New European Style Grocery

Aldi's now in the Bham area

Aldi Grocery Stores - Birmingham Area, Gadsden, Decatur, AL
Their high quality brands are different so as you leave after your first visit you may not feel inclined to return. The following memories will draw you back and make a regular of you: $1.49 for a gallon of milk (Limit 5 gallons), 18 ounce strawberry preserves $1.39, 11 ounce mandarin oranges $.45 , 3 pounds of Golden Delicious Apples $.99 (a special), cucumbers $.39, 3 multicolored bell peppers $1.99 or less, 14 ounce Peanut M & M $2.39, 5 vine ripe tomatoes on stem $.99 (a special), not from concentrate orange juice $2.39. Price, except for milk and preserves may vary as some of these are specials which may be replaced by others from week to week.

Buy their large plastic container of Pizzelle Italian Cookies near front entry with forty 4" diameter thin delicate delicious cookies in 4 packs $2.69. I ate a pack before getting out of their parking lot. Similar to the light colored ones in picture.

Italian Pizzelle Waffle Cookies

Type of food and prices are displayed on wall or a board above each item with large letters and price. Cashiers sit in a comfortable office chair. Conveyor system at check out is specially designed, so cashier can be a speed demon and check a huge cart in about a minute.

Cash or debit card only. No checks or credit cards. Murray

Aldi Store 1
428 Green Springs Highway
Homewood, AL 35209
9:00-8:00 Mon-Sat. 10:00-7:00 Sun
Just south of Oxmoor road, on right.
www.aldi.com

Charlie S. 4/26/2009 Aldi is a grocery store unique to anything I've been to. Style is popular in Europe. Whole idea is for Aldi to save on overhead and pass savings on as lower priced groceries.

Bring a quarter and bring grocery bags. Use quarter to get shopping cart. Insert it into a mechanism attached to each cart. When you return cart, and reconnect to other carts, quarter pops out to reclaim. So Aldi doesn't have to pay someone to gather carts from parking lot.

Food is so cheap. You will see their name brands but not many brands you know, but there is little difference in taste and quality. Off brand Frosted Flakes $1.59 and regular bran flakes $1.09. At other stores, Kellog's brand cereal is $4 or more.

Canned foods are cheap. $.49 for stewed tomatoes, cream of mushroom and canned corn. $.95 for 1 lb. bag of frozen corn. Pork tenderloin $3.99 a lb.

You won't find everything you need, but will be amazed how quickly you fill cart and how little you pay at register. I highly recommend everyone go here. If you get what you can at Aldi and go across the street to Publix for the few things you can't do without, you will be amazed at the savings.

Bring grocery bags (plastic or paper bags, tote bags) or paper buy paper sacks for $.06 and large plastic bags for $.10.

Store 2
7400 Crestwood Blvd
Birmingham, AL 35210
9:00-8:00 Mon-Sat. 10:00-7:00 Sun
Adjacent to Sears at Century Plaza

Store 3
5960 Chalkville Road
Trussville, AL 35235
9:00-8:00 Mon-Sat. 10:00-7:00 Sun

Sheila L. 8/11/2009 I love the ease of this store. It's quick to get in and get out. They don't bag your groceries, but put them back in cart. Bag-your-own place. Bring bags, purchase bags there or go free style in the trunk.

A bare bones operation with mostly private label brands. With few exceptions I've enjoyed their items. Granola cereals are wonderful and who can turn down a gallon of milk for $1.49. Fit & Active brand has a fairly large selection of items for the health conscious and they've all hit the mark on taste. Produce selection is adequate, but no fresh herbs or unusual items. Pack of tri-colored bell peppers is a steal.

Store 4
520 Gene Reed Road
Birmingham, AL 35206
Huffman-Roebuck
9:00-8:00 Mon-Sat. 10:00-7:00 Sun

Store 5
710 Academy Drive
Bessemer, AL 35022
9:00-8:00 Mon-Sat. 10:00-7:00 Sun

Store 6
200 North Hood Avenue
Gadsden, AL 35903
9:00-8:00 Mon-Sat. 10:00-7:00 Sun

Store 7
1000 Belt Line Road
Decatur, AL 35601
9:00-8:00 Mon-Sat. 10:00-7:00 Sun

How Aldi Grocery Stores Dramatically Reduce Your Grocery Bill
By Alonzo January 10, 2009


Every time I leave my Aldi store I have a smile about how much money I just saved. If you have not shopped at Aldi’s you are missing one of the best secrets in the grocery industry. Business analysts have taken notice.

When you first visit an Aldi store you will see a Spartan interior. No flashy window displays, no large sales signs, no extras like photo processing, floral, deli, bakery. Products are in same cardboard boxes they were shipped in. Instead of Kellogg’s Raisin Bran you’ll find Millville Raisin Bran. Instead of Hunt’s chocolate pudding you will find Mr. Pudding. And rock bottom prices for canned goods, dairy products, produce, meats, eggs, cookies, crackers, candy, chips, preserves.

Aldi is a German owned deep discount no frills grocery chain. Name is short for Albrecht Discounts. They also own Trader Joes food stores. Aldi entered the U.S. market in 1976, with a handful of stores in southeastern Iowa. Now, nearly 1,000 U.S. Aldi stores are spreading the savings from Kansas to the East Coast. In its 2008 report, Progressive Grocer ranked Aldi 25th in U.S. grocery chains in terms of gross sales. High ranking considering its size. The secret to their success is obsession with cutting costs:

Reduced Labor Costs: Very few employees are in the store, usually 2 or 3. No butchers, bakers, pharmacists. Customers bag their own groceries. Want a shopping cart? Insert a quarter which you get back when you return cart. No need to hire one or two employees to walk parking lot returning carts to store.

Limited Selection: Costs are controlled by Aldi’s selection being more limited than typical grocery stores. They carriy 1,300 items compared to 30,000 items at a typical large supermarket. These are fast moving items which helps prevent spoilage loss. Building cost is much less than for larger stores. Money is also saved because less labor needed to stock fewer products.

Smaller Stores: Since Aldi stores are much smaller than typical supermarkets, utility costs are much lower. Store hours are more limited, 9:00-8:00 and 10:00-7:00 Sunday, saving even more costs.

Cash and Debit Cards Only: Cash is king at Aldi. You cannot use credit cards. Saves the store paying credit card transaction costs.

High Quality Store Brand Products: Aldi carries only a few national brand products. Instead it focuses on its high quality line of store brands, from Millville cereal to Sweet Harvest fruit cocktail. These store brand products harken to its European roots where store brands are known for their popularity and consistent high quality.

They have to be high quality because chain’s reputation depends on this. In order to keep customers coming back they must provide great tasting products. Aldi conducts weekly blind taste tests of its store brand products comparing them to name brand counterparts in most other stores. So confident is Aldi that it offers customers a money back guarantee on all store brands.

I save consistently at Aldi supermarkets. I enjoy their store brand products and save big on juice, cereal, snack foods, canned goods, dairy products, vegetables and fruit. Due to their more limited selections I can’t fulfill all of my grocery needs at Aldi, but I’ll typically save between 30-50% versus comparable supermarket prices.

This seems to be in line with Aldi’s estimates of savings. They claim you save 40-50% at Aldi compared to conventional grocery stores and save 16-24% over large discount stores.