Olathe area folks - Aldi's (Wichita, Hope: sales, how much, buy)

[MurphyPl1]

I live in North Texas and Aldi's is coming to town. They did a presentation at the Council meeting of the small, upper middle class town I live in to get some buy in on building here.

I was not impressed by their presentation and some of their points. No CC, only cash, debit or EBT? No one to bag groceries? Have to pay for a cart? Very few employees? Only one size of each item? I'm very concerned about lack of service.

They used your area as an examploye of an affluent area where Aldi's has been incredibly successful.

So tell me- are they right? Do y'all really love Aldi's? Or was that total sales pitch?

Thanks!

[quesera]

You put a quarter in a slot on the cart handle. It pushes a connecting chain attached to the cart in front of you, out the backside of the handle. You go in, buy your groceries, bag them yourself AFTER they're all checked through the line, then you take the cart to your car, unload it and return the cart to the corral. Put the connecting chain into the back side of the quarter slot and it pushes your quarter back out. This ensures you return the cart to the proper location.

The check out part of it is really no different that the warehouse clubs.

[Samantha S]

There are several Aldis in the Johnson County, KS area. I don't know if they are on the MO side of KC or not.

They seem to do fairly well. I know people who shop there. I have been there, but do not frequent their stores.

The people who do shop there seem to like it a lot. The main reason they give is that they save money. The savings seems to make up for the lower level shopping amenities. They know to bring their own bags, etc. While it's a store known for cost-cutting, they have placed their stores in pretty nicely affluent areas. They appear to be kept nice and clean. I haven't noticed any "stigma" attached to shopping there. This is unlike some of the other no-frills groceries like Food4Less where the stores were known for being fairly dirty, yucky places to shop.

Personally, I do most of my grocery shopping at Walmart and Costco. Maybe I would save money at Aldi, my friends who shop there have encouraged me to try it, but so far I haven't made a habit of going there.

Hope that helps!

[MurphyPl1]

Samantha, thank you. That does give me a good perspective.

Quesera, why did you even bother with such a snarky answer. Fabulous midwest hospitality I've heard so much about.

[vb_guy]

They have them in the Wichita area as well. I've only been in them one time, but I know several people who go to Aldi's because it is cheaper. I don't remember the "you put a quarter in a slot on the cart handle ... it pushes a connecting chain attached to the cart in front of you, out the backside of the handle" that quesera mentioned above, but I remembered that the people who work there were not very friendly. I was not impressed with Aldi's.

I actually prefer Dillons (Kroger). Cleaner stores here, and better service.

[quesera]

Geez Louise... it wasn't meant to be snarky. I was just trying to explain that you don't "pay" to use the cart.

The Aldi's stores I've been in (only 3), have been very clean and uncluttered. I just recently started shopping at one of them, because my autistic son wanted to see if he could save money there on his purchases. I was surprised to see how much cheaper canned goods were, compared to the more well-known chain grocery stores. The quality isn't on par with Green Giant or Libby, but it's better than Wal Mart's or Dillon's (Kroger) store brand veg (in my opinion). Most things are cheaper, some quite a bit, other items, just a little.

I drive by the store I've shopped in, every weekend, as it's on the way to my son's job. There are always several cars in the lot, so they keep pretty busy.

[Kara Baxter]

Aldi's is great! they are dirt cheap. canned veggys are 33 cents. here in rapid city, canned veggys are $1 on sale. we don't have an aldi's. and have to pay thru the nose for food here.

I can fill my cart for $75 vs $125 at the other grocery store.

They have their own brands too. And its a limited selection. But they are wonderful to feed a family on a limited budget.

I wish they had one here in Rapid!

[StuckinOZ]

Aldi's is super! A few years ago, when I was between jobs, I started going to Aldi's. I couldn't believe how much I saved, and although the brands are not "name brands" (for the most part), most of their products are really good. Some I even prefer to the name brand. Now, I go there first and whatever I cannot get at Aldi's I get somewhere else. The savings really add up. For example, liquid laundry detergent for $2.99 versus $6.99 at Wal-Mart.

[Violet1816]

I personally do not like Aldi's or shop there. Just my opinion. I don't want to have to pay for a cart and the cash only thing just doesn't work for me,though i see they now take debit cards. I do buy "off" brands at other stores. I also don't care to bag my own groceries. I do have a friend who only shopped there.

[Mathguy]

I used them all the time in college. It's really good for certain types of food etc. and is very inexpensive.

Frankly though, I make a decent living now and am generally short for time so I go to Costco and the local grocery store since they are closer and more convenient.

If I were on more of a budget I'd absolutely be shopping there still.