ALDI Grocery Stores

[citykid09]

Is a new grocery store called Aldi coming to Houston?

Metroplex (Dallas Fort Worth getting them first)

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/157129.html

They look like CVS or Walgreens to me (on the outside).

[editor]

I remember Aldi. They're the absolute BOTTOM of the barrel of grocery stores. I used to have to shop there when I was dirt poor. Really poor. Like living in the unheated concrete basement of a 7-Eleven with no furniture poor. I was that poor.

The selection is pretty random. Fresh fruits, meats, and vegetables are/were rare. I seem to recall that they mostly carried boxed and canned food.

I will say they seem to have improved since I shopped there, though. When I went there they didn't have grocery bags. Instead, they had a big pile of cardboard scraps and boxes in the front of the store that the food came packed in. When you checked out, you put your food back into the shopping cart, then found boxes and flats from the pile and took them to a series of folding tables and arranged your food in them.

That doesn't seem to be true anymore, because I've seen a number of bag ladies carrying around Aldi-branded bags.

Also, looking at the Aldi web site it seems like they're now carrying a wider variety of food.

[Mr. Chenevert]

We had Aldi's back in PA. They are crap. They get all the dented up boxes and cans, and in some cases expired stuff and sell it cheap.

You cant actually do your grocery shopping there because you never know what they are going to have from week to week.

Almost like a dollar store for food.

[Trae]

Is a new grocery store called Aldi coming to Houston?

Metroplex (Dallas Fort Worth getting them first)

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/157129.html

They look like CVS or Walgreens to me (on the outside).

I'll pass on Aldi's from what I have heard about them.

[Subdude]

I went to one of these in PA also. It had to be the most depressing shopping experience of my life.

[ChannelTwoNews]

I thought they were just in the northeast. I ran into one last year while I was visiting Central NY (Binghamton) to get a few quick things, but wasn't all that impressed. Mostly for the reasons already stated, but the service was kinda lacking. Then again, if I worked there I probably wouldn't be in the best mood to help either... but I digress.

[Spades]

They are in Chicago as well as DC. This was being discussed on other forums that Aldi's I believe is the parent company of Trader Joe's. This will help make a way for Texas to receive Trader Joe's.

[jmancuso]

there's one in my hometown (utica, ny) as well but i think this store is based out of germany.

[Houstonian in Iraq]

They're all over the UK too. Really nothing to get excited about. Really

[VelvetJ]

We used to shop at Aldi years ago when we lived in St. Louis. My most prominent memory of the store is the fact that you had to bring your own shopping bags for when you checked out.

[Houston19514]

Is a new grocery store called Aldi coming to Houston?

Metroplex (Dallas Fort Worth getting them first)

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/157129.html

They look like CVS or Walgreens to me (on the outside).

The more important question... Do they have them in Atlanta? ;-)

[citykid09]

So Aldi is coming to town, but I just saw on the news that one Houston neighborhood doesn't want it behind their houses.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/print-edition/2011/11/25/discount-retailers-bulk-up-in-houston.html

[trymahjong]

There is an Aldi's on southside of Oklahoma City--It's not a swanky grocery store but it wasn't a third world kind of store either-- it's cash only, shopping carts have to have quarters put in slots to free them from locked bin--still no shopping bags --

but it serves an area that most other stores have abandoned, and seems clean, tidy and reasonably priced.

[Houston19514]

Yeah, it's a no-frills discount grocery. They also own Trader Joe's.

[TheNiche]

HEB had best hurry up with those Joe V's concept stores. Can't let Aldi beat you to the punch!

[Fringe]

There's one on the west side of Fort Worth that I always pass on the way to the ranch. I will have to check it out next time I go up there.

[houstonartstudent]

HEB had best hurry up with those Joe V's concept stores. Can't let Aldi beat you to the punch!

From my understanding Aldi is quite different that Joe V's...Joe V's almost felt like a smaller Sam's Club with the pallets and products everywhere. However, it was about the size of a smaller-scale grocer (in between the old HEB Pantry's and a typical Randall's) The thing I'm most excited about Aldi is that it's the size of a typical CVS...which means close parking and you don't have to go through a maze if you just want to get some milk but pay the same price that you would at a regular grocery store. I've heard mixed reviews about the service, so I hope employees are motivated, and I would assume the concept has to work well enough if they're able to do such a huge expansion in the US.

