Aldi, 6075 Saint Andrews Road: 15 August 2016 (temporary) 11 comments
Well, this has already been mentioned in Have Your Say a number of times, but the Aldi on Saint Andrews Road in Irmo has closed for about a month of remodeling.
Frankly I'm not that big a fan of the chain -- I've only been in one once, and it kind of gave me the willies. I felt like a rat in a maze. Some people swear by it though, and this one should be open again on 22 September.
11 Responses to 'Aldi, 6075 Saint Andrews Road: 15 August 2016 (temporary)'
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James R
31 Aug 16 at 1:22 am
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Mom loved the place. I never found anything that I wanted in that store.
MrBO
31 Aug 16 at 5:02 am
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I shop here quite a bit as you can't beat the prices for items such as milk and eggs, produce and canned goods. I have found that the quality of their brands are no different that the brand name products (surely produced by the same companies just like other store brands). Either this remodel is due to the fact that the place was getting pretty cramped inside or maybe Save-A-Lot, or Costco are having an effect on business (even though it's awfully crowded around there at times and this expansion is going to cut into parking).
Homer
1 Sep 16 at 11:36 pm
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I shop at Aldi often. Here is what I noticed and experienced...
Cons.
You bag your own groceries.
You need to bring your own bags. I bring plastic grocery store bags.
You will need a quarter to get a shopping cart but, you get the quarter back if you return the cart to the "Shopping Cart Depot."
One could feel as if they are in a maze as Ted suggested, there is a reason for this. To keep prices down, employees are limited. The maze effect is obviously one way to insure no one goes back out the entrance with groceries. It is not perfect but it is functional.
You will not be able to find everything you need there. If you have the time, shop here first, buy all they have that you need, then hit a regular grocery store for what you could not find. This takes practice, but more than pays off in the overall food budget at the end of the month.
At the Aldi I shop, there are some really dumb ass people getting in your way. They are however smart enough to know that the prices are very good.
Be careful, some items are NOT a good price. For example, paper towels, toilet paper among other items may seem like a good price put the quality or thickness if you will is poor.
Pros.
The prices are very good. Eggs for 0.49 a dozen. A loaf of bread is 0.69, milk for 2.29 or less, Mayo that taste just likes Dukes for 1.49, produce, veggies, etc. well below your average super market price, the meat department is well stocked and the prices are what would be a really good sale price at BI-LO, Food Lion or even Wal-Mart. Cheese, butter, sandwich meat, etc, ect. are of a much lower price than any other grocery store.
Aldi is 90% store brand items. What I mean by this is they have their own label names, for example the mayo is called Burmans but, it is Dukes I'm telling you. So you will see brand names you are not familiar with, They are all brands coined by Aldi and if you read the fine print on any item it will say distrusted by Aldi. Just like BI-LO, Food Lion and Kroger store brands. I have tried everything from crackers, steak sauce, candy, beans, soup, pizza, soup, Geez I could go on and on but, what I saying is, do not be discouraged from buying brands there that you are not familiar with. The brands are specific to Aldi and are of the best quality. ALL ITEMS I HAVE PURCHASED THERE ARE NOTHING BUT THE BEST QUALITY and COMPARE WITH NAME BRANDS.
Parking is easy. Much better than parking a mile away at Wal-Mart.
The check out lanes are so fast you will not be able to put your groceries on the conveyor as fast as the clerk scans them.
With all I have said one may think I have an interest in Aldi.
I own no stock in the company if you are thinking that.
to sum Aldi up in as few words as possible...
Pros outweigh the cons. Quality of items is excellent. Service is fast. You will not be able to purchase everything you need but will find you could survive on the items found there. I highly recommend giving Aldi a try. Shop there at least 3 to 4 times before writing them off.Also I want to say I have been away from Columbia Closings for awhile due challenges in my life. These challenges are starting to "Smooth" out if you will and I will try to comment more for your reading enjoyment. (The reading enjoyment part is Humor for those that don't understand).
I accept no responsibility for grammar or spelling errors in my comments as I may be, or have been inebriated while posting.
Rick
3 Sep 16 at 12:15 pm
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I made a Typo in previous post. where I said most brands are distrusted by Aldi, which is kind of funny, It should have read 'Distributed by Aldi" Dang that was a classic typo.
Please read my disclaimer at the bottom of my previous post.Rick
3 Sep 16 at 12:21 pm
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I lived in Germany and often shopped at Aldi. However, for me, the concept never really translated very well. In Germany, even twenty years ago, it was standard to have to bring our own bag and pay a deposit for a cart. Here, it seems like a hassle.
AW
8 Sep 16 at 1:32 pm
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Here is an interesting piece of grocery business history:
100 years ago this week (1916) Piggly Wiggly opened the country's first self-serve grocery store. The store was set up to allow customers to hand pick items from open shelving rather than giving an order to a clerk behind the counter.
Homer should be old enough to remember this.
Joe Shlabotnik
10 Sep 16 at 6:10 am
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@Joe - I have read or heard about your Pig Wig comment before. When I was writing my Aldi post I thought about it but could not remember if it was the Pig or Kroger. I believe Kroger has been around for some time as well. Which when thinking of both stores seems amazing.
Rick
10 Sep 16 at 7:33 pm
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Kroger got its start as a Cincinnati-area supermarket invested by Bernard Kroger in 1883 (according to Kroger's wiki page).
My grandmother and I had a couple of discussions on Piggly Wiggly and she spoke of grocery stores where you told the person behind the counter what you wanted and they'd gather it for you. Then typically they'd get something extra in the bag...not only that, the typical grocer was nowhere near the size it is today. Piggly Wiggly's founder saw this as a waste of manpower, etc. and pioneered the current self-serve format...
Kroger is pioneering a Marketplace format with prepared foods, groceries, clothes, a pharmacy and even kitchen supplies and they opened on Killian Road this summer (and there are rumors for several others to follow).
My mom likes Aldi for reasons similar to Homer and she's looking forward to this one reopening.
Andrew
10 Sep 16 at 8:52 pm
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If you look at the Wikipedia entry for Piggly Wiggly you will see a picture of the original store in Memphis:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Piggly-wiggly.jpg
It looks like that once you entered through the turnstile you were caged in until you went through the checkouts.
@Joe - yes, I took that picture.......
Homer
11 Sep 16 at 10:08 pm
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What type of film were you using back then?
Joe Shlabotnik
14 Sep 16 at 11:13 pm
For those that may not know, Aldi is the sister company of Trader Joe's. Interesting when you consider how different the two are. This article explains the difference.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/12/02/aldi_grocery_store_best_in_america_related_to_trader_joe_s.html