ALDI

Several years ago, I became aware of a no frills grocery chain named ALDI. If you go to their website, you will see that they are a worldwide store. They do several things to cut costs.

For one thing, they rent shopping carts, although rent is not actually the correct term. Its more like a deposit system. All of their shopping carts are chained together in front of the store. Each chain device has a slot that releases the chain when you insert a quarter. When you are finished with the cart, you return it to the front of the store, reinsert the chain and get your quarter back. This keeps them from having to have someone clear the parking lot of carts.

Another thing is they don't provide bags. They have bags for sale if you need them, but they encourage customers to bring their own bags. They have counters where people can go and bag their groceries, but I choose to take the cart to the car, bag the groceries at the car and then return the cart.

Their last cost cutting measure that I will mention is their use of store brands. They do have some nationally advertised brands, but most of their merchandise consists of store brands. They maintain that the quality is as good as highly advertised national brands, but they are able to sell for less due to not having the advertising costs.

When I first became aware of ALDI, there was not one in Alabama. There were a couple in Kentucky along the route of the World's Longest Yard Sale. I stopped in an shopped at them. Since I was away from home, there was a limit to what I could buy and utilize. A couple of weeks ago, I discovered that ALDI now has two store in Alabama. One is in Gadsden, the other in Bessemer. Last Monday, I went an bought groceries at the one in Bessemer. I was pleased with the items I bought. Yesterday (Monday) I went back for a second trip. I restocked on some of the items I had bought previously and liked. I also extended my range of items by getting a few more things to try.

Its not for everyone. The store itself is small, more like some of the grocery stores of my youth. They only have one checkout line in operation and you can be certain of having to stand in line, but you can also be assured that the line moves fast. I have read that they only take cash, however I think that at the one in Bessemer they must take something else, like debit cards, because the checker always asks if this is a cash sale.

I have not done an extensive cost comparison, and people who live any distance away would have to make allowances for fuel costs, but so far, it seems to me that I get a great deal more for my money at ALDI than I do at other grocery stores.