Well, well. My fam back home was an Aldi fam. My dad owned all the Aldi cookbooks (yup, they exist) 
Perhaps no surprise people are looking for cheaper options now that the tariffs will be kicking in…
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Aldi is now the third largest supermarket in the UK, with long established brands, Tesco and Sainsbury (the latter our usual shop) in first and second place. German discount competitor, Lidl (which we prefer to Aldi) is likely to move up to 5th place when new figures are released in the new year.
Never got into Lidl — mentally, not physically 
I’ve lived in places with an Aldi. Loved it. Alas, the closest one is a 3 hour drive.
Our closest branch up until a couple years ago was a 30 min drive. Not something we ever wanted to do unless we were coming up that way from elsewhere, yet local Instacart custies thought it was perfectly acceptable to order 50+ items from there & not add a tip… for a one-hour roundtrip and lawd knows how much shopping time 
Now we have 2 at each end of our town. One is 0.1 mile closer 
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Brand new Aldi just a little over a mile away, so it’s now my first stop.
I still have to go to Publix or Sprouts for some things, but between the lower costs and the fact that I can be in and out in half the time, it’s less cultlike and far more practicality.
The fact that it’s in the same plaza as the wine bar may be a factor…
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We now have both. I’ve never been to a Lidl. Only visited the Aldi once - right before the pandemic.
When I first visited the Aldi down south from us I guess I was expecting similar or even the same German products I was accustomed to. Silly girl! The only thing we came home with that day was a set of plates & bowls.
I really appreciate having it closer now, and there are any number of Aldi products of which I am a huge fan 
I will have to visit again. If I can find a quarter.
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There have been rumors of an Aldi opening here for over a year, but so far it hasn’t happened. Maybe the push in the article will make it happen.
We never get a cart. We just use one of the many empty cardboard containers lying about & put our items in there
I have these great Orvis stand-up-by-themselves mesh totes. They used to use them in their stores as shopping baskets. Of course, they don’t make them anymore. So I take care of my stash.
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We have a new Aldi very close to us. Went there once and was very much underwhelmed by the sparse layout and large space of non-food things. Please tell me how I might learn to shop there and be a fan with a Trader Joe’s very close. Our in-laws think Aldi is great.
I think the existing Aldi threads would be a great start
I read a lot of them and see the things people like there. I guess my question is…… what do they do better than Trader Joe’s in food. I ask because they didn’t seem to have anywhere near the number or variety of food items when I was there. I get the sense that their prices might be lower, but I don’t really know. Maybe I’m too lazy to do my own research.
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They’re similar, but they’re absolutely not an equal comparison.
TJs prefers urban locations with really awful parking, so it always feels like Im going into battle…traffic will be bad to get there, and the parking will be a nightmare. Aldi are usually in shopping centers with more accessiible parking.
No quarter for the carts that I recall at TJs, while youll nees a quarter (euro in Europe) to unlock the carts.
Tjs is far more full line grocery with much more upscale offerings and a lot of really neat own brand options.
Aldi is all about essential items (although their produce selection has improved both in terms of options and quality in recent years) and most of their items are own-branded. Most of their private label items are really good (and lots of them are actually made by the national brands).
Aldi has The Crap Aisle (as a friend called it) or on social media as The Aisle of Shame…various home goods that they bring in based on the weekly theme. Electrical appliances are generally good quality, and I’ve even bought clothing that I wear frequently (a cotton dress for $15 brought lots of compliments at a recent party). Ive also bought plants and gardening tools that have performed well.
Aldi’s strong suits are chocolate (Belgian or German and very high quality), cheese (especially the European and UK imports) and wine (their Winking Owl brand has about 6 varietals that arent home runs but are very, very drinkable at just $3-4 a bottle, and they almost always have Provencal roses).
Good prices on meat and eggs, too.
If we were closer I’d offer to go with you and point out my favorites…but it’s worth going in when you have some time and just wander the aisles. After a visit or two youll start to get a good feel for what’s there.
I’m guessing my average basket is about 20% cheaper at Aldi than at Publix.
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First off, I love to shop in different places for groceries. So I view Aldi as a once in a while stop, mostly to see what they have that is new. Their cheeses, crackers, and other snacks are quite good and well priced. Choceur chocolates–especially around Christmas–are a must in my house. Prices for basics such as milk and eggs are almost always the best I can find.
Are they better than TJ? Not particularly. TJ also has great cheeses and snacks that are well priced, and their frozen meal section is really good IMO.
I live in New York, so neither TJ nor Aldi sells wine in their locations here. But the Aldi I did go to in Alabama had a great wine selection at very fair prices. I hear that TJ does as well, where they can sell wine in supermarkets.
ETA: So I now realize that this might not be all that helpful to you as I can’t come up with a convincing argument either way LOL.
Their holiday specials are also amazing. And I’ve sung the praises of their black tiger shrimp so much no doubt peeps are sick of hearing about it
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I have bought their Gulf shrimp and its really good and *not mushy.
I’m spoiled on the shrimp front though. I live close enough to the shrimp docks that I can drive up to the dock and buy flash frozen shrimp in 5 pound boxes for insanely little money.
I break it into half-pound bags and always have shrimp on hand.
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Nice! I’ve never seen gulf shrimp at Aldi! We can occasionally get them from our fishmonger, but they obviously won’t be as fresh as getting them straight from the dock!
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