shop there occasionaly, but for small things such as biscuits, coffee etc. We don't buy our fruit and veg there as our store doesn't seem to carry everything we need. Plus there are a lot of unusual brands in there we simply don't trust to buy. Of course this is our opinion only.

[fat4D]

Your correct, an I think this is what scares alot of people off, aldi has this thing where almost everything has an 'aldi brandname' although it actually comes from a common Australian supplier. Eg all our fresh chicken is stegglers I only noticed it a couple of weeks ago when a box came with a stegglers sticker on it lol.

[michael_ozzie]

And the cheeses are made by bega or kraft or whoever they call themselves, up in Strathmerton and along the Murray.

Started off buying the odd small things, but nowadays most of the regular shopping is done there, and to coles for the other few essentials.

[max]

When will they kick one off in Adelaide?

[flappist]

Well they must do alright, there is always a line up out front and traffic jam on pension day...

[fat4D]

Originally Posted by max

When will they kick one off in Adelaide?

tbh I wouldn't have a clue, although I can't see it being to far off since it's growing so fast alone the eastern side of Australia, in the last year they have opened 30 odd stores and started 2 more regions so it will b only a matter of time

[fat4D]

Originally Posted by flappist

Well they must do alright, there is always a line up out front and traffic jam on pension day...

I hear that, in my area there is a couple of old people homes... Pension day sucks lol

[grandpa_spec_F6]

I love the place, so does my father, does as much shopping there as he can. My mother also does a fair bit of shopping for things like biscuits, canned food, soups, you know, "cupboard stuff" more or less.

I shop there quite a bit however the missus doesn't like it, and I have a feeling it's because of the layout. Can't quite wrap her head around why it doesn't have shelves for all the products haha. Personally, I don't care, if it looks good, and at the right price, I'll buy it.

We have German friends of the family who are very wealth and they buy the majority of their shopping there (including electrical and other things when available) for their family (them plus three kids).

I think the main stigma relates to people not 'trusting' different brands, even though some of the chocolate / biscuits / soups I've had from Aldi have been better than any Maggi or Continental soup to date, the 'fresh food' side of things such as milk, vegies, meats etc are treated as 'suspect' (even though a lot of the meat is from aussie butchers anyway).

As for pension day, when I worked in retail I loved them. Sure you get the odd person who wanted to tell you their life story, (it's when they get touchy that I got a little unsettled), but they buy batteries, LOTS of batteries, which (if you own the brand ;) ) count for stupid amounts of GP (I worked at an electronics shop for the record).

[max]

Originally Posted by grandpa_spec_au

but they buy batteries, LOTS of batteries, which (if you own the brand ;) ) count for stupid amounts of GP (I worked at an electronics shop for the record).

Batteries! LOTS of batteries????? What can this mean?

[Mr Hardware]

ze chermans?
no thanks.

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by flappist

Well they must do alright, there is always a line up out front and traffic jam on pension day...

LOL...I have noticed that. It is bizarre, whats worse is these "older" people buy the electronic goods from there thinking its a good deal...until it breaks sooner than expected.

Been a couple of times because I was in the area, but Im a woolies person, they seem to have on average better quality than coles etc, better range too.

[grandpa_spec_F6]

Originally Posted by max

Batteries! LOTS of batteries????? What can this mean?

Well the most popular batteries were the CR2032, for their blood presure monitors, heart rate watches and other various medical stuff.

AA and AAA batteries for their remotes, as the majority of their time appeared to be spent in front of TV, and BOY did they love to talk about the latest episode of whatever soapie they followed.

Finally... the biggest seller by far was the hearing aid batteries, and what a little scam those buggers are! 6 bucks for a battery no larger than a thumb tack. Without it though, watching TV, hearing the sales pitch or abusing the nursing staff would be quite challenging.

[AUIIPURSUIT]

i shop at aldi.... i buy my tuna and cracker bread there, my chicken fillets, etc etc..

things i go round the corner to get from coles - fruit and most veg, and red meat i get from my local IGA. This is because ive had apples that taste like flour, avocados that needed a month before they were edible, and some of the meat cuts were 'low grade'..

overall though, they have alot of products that are great for budgeting.

