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OK, Passaic County got its first Aldi at the end of January, and now, finally, Bergen County gets its first Aldi in East Rutherford. I've been going to the Clifton Aldi nearly weekly since they opened. I love them. Good quality food at dirt cheap prices. I was excited to check out this new East Rutherford Aldi store. The store is at 59 Route 17 South, in the Liberty Commons strip mall.
What is Aldi's? Well, I'll put it this way: it's pretty much a no-frills Trader Joe's targeted to lower-middle-class people instead of upper-middle-class people. They sell only the basics, and the stores are small, like Trader Joe's. There is a lot of similarity in products (potato chips, nuts, dried fruits, dairy items, frozen foods) between the two chains. The difference is the packaging is more no frills at Aldi's, and, in almost all cases, the products at Aldi's are way cheaper.
So, how does the East Rutherford store compare to the Clifton store? Well, it's bigger. Quite a bit bigger (maybe 25%-30% bigger). This probably means they'll have more items available on a regular basis. But...
The layout in Clifton is MUCH nicer. The Clifton store is basically four straight lines of items, with the freezers/refrigerators along the back and side of the store. The East Rutherford store flows in the opposite direction of the Clifton store. It was like Bizarro Clifton. There is also a cross "aisle" dividing the merchandise, making things a bit more chaotic with people going in different directions. The store was busy, but not quite crazy.
The other problem with the East Rutherford Aldi is the location. It's in a fairly recently built, fairly large strip mall with a whole lot of stores on a very busy highway. The parking lot is crazy. The Clifton Aldi is located in a much older, smaller strip mall, in a bit of an industrial area, and there isn't a whole lot else in that area. It gets busy there, sure, but I don't think it will ever be the circus that this East Rutherford store is sure to be.
They had some nice grand opening specials: white bread and hot dog rolls for $.25, fresh pineapples for $.49, and South African (???) navel oranges for $.99 per bag.
Will I be back to the East Rutherford Aldi? Absolutely. But based on my initial impressions, I'll be sticking with the Clifton store as my regular store. You won't go wrong with either one, though.
I had gone to an Aldi in upstate NY, the layout is interesting, to say the least. It was fairly small, I remember the cashiers having little chairs they can sit on(not usual for grocery stores). Cool little place though, I'll probably check this one out next time I head to the meadowlands.
Aldi's is actually really good. I still go to Shop Rite for a few things that I can't get at Aldi's, but I do most of my shopping now at Aldi's. The Aldi's brand is almost if not as good as the name brands and it's half the price of the name brands.
Here's a blog I read, it has reviews, prices and recipes:
Aldi's is actually really good. I still go to Shop Rite for a few things that I can't get at Aldi's, but I do most of my shopping now at Aldi's. The Aldi's brand is almost if not as good as the name brands and it's half the price of the name brands.
Here's a blog I read, it has reviews, prices and recipes:
Me too. I rarely go to "mainstream" supermarkets any more. I get my staples at Aldi's, and my meats/produce at Corrado's or Fairway.
Of the stuff I've bought at Aldi's, I'd say 50% is equal to a name brand (hot dog/hamburger rolls, butter), 30% is close (bought bootleg Milky Ways yesterday, and while they're real good, they're not quite the real thing), 10% is BETTER (their danish strips are better than the Entenmann's comparables, and their canned/bagged nuts rock) , and 10% is worse (their ketchup is pretty bad). Not a bad record. And it's all about 40% - 50% of the typical supermarket price.
Me too. I rarely go to "mainstream" supermarkets any more. I get my staples at Aldi's, and my meats/produce at Corrado's or Fairway.
Of the stuff I've bought at Aldi's, I'd say 50% is equal to a name brand (hot dog/hamburger rolls, butter), 30% is close (bought bootleg Milky Ways yesterday, and while they're real good, they're not quite the real thing), 10% is BETTER (their danish strips are better than the Entenmann's comparables, and their canned/bagged nuts rock) , and 10% is worse (their ketchup is pretty bad). Not a bad record. And it's all about 40% - 50% of the typical supermarket price.
I was talking to a girl who worked there a few years ago, they put them through extensive training, and she said they won't sell their own brand of a product until it's as close as possible to the original.
I think I'm going to take my first Aldi trip this week to Rockaway. What are some things you would recommend? I'll be looking at kid friendly stuff - mac & cheese, pasta, sauce, etc.
I think I'm going to take my first Aldi trip this week to Rockaway. What are some things you would recommend? I'll be looking at kid friendly stuff - mac & cheese, pasta, sauce, etc.
I go to the Rockaway store and it's awesome. You'll be able to find all those things there, also I buy the bags of salad for .99 and it tastes just like the salad you'd buy at Shop Rite, the cereal and oatmeal packs taste good and it's very inexpensive, same with peanut butter and jelly. They also have things like chicken nuggets and burritos at a great price. I buy my bottled water at BJ's but I buy the small 10oz. bottle of water at Aldi's because it's a great price. They also have cans of their brand of Spaghetti O's and we had no problem with it at all, it tasted the same. The bread and bagels are a great price, you can get a pack of large bagels anywhere from .99-$1.49 whereas at Shop Rite they're usually over $4.00. The Yogurt is a great price too as is the Orange Juice, and there are so many snacks like applesauce, pudding etc. that you can put in your kids lunches.
Just an FYI, you either bring your own bags to pack your food or you can buy them there, .06 for paper bags .10 for large reusable plastic bags, they also sell freezer bags that are reusable and canvas bags.
I am the only one who found Aldi gross? I went to the one in Rockaway and couldn't wait to leave. Hmmm reading all the rave reviews above I think I should go back and check again. Perhaps I was too cranky to be shopping that day?
I am the only one who found Aldi gross? I went to the one in Rockaway and couldn't wait to leave. Hmmm reading all the rave reviews above I think I should go back and check again. Perhaps I was too cranky to be shopping that day?
What do you mean by gross? the store is very clean and the staff are so nice.
im a big fan of aldi. i have one near me in hazlet. they did knock my white bread up to .89 a loaf recently, but its still .10 cheaper than the next one. milk is 3.99 there now, so no more aldi milk. costco is better and pretty much next door. its a great place if you want good stuff for a great prace and dont want to check to see whats on sale at any given moment. shopping at regular grocery stores without knowing whats on sale is not a good idea.
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