I’ve been wishing for an Aldi, although I’m blessed with 2 Trader Joe’s close by.
My cousin told me that Aldi is part of TJ’s, but I’m not inclined to believe it, given how much they drink.
Is Aldi part of the Trader Joe’s, or not?
There’s a family connection between the current owners of the two companies, but otherwise no.
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The Aldi’s I’m familiar with have always been known as a basement bargain budget store. Have they gone through a makeover?
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Not a dump here. Nice stores. Their off brand, Berman’s, is a mayonnaise as good as Hellman’s or Duke’s. Quality stuff. They have some great produce deals, too. Worth the trip for me.
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No, they’re still a bargain store. All the ones I’ve been too (NY and NJ) are clean and pretty organized.
The quality of the products is generally good for the money, especially the chocolates.
It does seem that they are promoting the Aldi finds a bit more, and they are nicer and have more of a selection than in the past.
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I think some of them have had a facelift - still bargain priced but generally good stuff. The one near me opened as a standard store and barely got any business (they also didn’t take credit cards at the time). After about 6 months they expanded the store about 30% and when they reopened, they took credit cards, and they had a lot of stuff I hadn’t seen in an Aldi before. Prosciutto, capicola and other Italian deli meats (packaged, I mean - there’s not an actual deli counter), lox, lobster tails, a lot more higher-end cheeses, expanded wine selection (with a lot more $15-$20 wines), large scallops (frozen) at great price, etc.
Mine is good for veggie produce and some fruits (not bananas, though - they’re transported too cold and have a grainy texture), and the avocados are fine at a great price (but it fluctuates a lot) compared to the fancier store across the street. Beef and chicken are pretty good but the only pork that’s not extremely fatty is tenderloin and spare ribs. Fresh trout is quite good at a good price as is the fresh salmon. Their heavy cream, half-n-half, sour cream are all good but their 2% milk went bad on me 3 times in a row ahead of the sell-by date so I don’t buy that there anymore.
Canned goods (beans, maters, meats/fishes) are generally good and cheap and hit all the requests on the food bank list for my bi-weekly shopping for it.
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There are two different Aldi companies is Germany - Aldi Nord (North) and Aldi Sued (South) (long time ago they were one company but brothers had different business ideas (in particular sales of cigarettes)and decided to split up the company and territories in Germany (and worldwide). Trader Joe os owned by Aldi North whereas all other Aldi shops in the US are owned by Aldi South - so TJ isn’t part of the US Aldi family but part of one of the Aldi companies.
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Great explanation- thanks!