I must say i dont like how youre swept through at 100 miles an hour at the checkout. hard to do a weekly shop by yourself. theres literally NO run off for your goods while u try and bag it and u get dirty looks from the cashier as youre slowing them down.

[Danny]

Best Italian pork sausages from Aldi bar none. you cannot get a good sasage at coles or Woolies. Coles BBQ snags are WOEFUL! gooey slimey crap its inedible.

[04baford]

we brought a 4 stroke generator from there after 2 years still going strong. no probs with aldi

[XR6_661]

I've heard that ALDI laptops are up there with the best of them too!

[Franco Cozzo]

They had a real good deal for a 17" laptop that was specced up good for its price last year, plus their 42" LCD TV they released and had on sale last year uses a Samsung panel.

[Bucknaked]

I don't buy food there. We shopped alonmg time ago and found it didn't have half the stuff we needed, so we ended up back at Coles. But I've bought a few things from Aldi. Mostly gear for my bike like tank bags and covers. Great price. But I always look at the catalogue when it comes out.

[frd906]

You can pick up quiet a few electrical items etc from there at a cheap price

[Paxton]

I tried them a couple of times, but I wasn't all that happy with some of their products, especially the Peanut Butter (which still sits in the Pantry). For staples (Flour, Butter, Milk, Eggs) they're fine, but until they carry Kraft Peanut Butter, I'll stick with Woolworths.

[smciner1]

Love Aldi. Most of the Aldi Brand stuff is very good. We do most of our Shopping there and Top Up with what we can't get there from Coles or Wollys.

[fmc351]

Woolies (theres no Aldi here) for grocery items, fruit and veg from fruiterer, and meat from butchers. I loathe the idea of pushing the little guys out for convenience.

My mother in law swears by Aldi, she is always telling us about the latest bargains.

[74_XB_Ute]

I find Aldi to be pretty good. Especially in the Chocolate department. Alot of the stuff says it's made in Germany for Aldi. Which is no problem! Besides...Vince from the Shamwow ads says "The Germans always make great things"

[Fled74]

I've bought a few power tools from Aldi and they're still going strong. I'd shy away from electronics though - the DVD player I got there broke within 3 months. They replaced it, no questions asked, with the same model player. I'm just waiting for this one to break as well.

[nstg8a]

i dont mind the products but crack the shits with their crap customer service.

as above, theres not enough room at the end of the checkout to bag your stuff, and every single person that works in there acts like their doing you a personal favour by serving you.

plus i always seem to get caught in the queue behind 5-6 people with full trolleys when i have a couple of items... and they will only have one checkout open.

as a result i very rarely go there.

[GS608]

meh been there a few times, tried a few of their soups etc and then read the labels..had double the amount of salt compared to other well known brands..stopped going there. Woolies for us

[Ford_The_Win]

I've tried ALDI a few times, but my local one is very cramped and badly laid out, it kind of reminds me of a Reject Shop/Clints Warehouse but with food, it puts me off. And a lot of the stuff I'd probably buy from there, like tinned food, comes from overseas, and I refuse to buy food that's not Australian. The same goes for Woolworths Select and some of the Coles brand stuff. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with South African peaches but I'd prefer local, even if it costs more.

[OLDFORDNUT]

dont ever buy Aldi fishfingers ,no one including the kids would eat them so ended up in the bin,if they had any fish in them id be shocked, but ive found a few bargains in there electronics and hardgoods .

[BigBlue]

I have no loyalty to either Coles or Woolworth and if ALDI can put Vegemite on the shelf at a lower price then they get my money.

I went there originally because they introduced unit pricing on the shelf ticket and "same price Australia wide" while the other two were constantly moaning about how difficult it would be etc etc.

I also like a variety of products apart from one or two brands. Other people apart from Arnotts make biscuits.
Their stuff is as good as anywhere else and their fresh food is better. The mushrooms stay fresher for longer than either Coles or Woolworth products in my experience.

Anything which gives the big two a bit of competition and the consumer a better deal is worth supporting in my book.

By the way congratulations on your career change. I hope it works out well for you.

Peter