4 ms·

> Don't expect lots of pre-prepared food, and fancy pre-made items. In fact, expect very little. It's mostly staples with some extremely common packaged conveni

MrFoof 10y ago
>Don't expect lots of pre-prepared food, and fancy pre-made items. In fact, expect very little. It's mostly staples with some extremely common packaged convenience foods. In my experience, I would have to disagree. For what I have seen at the two nearest stores to me, 50% of the store's inventory is boxed, canned, and frozen foods. I should've clarified more on the "fancy pre-made items". Most of the larger national chain supermarkets have grown more and more into this. In particular, one location in my area (in an affluent neighborhood) has dedicated over 1/3rd of its floor space to "hot and ready to eat" take-out style food, prepared on-site, and priced at $10/pound (excluding things like sushi). It's a common sight to see a cart filled with nothing but basically take-out boxes, bakery items, bottled water, and alcohol. That particular store in that particular location, if I included frozen meals, and boxed/canned meals, it's literally 3 out of every 4 square feet. >However if you want some items, your best bet is to go at open. I've been at our stores pretty much at random hours and have never been disappointed in the quantity of inventory. It sounds like you might be visiting a mismanaged store. No, this is more of living in a major city, and the location's relatively small size (the adjacent CVS is about 50% larger). I would compare the size of its produce area to 16-20% of that of a typical chain supermarket. As it result, it depletes very quickly. This means that the highest quality stuff is gone within 10-15 minutes of open. I wouldn't say that's unique to Aldi either. If you don't go to Market Basket close to open, don't expect high-quality produce to be there when you show up, and some items may be gone entirely. The reason being is the area MBs are always packed except right at open.
- Severian 10y ago
  Thanks for the clarification, I understand where you are coming from now. For pre-made, as you describe, yes, Aldi has nothing like that beyond maybe some sort of yogurt parfait. Stores like Kroger, Whole Foods, Giant Eagle, and the other major supermarkets reflect what you describe. It seems that my wife and I encompass a shrinking minority or people who eat home-cooked meals more often than not. As for inventory availability, I guess it does depend on the store, as ours have been fairly good with keeping stock available. This is in a city (Columbus, Ohio) of 800,000+ with the 'burbs encompassing another million or so. We are becoming quite a foodie town, and I think that reflects a lot on the availability of fresh produce. We have many ethnic supermarkets as well, much larger than Aldi, that have a VERY wide assortment of foreign fruits and vegetables. I would have to say we probably have a lot of brokers here.

MrFoof 10y ago

>Don't expect lots of pre-prepared food, and fancy pre-made items. In fact, expect very little. It's mostly staples with some extremely common packaged convenience foods. In my experience, I would have to disagree. For what I have seen at the two nearest stores to me, 50% of the store's inventory is boxed, canned, and frozen foods. I should've clarified more on the "fancy pre-made items". Most of the larger national chain supermarkets have grown more and more into this. In particular, one location in my area (in an affluent neighborhood) has dedicated over 1/3rd of its floor space to "hot and ready to eat" take-out style food, prepared on-site, and priced at $10/pound (excluding things like sushi). It's a common sight to see a cart filled with nothing but basically take-out boxes, bakery items, bottled water, and alcohol. That particular store in that particular location, if I included frozen meals, and boxed/canned meals, it's literally 3 out of every 4 square feet. >However if you want some items, your best bet is to go at open. I've been at our stores pretty much at random hours and have never been disappointed in the quantity of inventory. It sounds like you might be visiting a mismanaged store. No, this is more of living in a major city, and the location's relatively small size (the adjacent CVS is about 50% larger). I would compare the size of its produce area to 16-20% of that of a typical chain supermarket. As it result, it depletes very quickly. This means that the highest quality stuff is gone within 10-15 minutes of open. I wouldn't say that's unique to Aldi either. If you don't go to Market Basket close to open, don't expect high-quality produce to be there when you show up, and some items may be gone entirely. The reason being is the area MBs are always packed except right at open.

Severian 10y ago
Thanks for the clarification, I understand where you are coming from now. For pre-made, as you describe, yes, Aldi has nothing like that beyond maybe some sort of yogurt parfait. Stores like Kroger, Whole Foods, Giant Eagle, and the other major supermarkets reflect what you describe. It seems that my wife and I encompass a shrinking minority or people who eat home-cooked meals more often than not. As for inventory availability, I guess it does depend on the store, as ours have been fairly good with keeping stock available. This is in a city (Columbus, Ohio) of 800,000+ with the 'burbs encompassing another million or so. We are becoming quite a foodie town, and I think that reflects a lot on the availability of fresh produce. We have many ethnic supermarkets as well, much larger than Aldi, that have a VERY wide assortment of foreign fruits and vegetables. I would have to say we probably have a lot of brokers here.