Aldi to the rescue during crunch times?

I've never been to an Aldi store, but after reading Tim Manners's take on them in a recent Cool News of the Day post, I just might have to. Owned by the same group that owns and operates Trader Joe's, Aldi stores are apparently small, intensely focused on private label goods, and even more intensely focused on low cost. How low, you ask? Well, as Tim puts it,

"Aldi’s focus on cutting costs makes Wal-Mart look almost like Whole Foods by comparison. To save costs, Aldi doesn’t take checks or credit cards, it provides neither bags nor baggers and you even have to pay a quarter to use one of its shopping carts (it’s refunded when you return it, saving Aldi the expense of an employee to round up the carts)."

While such tactics might have turned off some shoppers in the past, with inflation rates rising and the government handing over billions of taxpayer dollars to fund bailouts of entities that should never have been allowed to exist in the first place, even upscale shoppers are looking for new ways to save a buck. Consequently, Aldi's has been growing by leaps and bounds, and expects to add another 100 stores in the US in the coming year, bringing their total to 1,050. Want a box of Raisin Bran for $1.50? How's about a frozen pizza for under $4? If so, Aldi's might be for you.

Me? I'm waiting to see what happens to the price of Trader Joe's (in)famous Two Buck Chuck before setting out to yet another new shopping destination.

Guess I'm just a creature of habit.

Tags: retail, shopping