Aldi Supermarket: Excellent Value

I recently visited an Aldi's grocery store for the very first time. I visited the Aldi's in Raleigh, NC on Louisburg Rd. I found Aldi's to be an excellent value in prices of groceries, customer service, and progressive policies. I was immediately impressed by the effort made to save me money. The carts were chained together, requiring a deposit of $0.25 to free the cart and to be returned when the cart was placed back in the cart corral.

This strategy keeps costs down for the store and the consumer. There is a sign hanging above the cart corral that says, "A quarter can save you dollars." Inside the store, the prices on almost every item were significantly cheaper than the generics at any other store, including Walmart. Aldi's has a wide selection of canned and boxed goods, meat, produce, milk, eggs, breads, and frozen items. The prices on meat were not very impressive, but prices on produced rivaled even the prices of produce stands and were much cheaper than prices at Walmart. The store was not nearly as big as the grocery store inside Walmart or other full size grocery stores and did not have as much selection of products as other stores. Aldi's also did not have as many name brands as other stores. The stock of products at Aldi's is mainly generics that are cheaper than name brands.

During checkout, I noticed that the lines move fairly quickly. Even though the store was very busy because I visited on a Saturday, the lines were still very reasonable. Aldi's also keeps costs down by not supplying bags for customers. There were paper, plastic, and thermal bags for sale under the register conveyor belt. Paper bags cost $0.05 each, plastic bags cost $0.10 each, and reusable thermal bags cost $0.99 each. Customers are also encouraged to use the boxes left over from products stocked on shelves. The cashier does not perform any type of bagging. She simply scanned all my items and placed them back into my cart. There is a sturdy, plastic ledge located at the front of the store for customers to bag their own items.

I had brought my own canvas reusable shopping bags with me, and I had ample space in which to bag my groceries. I did not feel rushed during bagging. I definitely liked the fact that this grocery store encouraged me to bag my own items because I care more about my items than a bagger would. I also like that Aldi's encourages customers to bring their own bags because disposable bags are harmful to the environment. All in all, I was very impressed with Aldi's grocery store, and I will definitely be returning for my grocery needs.