ALDI to add 70 new stores by next year

This is the place for general and miscellaneous posts on topics which might extend past the boundaries of any specific region. No non-grocery posts.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: ALDI to add 70 new stores by next year

Post by storewanderer »

jamcool wrote: January 11th, 2021, 5:48 am Aldi seems to give off a “DDR” feel to me, plus they charge you for bags (which no other grocery chain in AZ does)
I've never bought more than a handfull of items from Aldi but there is a definite vibe to their stores.

I think they will do well in AZ. If for no other reason than the low prices and combined with a small store and quick in-out experience for the customer. Price seems to be very important in AZ. Those Frys Stores and Wal Marts are very crowded places down there.
CalItalian
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1103
Joined: October 1st, 2009, 12:25 pm
Been thanked: 39 times
Status: Offline

Re: ALDI to add 70 new stores by next year

Post by CalItalian »

TW-Upstate NY wrote: January 11th, 2021, 9:04 am If you want basic high quality "staple" goods and not much of anything else and want those items at a good price, then Aldi is the place to shop. And as far as demographics are concerned, I've seen shoppers of all economic backgrounds in their stores. People recognize a good value when they see it. I can remember when they first came to this area and there was a hue and cry raised because they had the nerve to ask shoppers to "pay" to use a cart. When people saw that system for what it is (a way to keep carts out of the parking lot where they could damage customer's vehicles) they quickly accepted it and now it's pretty much an afterthought. And at least here in NYS, they were way ahead of their time in charging for bags but not to worry there because there were (and are) plenty of empty cardboard boxes for you to pack your groceries in and those are free. Speaking of packing your own groceries, I wonder given current conditions how they're handling that because those bagging tables can get pretty busy with customers standing shoulder to shoulder packing their orders. Also, are they wiping down those areas regularly? And by their very nature their stores are small to begin with and these days smaller is not better. I'm an Aldi fan and was a regular once a month shopper there until the current health emergency and if and when my comfort level allows, I absolutely plan on returning but from where I sit we're nowhere near that yet and won't be anytime soon.
I have tried MANY Aldi products. They aren't all high quality. Some are just downright sickening (their cola and flavored potato chips to name just two). But I've also found some of their products the best products on the market, better than any name brand, such as their all beef hot dogs, liquid hand soap and spreadable butter.
arizonaguy
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1107
Joined: July 12th, 2013, 6:07 pm
Been thanked: 35 times
Status: Offline

Re: ALDI to add 70 new stores by next year

Post by arizonaguy »

storewanderer wrote: January 11th, 2021, 5:29 pm
jamcool wrote: January 11th, 2021, 5:48 am Aldi seems to give off a “DDR” feel to me, plus they charge you for bags (which no other grocery chain in AZ does)
I've never bought more than a handfull of items from Aldi but there is a definite vibe to their stores.

I think they will do well in AZ. If for no other reason than the low prices and combined with a small store and quick in-out experience for the customer. Price seems to be very important in AZ. Those Frys Stores and Wal Marts are very crowded places down there.
Maybe. WinCo hasn't done as well in AZ as I believe they expected (they had plans to open about twice the number of stores that they ended up opening and I haven't heard any recent expansion plans).

I don't think that Aldi will steal too much from the Walmart / Fry's crowd because Walmart / Fry's at least offer a complete selection of products versus the strange mix that is at Aldi. Aldi seems to be more successful where the conventional grocer is either ridiculously high priced or there are rather limited conventional grocery options.

There's an Aldi planned to open 5 minutes away from my house but in the same distance I have a SuperTarget, Safeway, Sprout's, WinCo, and Fry's. Aldi really doesn't offer anything that the others don't offer.

I'm sure Aldi is for some people but, as I've said before, I just don't "get it" and think it's a gimmicky store that doesn't have the appeal for me that Trader Joe's does (a store I really love, by the way).
bayford
Stock Clerk
Stock Clerk
Posts: 49
Joined: November 1st, 2019, 10:43 pm
Been thanked: 5 times
Status: Offline

Re: ALDI to add 70 new stores by next year

Post by bayford »

I enjoy shopping at Aldi and have shifted to doing the majority of my grocery shopping there in the six years since they arrived in my city. However, the key to understanding Aldi is that Aldi was never intended to fully replace shopping at a traditional grocer. They are founded primarily on being somewhere to go to get good deals on canned goods, non-perishables, dairy, and so on, but then still going afterward to a traditional butcher and bakery to top off your grocery shopping.

My favorite items are the weekly "Aldi Finds," which are always listed in full on the Aldi website. They sell a lot of imported or specialty goods that satisfy my curiosity to try new flavors but which are either hard to find in traditional grocery stores nearby and/or quite a bit more expensive. Some of these products you will only ever see once at Aldi, but a lot of them regularly show up 1-3 times a year.

The home goods sold as "Aldi Finds" can also be good deals. I've picked up some quality cookware over the years, but I especially like their line of gardening products in the spring. For instance, their bags of gardening and potting soil have a better price/cubic yard than anything else I can find of comparable quality elsewhere. A few years ago, I purchased a tumbling composter for $40 that I have been very pleased with. Their seasonal plants are usually good deals, too - $3.49 for a quality 6 inch poinsettia around Christmas, for example.

