8 ms·

I'd love to have an Aldi in the Silicon Valley, at least if the concept is similar to the ones in Germany.

by thetrb 13y ago

billybob255 13y ago
The ones in MI seem to be similar to the ones in Germany.
Amadou 13y ago
The Aldis in Illinois roughly 20 years ago were bottom-barrel discount grocery stores. Poorly maintained and all the produce was very suspicious. I don't know which half of the Aldi empire owned those stores. Trader Joes is owned by the north aldi brother.
- X-Istence 13y ago
  That's the Aldi I know and love from The Netherlands... so I assume it is like the ones in Germany.
  - skyebook 13y ago
    That's a scary thought.. As recently as 2011 when given an Aldi and a Rewe next door to each other, it was really difficult to ever choose Aldi (in fact, the only reason to really venture in was their cheap and unlimited 3G SIM card resales). That said, Rewe managed to also make itself more useful in the process by actually having everything I needed so the extra price ended up working out, to some degree, if you count convenience.
  - sudont 13y ago
    It is. The Aldi's in Wisconsin, USA are pretty much the exact same as the one I was at in Berlin, except for different brands. Pretty much the same layout, except the Berlin one had beer.
    - rthomas6 13y ago
      Aldi in Georgia, USA has beer also.
- joezydeco 13y ago
  Aldi has improved in the Chicago area in the last decade. There's been a wave of new construction in more affluent suburbs and stores have expanded to include liquor sales in certain areas. But yeah, it's still no frills. Staples like milk and baking goods are dirt cheap, but I wouldn't chance the produce. Lots of processed food. Bakery is all mass-produced. Interestingly, the supermarkets I've been to in Germany lately are becoming more like US ones (Rewe, Edeka) but some are still super no-frills (Penny Markt, Norma)
- selectodude 13y ago
  Apparently Aldi has one of the toughest receiving for their produce nowadays. So that may have changed.
- tanzam75 13y ago
  > The Aldis in Illinois roughly 20 years ago were bottom-barrel discount grocery stores. Poorly maintained and all the produce was very suspicious. I don't know which half of the Aldi empire owned those stores. All Aldis in the United States are Aldi South. The two Aldis are territorially-exclusive when it comes to the Aldi branding. Incidentally, Aldi South has a different logo from Aldi North. So you can go to any country with an Aldi and tell which half it belongs to.
jmspring 13y ago
My first experience with Aldi was in Frankfurt when my then girlfriend (now wife) wanted me to go get her something that was on sale/a deal. It left an impression - it was a mix of US black friday and hypersensitivity to efficiency. Know what you want, focus on retrieving those items, and be efficient. Lots of grumbling if you held someone up or weren't ready to pay at the checkout counter. It was one sampling, but I still remember it 11 years later.
flexie 13y ago
Really? In most of Europe Aldi is associated with poor quality. Great place to buy canned food, toilet paper or cleaning products but not the place you'd want to buy meat, milk or veggies. I am not sure it's fair anymore. Part of it probably came from the fact that the fixtures used to be so run down. Long after all other stores had started using bar codes, Aldi employees had to memorize PLU codes.
- James_Duval 13y ago
  It's not fair at all in Britain. The whole "Didldidi" Mitchell & Webb snobbishness conceals the fact that Aldi's food is generally of better quality and cheaper than Tesco's or Asda's. It doesn't tend to be as good as Sainsbury's, and of course it doesn't compete with M&S or Waitrose, but Aldi is the only store which seems to bring both decent jobs and affordable essentials to poorer communities. I have a massive soft spot for Aldi. I've actually talked about them on HN before, embarrassingly. Probably mainland Europe (esp. France) has better options, I'm sure.
  - walshemj 13y ago
    One of the Sunday papers in the UK did a test comparing aldi and three other supermarkets for steak. Aldi was at the bottom buy a long way.
    - James_Duval 13y ago
      That's certainly a relevant test, and I'd like to see the method and results. I can believe it, if only because the quality of the best fresh produce at Aldi tends to be very high, but that of the worst tends to be relatively low. You definitely have to be a little more careful if you're looking for the best produce. That said, I would be surprised if Tesco, Asda, or Iceland were included in this test.
      - richardwhiuk 13y ago
        If Tesco and Asda weren't included (two of the UK's largest supermarkets) then the test was essentially irrelevant to most of the populace.
hussong 13y ago
German Aldis offer good customer experience and the assorment of goods has come close to premium supermarkets in affluent areas, giving the old nickname "Feinkost Albrecht" a new meaning. At the same time, they have recently been getting their share of criticism for how they pay and treat their workers. Seems like they're still well avove Lidl, but not a prime example any more.
forgotAgain 13y ago
An Aldi opened nearby about two years ago. Every package of fish was imported from China. Every package of frozen meat was imported from China. I love low prices but I'm not going to eat suspect product to get them.