[west20th]

NIMBY backlash in Katy to the Aldi store.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8458506

[ernie5823]

There is an Aldi near me - not sure if it's in Powder Springs or Marietta GA, but it's on Powder Springs Road. It IS about the size of a CVS or Walgreens. I once went in there, just to look around. If you're willing to try their "store brand" it would probably be OK, since that's all they sell. Prices looked to be about same as "store brand" stuff at Kroger. Probably would be a good place to stop for bread & milk without fighting with crowds or paying high prices at 7-11 type store.

[houblu]

BTW Aldi is a German company and it owns trader joe's.

[plumber2]

NIMBY backlash in Katy to the Aldi store.

http://abclocal.go.c...ocal&id=8458506

Occupy Katy?

[IronTiger]

I thought Aldi was relatively nice (if low-end), based on the reviews I read. But on my Google Earth adventures, Aldi always seems to be in the most desolate, blighted areas.

[TheNiche]

Aldi apparently bought several acres at Fairmont Pkwy. and Watters Rd. in Pasadena for a new 20,000-square-foot store. Pasadena is also getting a 30,000-square-foot ALCO at Pasadena Blvd. & Red Bluff, and a Bravo Ranch Supermercado in 42,130 square feet at S. Richey & Queens. Source: Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership

[Fringe]

Finally stopped in at Aldi's while in Fort Worth over the weekend. I wasn't impressed. Certainly no variety. Just one brand of everything and I didn't recognize a single brand they carried. Having never seen a Trader Joe's I can't comment if they are the same but I suspect they carry the same brand merchandise. They did have cheap snack foods.

[woolie]

I've been to Aldi in Europe. They love it. But it's basically like a smaller CostCo. Never been to one in the US.

[barracuda]

I shopped at Aldi's with my roommates a few times back in college. Like Fringe, I was never that impressed. They predominately carried random store-brand versions of canned and dry goods, along with a really limited assortment of produce (think 3-lb plastic bags of super-green bananas). It's not a place you shop if you are making something from a recipe, as chances are good they won't have what you need. But if you like cheap pre-packaged foodstuffs and enjoy being surprised by a changing selection each visit, they are your place.

[Pleak]

Looks like we will eventually get 30 Aldi stores once they are all built out.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/discount-grocer-aldi-coming-to-houston-2012-05-14

[crunchtastic]

There is a proposed Aldi on S Mason in Katy, right outside my parents subdivision (Oak something near the HEB at Mason and Highland Knolls) There are a number of "stop Aldi" signs in the yards. I found it interesting that people living on a major arterial road in the suburbs are shocked and horrified that a retailer would pursue a location on an large empty corner. I asked my folks and if they understand the protest correctly, it's because traffic would get worse and Aldi is considered ghetto and more befitting North Mason or N Fry Rd.

[TheNiche]

Yeah, it's the ghetto association. Katy figured out that they're the ghetto of tomorrow, today, and is only stalling for time. North Katy is the ghetto of...NOW.

[Trae]

I thought Aldi was relatively nice (if low-end), based on the reviews I read. But on my Google Earth adventures, Aldi always seems to be in the most desolate, blighted areas.

They aren't, at least in DFW. They are mostly in middle class areas (like Katy or Pearland). This is why I don't understand all this crap coming from Katy. I work near Fort Worth's Katy clone (Mansfield, TX) and it has an Aldi's right next to a Lifetime Fitness and upscale neighborhoods to the south. I have no idea why Aldi's is getting this ghetto label from people. There is nothing ghetto about it. They won't have everything you need, but if you just want chips, drinks, and other simple things, then they are honestly the best place to get them. Once that Aldi in Katy opens, half the neighborhood will be shopping there. And it's not like Oak Park Trails is the nicest neighborhood anyway....it's an average middle class neighborhood (half of it built by KB Homes).