Fresh meat and produce continue to be their weak spots, though I do feel they have improved quite a bit on produce in the last couple years. I can say my local store has a decent selection of consistently high quality produce for a low price. You still have to be flexible, though, because they primarily only carry whatever is in season at the current time, and there's no guarantee they will have a specific fruit or vegetable in stock the way a traditional grocery store might.

As far as cleanliness of the bagging areas during COVID-19, I've thought about that too. The employees at my local store regularly wipe down the checkout lanes, and they provide hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes at the entrance, but I never see anyone cleaning the bagging areas. Admittedly, being an Aldi employee already meant being continually busy, so not having time to tend to that area of the store doesn't really surprise me. Since the start of the pandemic, if there's ever been too many people in the bagging area for me to feel comfortable, I've just gone outside to my car and bagged up my purchases there.
rwsandiego
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1242
Joined: April 3rd, 2016, 10:57 pm
Has thanked: 23 times
Been thanked: 55 times
Status: Offline

Re: ALDI to add 70 new stores by next year

Post by rwsandiego »

I have shopped Aldi in the past and liked them a lot, but my visit to the Chandler Aldi left me with the same impression as @arizonaguy. The store was not very well organized and traffic didn't flow well. Unlike other Aldis, they didn't have the higher-end Aldi brand seafood, very little variety in spices, and no Aldi Finds in sight. It was pretty disappointing. Maybe the Goodyear store is more like the ones I've seen in suburban Chicago and in Palm Springs.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: ALDI to add 70 new stores by next year

Post by storewanderer »

rwsandiego wrote: January 15th, 2021, 9:31 pm I have shopped Aldi in the past and liked them a lot, but my visit to the Chandler Aldi left me with the same impression as @arizonaguy. The store was not very well organized and traffic didn't flow well. Unlike other Aldis, they didn't have the higher-end Aldi brand seafood, very little variety in spices, and no Aldi Finds in sight. It was pretty disappointing. Maybe the Goodyear store is more like the ones I've seen in suburban Chicago and in Palm Springs.
This seems to be an odd way to enter a market. Typically you would put your best foot forward when entering a market. What are they doing?

I wonder if they are having supply/logistics issues in light of what happened in the grocery industry during 2020 with the demand spikes?
jamcool
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1019
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 10:27 pm
Been thanked: 50 times
Status: Offline

Re: ALDI to add 70 new stores by next year

Post by jamcool »

Aldi is planning to build a warehouse in Goodyear-In the loop 303 warehouse corridor- which will service AZ and SoCal stores.
I’ve always wondered why Aldi doesn’t go into smaller towns where there is usually just a Safeway and a Walmart?
TW-Upstate NY
Shift Manager
Shift Manager
Posts: 421
Joined: May 11th, 2009, 6:09 pm
Been thanked: 4 times
Status: Offline

Re: ALDI to add 70 new stores by next year

Post by TW-Upstate NY »

bayford wrote: January 15th, 2021, 8:32 pm As far as cleanliness of the bagging areas during COVID-19, I've thought about that too. The employees at my local store regularly wipe down the checkout lanes, and they provide hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes at the entrance, but I never see anyone cleaning the bagging areas. Admittedly, being an Aldi employee already meant being continually busy, so not having time to tend to that area of the store doesn't really surprise me. Since the start of the pandemic, if there's ever been too many people in the bagging area for me to feel comfortable, I've just gone outside to my car and bagged up my purchases there.
That's pretty much why I've stopped shopping there. As I mentioned, I was a regular once a month shopper for what I consider "staple" goods-breakfast items, breads and some vegetables. I could usually walk out of there with a cartful of that stuff for between $50-$60 whereas now that I shop ever so sparingly in a full line supermarket those same items probably easily come closer to $80-$90. And as you say, I have seen where customers wheel the cart out of the store and bag or box up at their vehicle which was going on long before all of the disruptions of the last year. And the reason the quality of produce has improved somewhat is in their earlier incarnations before remodels all they did was place the produce on display on racks in their original cartons. I mean the items turn pretty quickly so they felt they could get away with it and for the most part they have. They still do that today but now they have installed some refrigeration which obviously has helped with quality and freshness of produce items. The one thing that enthralls me about them more than anything else is they use every molecule of available space. You look through their weekly ad and see the household goods they have and say to yourself how could they possibly find room but somehow they do.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: ALDI to add 70 new stores by next year

Post by storewanderer »

jamcool wrote: January 16th, 2021, 9:13 am Aldi is planning to build a warehouse in Goodyear-In the loop 303 warehouse corridor- which will service AZ and SoCal stores.
I’ve always wondered why Aldi doesn’t go into smaller towns where there is usually just a Safeway and a Walmart?
I have seen Aldi in a number of towns of perhaps 30,000 people. I don't know how small they go.

If Grocery Outlet gets going expanding in AZ you will see them build stores in those smaller towns with populations under 15k with just a Safeway and Wal Mart.
bayford
Stock Clerk
Stock Clerk
Posts: 49
Joined: November 1st, 2019, 10:43 pm
Been thanked: 5 times
Status: Offline

Re: ALDI to add 70 new stores by next year

Post by bayford »

storewanderer wrote: January 16th, 2021, 11:34 am
I have seen Aldi in a number of towns of perhaps 30,000 people. I don't know how small they go.
Within their primary footprint in the eastern half of the US, Aldi is in many cities of 10,000-20,000 people. For the most part, they don't seem to go much lower than a population of about 7,000.
Post Reply