I'd love to have an Aldi in the Silicon Valley, at least if the concept is similar to the ones in Germany.

by thetrb 13y ago

I'd love to have an Aldi in the Silicon Valley, at least if the concept is similar to the ones in Germany.

billybob255 13y ago

The ones in MI seem to be similar to the ones in Germany.

Amadou 13y ago

The Aldis in Illinois roughly 20 years ago were bottom-barrel discount grocery stores. Poorly maintained and all the produce was very suspicious. I don't know which half of the Aldi empire owned those stores. Trader Joes is owned by the north aldi brother.

X-Istence 13y ago
That's the Aldi I know and love from The Netherlands... so I assume it is like the ones in Germany.
- skyebook 13y ago
  That's a scary thought.. As recently as 2011 when given an Aldi and a Rewe next door to each other, it was really difficult to ever choose Aldi (in fact, the only reason to really venture in was their cheap and unlimited 3G SIM card resales). That said, Rewe managed to also make itself more useful in the process by actually having everything I needed so the extra price ended up working out, to some degree, if you count convenience.
- sudont 13y ago
  It is. The Aldi's in Wisconsin, USA are pretty much the exact same as the one I was at in Berlin, except for different brands. Pretty much the same layout, except the Berlin one had beer.
  - rthomas6 13y ago
    Aldi in Georgia, USA has beer also.
joezydeco 13y ago
Aldi has improved in the Chicago area in the last decade. There's been a wave of new construction in more affluent suburbs and stores have expanded to include liquor sales in certain areas. But yeah, it's still no frills. Staples like milk and baking goods are dirt cheap, but I wouldn't chance the produce. Lots of processed food. Bakery is all mass-produced. Interestingly, the supermarkets I've been to in Germany lately are becoming more like US ones (Rewe, Edeka) but some are still super no-frills (Penny Markt, Norma)
selectodude 13y ago
Apparently Aldi has one of the toughest receiving for their produce nowadays. So that may have changed.
tanzam75 13y ago
> The Aldis in Illinois roughly 20 years ago were bottom-barrel discount grocery stores. Poorly maintained and all the produce was very suspicious. I don't know which half of the Aldi empire owned those stores. All Aldis in the United States are Aldi South. The two Aldis are territorially-exclusive when it comes to the Aldi branding. Incidentally, Aldi South has a different logo from Aldi North. So you can go to any country with an Aldi and tell which half it belongs to.

jmspring 13y ago

My first experience with Aldi was in Frankfurt when my then girlfriend (now wife) wanted me to go get her something that was on sale/a deal. It left an impression - it was a mix of US black friday and hypersensitivity to efficiency. Know what you want, focus on retrieving those items, and be efficient. Lots of grumbling if you held someone up or weren't ready to pay at the checkout counter. It was one sampling, but I still remember it 11 years later.

flexie 13y ago

Really? In most of Europe Aldi is associated with poor quality. Great place to buy canned food, toilet paper or cleaning products but not the place you'd want to buy meat, milk or veggies. I am not sure it's fair anymore. Part of it probably came from the fact that the fixtures used to be so run down. Long after all other stores had started using bar codes, Aldi employees had to memorize PLU codes.

James_Duval 13y ago
It's not fair at all in Britain. The whole "Didldidi" Mitchell & Webb snobbishness conceals the fact that Aldi's food is generally of better quality and cheaper than Tesco's or Asda's. It doesn't tend to be as good as Sainsbury's, and of course it doesn't compete with M&S or Waitrose, but Aldi is the only store which seems to bring both decent jobs and affordable essentials to poorer communities. I have a massive soft spot for Aldi. I've actually talked about them on HN before, embarrassingly. Probably mainland Europe (esp. France) has better options, I'm sure.
- walshemj 13y ago
  One of the Sunday papers in the UK did a test comparing aldi and three other supermarkets for steak. Aldi was at the bottom buy a long way.
  - James_Duval 13y ago
    That's certainly a relevant test, and I'd like to see the method and results. I can believe it, if only because the quality of the best fresh produce at Aldi tends to be very high, but that of the worst tends to be relatively low. You definitely have to be a little more careful if you're looking for the best produce. That said, I would be surprised if Tesco, Asda, or Iceland were included in this test.
    - richardwhiuk 13y ago
      If Tesco and Asda weren't included (two of the UK's largest supermarkets) then the test was essentially irrelevant to most of the populace.

hussong 13y ago

German Aldis offer good customer experience and the assorment of goods has come close to premium supermarkets in affluent areas, giving the old nickname "Feinkost Albrecht" a new meaning. At the same time, they have recently been getting their share of criticism for how they pay and treat their workers. Seems like they're still well avove Lidl, but not a prime example any more.

forgotAgain 13y ago

An Aldi opened nearby about two years ago. Every package of fish was imported from China. Every package of frozen meat was imported from China. I love low prices but I'm not going to eat suspect product to get them.