Aldi expansion

You could all go to Waitrose: www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/new-waitrose-delivery-service-will-come-into-your-house-and-sneer-at-it-20181005178044

I don't like Aldi, its messy and has huge queues because only two tills are open. I shop at Lidls and Waitrose for my fish and meat (buying it when its reduced and then freeze). The two supermarkets are next door to each other so its dead easy because you can use the same car park. Its nothing to do withs nob value shopping at Waitrose,j I have tried plenty of other places for my meat and fish, including the local butcher but always come back to Waitrose for the fish and meat.

Speaking of shopping and snobbery, my son and his family used to live in California. The best place for celeb-spotting wasn't the fancy hotels and restaurants or the upmarket shops.

It was Costco at Malibu, where well-kent faces could often be seen, because they like a bargain as much as anyone else.

There was a large Polish Community where I grew up in the 1940s and 50s. My ex-boyfriend even became Mayor . Fancy that.

We have a large Polish Community locally - a consequence of remnants of the Polish Air Force and Army who who were billeted here during the 2nd world war, settled here and were later, right up to the present day, joined by relatives.

Both Lidl and Aldi stock a wide range of Polish delicacies to cater for these Polish/Scots in their local stores but these are not available in their stores in neighbouring counties, nor in the other local Tesco, ASDA, Morrisons.

I think this attention to detail and meeting local preferences is one of the reasons for their continued growth and success.

We have a new Aldi nearby and I have visited twice. It's unbelievably untidy - nobody seems to care. I won't be going again.

Maw

Not where I live, you don't. Any 'foreign languages' or accents heard in my small town are spoken by tourists or cleaners, not residents.
No foreign doctors near you then GG?

Perhaps GG lives in Timbukto.
Oh! I forgot - they're all foreigners there.
And it wouldn't be classed as a 'small town' either.

Maw, Thanks for alerting me to that post. I'd have missed it otherwise.

Any bets on which ultra posh, small town GabriellaG lives in? Maybe lots of second homes to accommodate the tourists and provide employment for cleaners?

Time for the Aldi/Lidl song perhaps?
g.co/kgs/Cn1uEh

Merlotgran
Not where I live, you don't. Any 'foreign languages' or accents heard in my small town are spoken by tourists or cleaners, not residents

Is GabriellaG Katie Hopkins in disguise?

Maybe the foreigners in GabriellaG's small and perfect town are employed to keep the fantasy public lavatories clean for her, just in case she needs to use them after 40 or so years of holding on, someone has to launder the hand towels and then be grateful for the few pennies she gives

Where do the cleaners live? Are they not residents?

merlotgran
Not where I live, you don't. Any 'foreign languages' or accents heard in my small town are spoken by tourists or cleaners, not residents.

Lily O'Brien's chocolate is disturbingly awful. Tried a box of them once, never again and who on earth wants to eat an 'acceptable' cheesecake?
Food should be moreish and lift your spirits, both visually and taste-wise, whether beans on toast (Tom Kerridge's recipe is wonderful) or a complicated Michelin starred presentation.

Gardenoma, your post has dragged up a long-forgotten memory for me! I recall now that when staying with friends in Germany in 1975 we went to a Lidl. As you say, it was piled high with teetering cardboard boxes!

I've also remembered that we bought strawberry wine there and enjoyed it so much that the next year, we had a bash at making our own strawberry wine. Let's just say it was somewhat more potent than the commercial variety.

I shop mainly in Aldi and Lidl and also use Morrisons for butcher meat although I'm sure that both the former are of good enough quality but can buy the exact amount from the butcher as opposed to pre-packed. Living in Spain we have used Lidl's for years and was absolutely delighted when they opened in the town here. Another reason I like Lidl's is their wine selection and quality. Reading wine reviews I often find Lidl's recommended for both price and quality and although I am in Aldi's more often I always buy wine in Lidl's. The only problem I find with both stores are the shoppers who pack at the checkout rather than use the shelf built for this purpose. Can 't understand why they don't notice the size of the counter at the check out and realise the difficulty of trying to pack shopping into bags there rather than put it back quickly into their trolley and then pack at their leisure once through the checkout!

M0nica Yes, someone, somewhere, has to be funding such low prices.
I did hear, though, that when there is a 'two for one' or 'three for two' offer in such supermarkets as Tesco, that it is the farmer or producer who is forced to fund this, not the supermarket itself. Aldi and Lidl do not have offers such as 'BOGOF', just generally lower prices.

I'd like to know what plans they have for post-Brexit re the supply chains.

the Aisle of Weirdness

the aisle that DH loves! Only it's the one in Lidl as we have no Aldi here.

Monica. I believe the so called extra unpaid time by staff was due to a rule that staff have to be ready to start work at the beginning of their shift ie if you are scheduled to be on the floor or till at 9am you need to arrive at 8.50 to get changed into uniform, put personal effects in locker etc. Not unreasonable and common practice

Apart from all the above mentioned advantages at Lidl and Aldi there is the fact that they don't constantly change stuff around like all the other supermarkets do in order to make you discover products you might not have seen/bought otherwise.
The next enormous advantage is that their layout here not only stays mostly the same but is almost replicated abroad, so shopping when on holiday is easy.
For me this cuts down on the stress factor as I hate shopping!
All this coupled with their superb vegetable, dairy and meat products and not to forget the great booze section makes me a fan. I've been shopping lidl and aldi since the 70s when I had to nip across the border to germany as there weren't any in holland yet and all their products were in large cardboard boxes rather haphazardly scattered around but even then they were terrific value and have only improved since.

We are to have an Aldi soon, within walking distance! We already have a Lidl about 2 miles away, and it's one of their larger stores, about twice the size of their other stores in the vicinity.
DH is pleased about the new Aldi, because he loves their wine, well one in particular, and currently the nearest branch is about 5 miles away.
Although I do shop in both Aldi and Lidl from time to time, I don't honestly like doing the bulk of my shopping there, because there always seem to be several things I can't get there, which doesn't happen at Tesco or Sainsbury. So then I have to go to another store anyway, to get the missing items ?

My very first experience of Aldi was very poor. I bought maybe half a dozen items. I was charged twice for one item and when I opened a tin of plum tomatoes, there were precisely one-and-a-half tomatoes inside, along with a lot of watery juice. It's over 20 miles to my neast Aldi so it wasn't feasible to go back to complain.

I gave it a second chance, though, when I heard they sometimes sell craft yarns in the Aisle of Weirdness, and I have been more successful since then.

I bought two avocadoes recently which were at that elusive point of ripeness between being hard and going black. Perfect! Great bananas, too, and not wrapped in plastic.

I don't do much of my shopping there, though, as it's too far away.

How boring to shop at just one retailer. Having retired, variety being the spice of life and with four major supermarkets in my area, I can take my pick .

A few things I've found in Sainsburys and Asda that are cheaper than at Lidl and Aldi.
Alot of the fruit and veg is not such good quality at both my local Lidl and Aldi and Lidl doesn't have dates on packets only week numbers which can be confusing.
I don't stay loyal to any supermarket generally shop around

Both Lidl and Aldi have broken the law with employment and food.
For me, the worst was committed by Lidl when they poisoned food in their waste bins to stop homeless people raiding the bins.