I Love Aldi

I used to have a dislike of Aldi. I'm not sure if it was entirely warranted but the store did take a while to have quality products like it does now. Aldi, to me, was a place where the poorest of the poor shopped and the products reflected that belief. But I have come to find out that Aldi is probably the greatest grocery store in this country. Why, you ask. Well, for one thing their carriage return policy is genius, an very European. Why does a store need to pay someone to return carts if you can get the customers to do it for you? For those of you not familiar with Aldi, to obtain a shopping cart (or carriage as some people call it) you must deposit a quarter in a mechanism attached to the cart. When you do that, it disconnects the cart from the line of other carts. The quarter stays in your cart, you can't pull it out. Once you are done shopping you simply bring the cart back or, more often than not, find another shopper who will gladly provide you with a quarter. The Aldi parking lot has restored my faith in humanity! People will actually interact with another to complete a transaction, just for the ability to rent a shopping cart. Sometimes, and these are great days, I receive a cart for free. Even better, I then return the cart and I have now gained a quarter that I didn't have! Or if it's raining I just leave the cart in the lot. Don't judge me, I'm usually with screaming children and just want to get the hell out of dodge. I've always thought that this quarter concept should be used in other stores and within other aspects of life. Once again, it's crazy what people will do for twenty five cents. Aldi also cross trains all of it's employees so that they can do everything within the store. I often see an employee stocking shelves and then go to check out when the lines get too crazy. And bagging does not occur at the checkout, it takes place after you're done. Aldi has a large counter set up where you do the bagging. This makes the lines go very quick. They also provide comfortable stools for their cashiers and pay a higher than normal rate to their employees. They're able to do this because of the above mentioned store policies. As for the actual customer experience, I have been shopping at Aldi for the past few years and while the selection isn't on par with a standard grocery store, Aldi does typically have what I need. And their prices are great! Eggs for just over two dollars is a steal. The store is also clean and the employees always look presentable. Contrast that with the Stop and Shop on my side of town where the customers look like they just returned from the loony bin and the employees dress like they're A: going to a rave, B: they just got out of bed, C: they also just returned from the loony bin or D: all of the above. I'll try not to get too political here but with the recent downturn in the economy, our family is somewhat forced to shop at Aldi. But I do see people who seem to be more well off shop there so I don't feel completely put out. I've also learned to be a cheap bastard so even when (not if) I do become wealthy I will continue to shop at Aldi. I like efficiency and doing things for myself so Aldi is the ultimate do it yourself shopping experience! Unless you do online pickup.