Opinions on Aldi's

[The Grim Lifter]

Everything Vince said ^^^ is correct.

They do provide good competition in Australia. They don't stock everything but you can't win at everything that's a good way of doing things.

[BB]

Don't know about any connection btwn Aldi and Trader Joes?  Thats news to me.

Yeah, the family that owns Aldi bought it in the 1960's. My understanding is that it's somewhat like a less vicious Adidas/Puma type squabble, were each brother got control over a portion of the company. In America, one branch of the family has Trader Joe's, the other has Aldi. In other places, they just split the Aldi name.

Aldi for me has always been a conditional supermarket, here in the NE, they tend to be in more out of the way places. I will make a special trip for certain things like ham, certain sweets, etc....

I have nothing but kind words for Trader Joe's, never a bad experience there. In Ny, Trader Joe's is sort of considered a better middle class supermarket. Cheaper and slightly less ritzy than Whole Foods, Fairway, etc.... But not as bad as the majors like Pathmark, etc....

[mazrim]

Doesn't Aldi's set themselves above the industry average with employee pay too?

Yes as far as I know. Def in comparison to what we have here (meijer, walmart). My wife almost applied there. From what I hear they treat employees very well. I had a friend (haven't seen him in awhile) who managed one. Very good pay/benefits. They don't have as many employees so that helps. He had to stock as well. Not sure quite how it works now as they are becoming more popular so have more employees to do that.

I actually applied there for a manager job as it appeared to be such a good job.

Also as far as the Sunday thing, they've changed their stance on that here. Almost open normal hours on that day now.

[Las Vegas]

Yeah, the family that owns Aldi bought it in the 1960's. My understanding is that it's somewhat like a less vicious Adidas/Puma type squabble, were each brother got control over a portion of the company. In America, one branch of the family has Trader Joe's, the other has Aldi. In other places, they just split the Aldi name.

Aldi for me has always been a conditional supermarket, here in the NE, they tend to be in more out of the way places. I will make a special trip for certain things like ham, certain sweets, etc....

I have nothing but kind words for Trader Joe's, never a bad experience there. In Ny, Trader Joe's is sort of considered a better middle class supermarket. Cheaper and slightly less ritzy than Whole Foods, Fairway, etc.... But not as bad as the majors like Pathmark, etc....

You have convinced me to check out Trader Joe's again.  This info makes me want to take a closer look, because I had no idea.

[Las Vegas]

Yes as far as I know. Def in comparison to what we have here (meijer, walmart). My wife almost applied there. From what I hear they treat employees very well. I had a friend (haven't seen him in awhile) who managed one. Very good pay/benefits. They don't have as many employees so that helps. He had to stock as well. Not sure quite how it works now as they are becoming more popular so have more employees to do that.

I actually applied there for a manager job as it appeared to be such a good job.

Also as far as the Sunday thing, they've changed their stance on that here. Almost open normal hours on that day now.

I wonder if the Sunday thing is chain wide now. I was thinking it might have originated from Blue Laws, since they sell more than food.  But even with no more enforcement, I figured they carried on w the practice because of religion.

The manager would definitely spend time stocking...at least it was that way in the past.  And there were usually two employees that would take turns at stocking and cashier or both cashiering when a line built up.

Reading this thread makes me miss going there...lol

[Bevo]

The only bags a guy should pay for, are the ones put on a skanks head when desperate.

U really try to hard to fit in with the young crowd don't ya? Haha mid life crisis 

[smoothasf]

They are not part of trader Joe's, they are not franchised either they are a private company Not public too.  The checkout area is short deliberately so you have to pack on the bench against the wall, they are designed so you load your gooods straight back into your trolley.  This mean they can scan faster and have less staff on checkouts, this means lower prices.  The entire structure is to lower overheads.  Great prices and highly paid staff.  They will be grumpy as they work very very hard, much harder than Wal-Mart

[Automation]

Thankfully, I'm not poor, so do not have to suffer the ignominy of having to shop at such a disgusting establishment. Waitorse or M&S only for me.

[smoothasf]

Packaged In the same place and charged 3 Times the price for the same product. Waitrose is a rip off

[Automation]

Packaged In the same place and charged 3 Times the price for the same product. Waitrose is a rip off

I simply couldn't handle being in the vicinity of the great unwashed....

[BB]

They are not part of trader Joe's, they are not franchised either they are a private company Not public too.

Aldi Nord owns Trader Joe's. They operate it as a separate company, but it is still part of the overall ALDI brand. When Aldi/Albrecht split the brand, brother Theodore became Aldi Nord and bought Trader Joe's later, brother Karl became Aldi Sud. In Europe, and other places, they split the Aldi name. In America, Aldi Nord decided to keep Trader Joe's, and let Aldi Sud have the regular Aldi name.

The break down is explained well here - http://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2012/05/17/aldis-trader-joes-is-a-winner/ . I'm not sure if they still do it as easily, but they use to share a few brands between each other, particularly in sweets.

[Migs]

I tried an Aldi in the metro ATL area a couple times and wasn't impressed.
I like Super Target best overall. 100% serious

Yeah the one's in Atlanta aren't great.  But you can find some good deals there.

[Las Vegas]

So anyone know why the past policy of no Sundays?  Muzt have been some reason..blue laws weren't enforced..so what could it be

[mazrim]

I always just thought because it was a solid company that "appreciated" its employees and that is traditionally "family" day/church going day. Especially thought this because where I live it is conservative so may be pandering to audience.

Also, my understanding that a lot of european stores were closed on Sundays in the past longer then american stores have held so may have been from tradition. My wife lived in Norway for 8 years until 2010 and she said nothing was open there on Sundays.

Times change and america is more accepting it appears then other countries to the newer hours
http://www.uniglobalunion.org/news/belgian-aldi-workers-victory-against-work-sundays

The original founders are both dead now so assuming newer voices with less traditional upbringing/"values"/desire for more money, etc. have caused the change.

I've always liked the idea of having at least one set day off for everyone (in most occupations). Doesn't harm anyone and people that needed stuff would know places would be closed so could get whatever they needed beforehand.

[Las Vegas]

I always just thought because it was a solid company that "appreciated" its employees and that is traditionally "family" day/church going day. Especially thought this because where I live it is conservative so may be pandering to audience.

Also, my understanding that a lot of european stores were closed on Sundays in the past longer then american stores have held so may have been from tradition. My wife lived in Norway for 8 years until 2010 and she said nothing was open there on Sundays.

Times change and america is more accepting it appears then other countries to the newer hours
http://www.uniglobalunion.org/news/belgian-aldi-workers-victory-against-work-sundays

The original founders are both dead now so assuming newer voices with less traditional upbringing/"values"/desire for more money, etc. have caused the change.

I've always liked the idea of having at least one set day off for everyone (in most occupations). Doesn't harm anyone and people that needed stuff would know places would be closed so could get whatever they needed beforehand.

Damn, zing.  99% of employees in that case from link said NO to Sundays.

[Las Vegas]

Of course most or all of the American Aldi's don't have union employees, i'm sure

The thought of having a day when everything is closed doesn't bother me, either...like a day of reality check.  But i don't know how that could come about in any other way but like in the story above.

[Bluez]

Anyone go to Aldi's?  Are they decent?

Beans & Milk seem to be cheaper than Walmart's

A lot of strange beef shipped in from un-named eastern European
countries. You got to bring your own bags. Most of the employees
I have seen are not too hot looking.

[hardgainerj]

trader joes is connected to whole foods that said


heb central market>whole foods