Thursday, January 29, 2009
Retail ALDI Rage: East Nashville, Meet Trader Joe's Thrifty Cousin!
Posted by Jim Ridley on Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 11:00 AM
East Nashville may be petitioning to get its own Trader Joe's, but on Feb. 9, at 615 Gallatin Rd., it gets the next best thing: ALDI.
That sound you just heard like a whale spouting was the 37205 zipcode spitting its Starbucks in unison. ALDI? The grocery too cheap to provide complimentary shopping carts or baggers? The grocery shopped by retirees and folks on fixed incomes? The grocery stocked full of obscure brand names you'll never see at Kroger? That ALDI?
Aye, that's the one. Our own Cleveland Pete, a man who can stretch a dollar until Washington's chin and forehead meet, hails it as "the peasant's grocery." It's a place where a fella can walk in with a $10 bill, buy a tub of crab clawmeat, a head of lettuce and several cans of veggies, and leave with change. As it turns out, ALDI, like Trader Joe's, is a subsidiary of German food conglomerate Albrecht Discounts.
Laugh all you want, Green Hills, but once you look past the superficial niceties (as Slashfood noted) the similarities between the two stores outweigh the differences. Sure, ALDI is functional where Trader Joe's is whimsical--in place of Trader Giotto vodka sauce, you're more likely to encounter Millville-brand cereal flakes. But the emphasis on exclusive, low-cost in-house brands is the same. The store limits its selection to some 1,400 household staples, using high-volume buying to keep the price low.
The similarities don't stop there. No-frills decor? Check. A store philosophy/personality defined by odd procedural quirks? Check. (At ALDI, shopping carts are famously provided for a quarter deposit, which you get back as you leave; bags cost a nickel extra, a quiet, unfussy bit of conservation.) If Trader Joe's has built a kind of cargo-cult narrative around itself, ALDI presents itself as the store for people too busy and cash-strapped to fool around--get in, get out, and nobody gets overcharged.
If none of this lights up the switchboards across the river, I imagine the specials will. Yesterday at the Nolensville Road ALDI outpost, I stumbled upon a huge dump bin where a woman was fishing out avocados. The price: 49 cents apiece--half what I paid at Kroger not long ago, and a sixth of what they were running the last time I was in Whole Foods. I got eight. They're hard as knots, but they can spend some time cozying up in a paper sack. Thanks to the peasant's grocer, I'll be eating like a king.
Guacamole, anyway.
Comments (10)
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Oh, did you have to go and tell everyone about ALDI? Glad to hear they're expanding in Nashville, though. Their two stores are always packed.
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It's pretty common in the grocery manufacturing industry for the "branded"companies to also package their goods for store brands. That way, they make money at both price points without diluting their brand. We've discovered that the Aldi-brand hot pockets are actually real Hot Pockets, and the roasted peanuts are Planters. There are things I wouldn't buy there, like their yogurt, cake mix, eggnog and some of the cereals. But the sugar, flour, milk, eggs, Hot Pockets, White Castles and peanuts are either standard or premium brands. What if Bites-ers near an Aldi pick their favorite product and try the Aldi version, then report back. I'd be interested in the results.
I love the Aldi Olive Oil...comes in a dark green, skinny bottle. Some of the best I've ever had. Also, their cinnamon rolls are wonderful, but go fast!
The best value I've seen there is in the fresh fruit areas, many times they have strawberries and blueberries for a fraction of Kroger prices (and less picked over).
What if Bites-ers near an Aldi pick their favorite product and try the Aldi version, then report back. I'd be interested in the results.
Just two to start:
* Aldi brand ketchup = Heinz. (And the same plant in Ohio bottles both brands.) 99 cents very day vs. $1.49 @ Kroger right now on sale.
* Aldi's Millville "Fiber Now" oat & chocolate bar = FiberOne's same bar. VERY SAME item, different packaging; $1.89 every day vs. upwards of $3.25 without a coupon. Aldi's is less expensive than Kroger's house version of the same bar, too.
Second the nomination on the olive oil quality and price, too. I nearly fell out looking at olive-oil prices at Kroger the other day when we ran out and I was making a stop there for some meat specials and thought i'd save a trip to Aldi. Nope.
We regularly shop Aldi (in a big monthly trip) for all the meal-prep basics that every pantry needs to get a healthy supper on the table. The prices are generally stable, which helps with budgeting, and we also like the fact that the company provides good benefits for its employees. (They work HARD, but they are compensated. And they're always kind and helpful.) You do have to keep an eye on expiration dates, but that's become common at every grocery now.
Oh! I forgot the turkey bacon. Absolutely delicious, lower in fat grams than national brands and always $1.89 for a package. We love it.
The Mom loves Aldi, but I've never stepped a foot in the place (incidentally, we do have one on the west side...we have everything on the west siiiiiide). It's not out of snobbery (I'm known for loving Big Lots, you know); it's that they just don't carry a whole lot of food that I like. Seems like from their ads, they carry a lot of junk foods and packaged meats. No thanks.
"You do have to keep an eye on expiration dates, but that's become common at every grocery now."
No kidding! Yogurt has sneaked past me on at least two occasions.
Seems like from their ads, they carry a lot of junk foods and packaged meats.
That's often true, but those are generally specials on national-brand overruns that they use to get people in the store. We just cruise right by those to get to the good basics; even La Fishmouth (my almost 4-year-old niece) runs past the stuff at the front to get to the produce and bagged salads. (Oh, I also forgot the bagged salads! Delicious Caesar salad kits, better than Dole and stay fresher longer, for only $1.99. They sell out quickly, though. Usually because of La Fishmouth, who will fight you for Caesar salad. And baby carrots.)
Y'all stop by the Smyrna store next time you're in the area and visit. I'll probably be in the back looking at the ground turkey and the English muffins.
Here's an interesting article on the Albrecht brothers, ALDI North and South, and Trader Joes:
http://www.privatelabelmag.com/pdf/pli_spring2006/AldiTheUberDiscounter.cfm
I'm happy to see so many people that like Aldi! My parents, in KY, LOVE it, and I grew up with it. My dad would rarely grocery shop, but he loved Aldi. Once a month or so, he would come home with BOXES loaded up with Aldi groceries.
I can't wait to stop by this new one. It's been a few years since I've been to an Aldi.
PS. In high school we had a foreign exchange student live with us from Germany. She was SOOOOO excited when she saw Aldi. It was like home to her!
