Aldi expansion

I used to love Lidl's, but don't go any more because the car park is just a joke. You have to get a ticket inside, maximum one hour, then race round trying to get shopping, then can't get through the tills because of the ques! You then get a £70 fine for being three minutes over the hour!! How can that work for any length of time, it's crazy. Our Aldi has the same system. They'll have to sort this out!

We have a lovely brand new Lidl in Welling Kent.
My h and I are going to try it out in the week.

I don't shop in Aldi or Lidl. I support British businesses. Use them or lose them and then don't complain if they disappear!

I think we're already flocking to Aldi and Lidl too, judging by the car parks at our local stores & by the fact we've now got a 2nd Lidl with a 2nd Aldi on the way to our Marches county town. Since retiring, I've become a convert to Lidl in particular, now I have more time. Why pay more than you have to, particularly with things like butter, cheese and other dairy products which taste exactly the same whether you've paid a lot or just half as much? My friend is a self- confessed Waitrose snob but I've converted her to various Lidl products, in particular their de luxe muesli which is the best you can buy IMO & she agrees. No parking restrictions at ours & the car parks have their fair share of luxury cars in them. It's undoubtedly a different way of shopping to the aisles of Waitrose & M&S & I appreciate there are those who would die rather than be seen to shop anywhere else, but those of us who do can reap the benefits. Creme brulee ice cream anyone? ?

The lack of choice/brands in the German stores is great. It makes shopping fast and easy for me. For example- marmalade, thin or chunky is about as complicated as it gets, who needs rows of jars of different makes on offer in the large supermarkets.

I was going to go to Aldi this morning but needed to pop into TU at our local Sainsburys to get a top if seen online. I decided to do my food shopping as I was already there - wish I hadn’t, it’s cost me at least £20 more than it would have done in Aldi!!!

Our nearest Aldi and Waitrose are within 100 feet of each other! Aldi carpark usually full, Waitrose, not so much. Anything I can’t get in Aldi I just pop across the way and get in Waitrose.
New Lidl should be coming soon even closer to me, if it gets through the Planning Process.

I just don't get this fascination with Aldi/Lidl. I have tried both & have been very unhappy with the stores themselves- all so cramped- packing facilities stressful & TBH the food just was not great quality. Don't even mention the parking!!!
The only thing I have bought & loved was a sun lounger but I went back for another & it broke the first time we used it & it & we had a real battle to get a refund from them.
I bought food for a charity lunch we were organising to keep costs down & I was very disappointed with bland cold meats & tasteless cheese.
We are about to get one in our town but I think I'll stick with Sainsburys' for main shop & things on offer in Waitrose & my free coffee thank you.
Not for me.

We have a new by-pass nearing completion and then we will have an out of town Lidl which will be great as our Aldi is small and parking a nightmare.

We've lived here since 1975. Tesco had the monopoly for decades and then thanks to extensive house building and general expansion we now have Sainsburys, Waitrose and Aldi as well.

I’m in Ireland and used to only shop at Waitrose in the U.K. but much prefer my local SuperValu. I also buy a few bits and bobs from Aldi and Lidl. I like that every SuperValu is independently owned. They’re also very good at supporting our local food producers who are often very small starter companies. The wide variety of brands stocked is brilliant. My 36yr old DS was very impressed when visiting us recently. He bought a few bottles of beer in our local SuperValu saying that he would only get a similar range of quality bottled beers in the specialist shops in London and definitely not in his local supermarkets.

Also, Lidl make the best quality ice cream and Aldi’s chocolate is superb. I think the Aldi chocolate is really Lilly O’Briens repackaged. ?
Maybe the food standards are higher in Ireland? They certainly will be after Brexit.

I regularly shop at our local Lidl here in France. They give out the announcements in English as well as French. I was surprised at 12.50pm to hear in English "closing till one". Thinking there was a sudden emergency only lasting the next 10 minutes I galloped to the tills. Then the penny dropped - "till" = "checkout" !!

I know wealthy people who shop in Aldi. Don't be such a snob. We all have to eat and if you are willing to pay Waitrose prices then good for you, their stuff if no better than Aldi but of course Aldi does not have such a wide choice, but hey ho their prices are great.

I agree mabon1!

Lovely to see Aldi and Lidl giving the (overpriced) likes of Waitrose, M&S and Booths a bit of a scare.

I can't help wondering, and worrying, why Aldi and Lidl are cheap. What are they paying their suppliers and what terms do they demand?

Jailma there are LOADS of Lidl throughout Greece, not so many of Aldi.

Aldi's pretty good- we have specific things that are cheap there (ground coffee £1.90! perfectly adequate lemon cheesecake 69p! pots of salad, feta cheese parcels, smoked mackerel...) Having got them, we go to Tescos (obviously much more choice) for the rest. Really cuts the cost!

We have a new Aldi about 13 mins drive away and it’s excellent! The meat and cheese, sausages, bacon and cooked meats are as good as Waitrose and considerably cheaper.
Tinned goods such as tomatoes, coconut milk etc., are such good value as is their gin and wine!
There are only a few items I have to buy elsewhere.
If I do have to shop at my local supermarket, Morrisons, my bill is at least £20 more !

I thinl I have mention this before on Gransnet but here goes again. We have a huge slaughterhouse on the outskirts of a local town. All the meat is locally sourced and it provides well paid employment for many people.

The meat is graded at the slaughterhouse depending on quality A+, A, B, C D. D goes for pet food, C to cheaper takeaways etc. B to Morrisons, ASDA, Tesco, A to M&S, Waitrose and Sainsburys. The A+ goes to top end restaurants and .... ALDI.

Aldi is brilliant,I used to work in Tesco and shopped there as I had a discount card.But when I left, and found Aldi discovered fruit and veg much better quality,as is there meat products.Have to try non branded goods,some are better,I prefer proper Weetabix for instance.

Jailma there are LOADS of Lidl throughout Greece, not so many of Aldi.
Yes, we did see Lidls- several in fact, but I think Aldi withdrew altogether for some reason

I buy all our wine and gin in Aldi, happily packing them into my Waitrose bottle carrier. Snobbery certainly doesn't exist here. Mothers of children attending the local well known, expensive private school can be seen stuffing their trolleys so full they struggle to push them to the 4X4.

Walk round Waitrose and you'll hear just as many Eastern European languages as you will local accents.

Sainsbury's is my favourite for wide aisles, choice and good service. I don't spend much in there though because I've already been over the road at Aldi.

Someone, I can't remember who, said they were at the checkout in Aldi and a very well-to-do looking/sounding woman in the queue was talking into her phone saying 'I won't be long, I'm just in Waitrose'

When our local Aldi was being built, a friend said to me 'you should fight that. They sell cheap booze and their car park and your area will be full of drunks swigging from cans and bottles.' I was worried, but it's a lovely store, inside and out with no such problems.