Presuming I recover from the nasty illness I've had the past week
(suspect Dengue Fever from Caribbean travel) I'll go to their Wednesday
"open house" (free stuff) and see if it's worth stopping by again for
their grand opening Thursday. Expectations set low, we'll see...

Well hearty congrats on the grand opening thing. Bet they will be swamped. I would wait about 90 days till all the specials go back to normal and the crowds thin out. Hit it on a non busy time of day..around 10 AM and midweek. Buy only their 80/20 Chuck patties and the frozen Pizza. You cant go wrong like that. We have talked about this deal exhaustively on another thread. Just trying to straighten out the learning curve a bit. They prob also got canned anchovies and pickled japs to go on the pizza...for the more sophisticated pallets of course. Just guessing about some of this stuff. It cost a quarter to free up a shopping cart and bring your own earth friendly burlap bag. Thats all I know about that.

On 09/07/2013 05:55, bigwheel wrote:
> 'Pete C.[_2_ Wrote:
>> ;1846987']Presuming I recover from the nasty illness I've had the past
>> week
>> (suspect Dengue Fever from Caribbean travel) I'll go to their Wednesday
>> "open house" (free stuff) and see if it's worth stopping by again for
>> their grand opening Thursday. Expectations set low, we'll see...
>
> Well hearty congrats on the grand opening thing. Bet they will be
> swamped. I would wait about 90 days till all the specials go back to
> normal and the crowds thin out. Hit it on a non busy time of day..around
> 10 AM and midweek. Buy only their 80/20 Chuck patties and the frozen
> Pizza. You cant go wrong like that. We have talked about this deal
> exhaustively on another thread. Just trying to straighten out the
> learning curve a bit. They prob also got canned anchovies and pickled
> japs to go on the pizza...for the more sophisticated pallets of course.
> Just guessing about some of this stuff. It cost a quarter to free up a
> shopping cart and bring your own earth friendly burlap bag. Thats all I
> know about that.
>
>
>
>
I don't know if this thread is USA based, so I can only answer for UK.
They are very good and competitively priced. also, though off topic
here, they have great deals on hardware.

On 7/8/2013 8:22 PM, Pete C. wrote:
>
> Presuming I recover from the nasty illness I've had the past week
> (suspect Dengue Fever from Caribbean travel)

I had to look up the symptoms, sounds like you've had a
rough time. Hope you're feeling better by now.

nancy

"Pete C." wrote in message ...


>Presuming I recover from the nasty illness I've had the past week
>(suspect Dengue Fever from Caribbean travel) I'll go to their Wednesday
>"open house" (free stuff) and see if it's worth stopping by again for
>their grand opening Thursday. Expectations set low, we'll see...

Sorry you're so ill.
Cheer yourself up with some delicious chocolate from Aldi, they have good
European chocolates for very cheap, try the Waffernusse!
The only thing I won't buy there is meat, cat litter, and cleaning
products.

Nancy Young wrote:
>
> On 7/8/2013 8:22 PM, Pete C. wrote:
> >
> > Presuming I recover from the nasty illness I've had the past week
> > (suspect Dengue Fever from Caribbean travel)
>
> I had to look up the symptoms, sounds like you've had a
> rough time. Hope you're feeling better by now.
>
> nancy

No official diagnosis, and after about a week I'm mostly ok beyond a
gradually improving cough. Dengue is my suspect diagnosis since the
symptoms fit for a mild case, the overall profile with 3-4 days fever,
several bad days post fever and then recovery fit, Dengue is endemic to
Puerto Rico where I was just in San Juan, it's mosquito transmitted and
it was raining 4 or 5 days I was there, and none of my close contacts
since I've been home are showing any symptoms which fits with a vector
transmitted disease.

news wrote:
>
> "Pete C." wrote in message ...
>
> >Presuming I recover from the nasty illness I've had the past week
> >(suspect Dengue Fever from Caribbean travel) I'll go to their Wednesday
> >"open house" (free stuff) and see if it's worth stopping by again for
> >their grand opening Thursday. Expectations set low, we'll see...
>
> Sorry you're so ill.
> Cheer yourself up with some delicious chocolate from Aldi, they have good
> European chocolates for very cheap, try the Waffernusse!
> The only thing I won't buy there is meat, cat litter, and cleaning
> products.

I have a better source for super cheap "scratch and dent" upper end
chocolates. Cosmetic defects get them rejected on the production line
but they taste the same.

Hmmm dont think they have the hardware section in Americka. Good show old chap.

On 7/8/2013 7:22 PM, Pete C. wrote:
>
> Presuming I recover from the nasty illness I've had the past week
> (suspect Dengue Fever from Caribbean travel) I'll go to their Wednesday
> "open house" (free stuff) and see if it's worth stopping by again for
> their grand opening Thursday. Expectations set low, we'll see...

Hope you feel better, soon. We've had problems here in Texas with Dengue
Fever, it is the most prevalent mosquito born virus in the world. West
Nile Virus has also been a problem.

We have experienced two Aldi stores near us, and I was surprised that
their stores were so small. Their brand of canned tomatoes and canned
mushrooms were good, that is the only canned items we have purchased. I
liked the price of their cucumbers, broccoli, bananas, watermelon. Their
milk is always $1.89 per gallon and Tyson whole chickens are always .89
per pound. We like their wine and their decaf coffee.

Bring your own bags and a quarter for the shopping basket.

Becca

Ema Nymton wrote:
>
> On 7/8/2013 7:22 PM, Pete C. wrote:
> >
> > Presuming I recover from the nasty illness I've had the past week
> > (suspect Dengue Fever from Caribbean travel) I'll go to their Wednesday
> > "open house" (free stuff) and see if it's worth stopping by again for
> > their grand opening Thursday. Expectations set low, we'll see...
>
> Hope you feel better, soon. We've had problems here in Texas with Dengue
> Fever, it is the most prevalent mosquito born virus in the world. West
> Nile Virus has also been a problem.
>
> We have experienced two Aldi stores near us, and I was surprised that
> their stores were so small. Their brand of canned tomatoes and canned
> mushrooms were good, that is the only canned items we have purchased. I
> liked the price of their cucumbers, broccoli, bananas, watermelon. Their
> milk is always $1.89 per gallon and Tyson whole chickens are always .89
> per pound. We like their wine and their decaf coffee.
>
> Bring your own bags and a quarter for the shopping basket.
>
> Becca

I'm in Texas too (way north of Dallas), but it would appear that my
recent trip to San Juan was the culprit. It was raining 4 of 5 days and
I'm sure there were a trillion mosquitos around.

Broadback > wrote:
> On 09/07/2013 05:55, bigwheel wrote:
>> 'Pete C.[_2_ Wrote:
>>> ;1846987']Presuming I recover from the nasty illness I've had the past
>>> week
>>> (suspect Dengue Fever from Caribbean travel) I'll go to their Wednesday
>>> "open house" (free stuff) and see if it's worth stopping by again for
>>> their grand opening Thursday. Expectations set low, we'll see...
>>
>> Well hearty congrats on the grand opening thing. Bet they will be
>> swamped. I would wait about 90 days till all the specials go back to
>> normal and the crowds thin out. Hit it on a non busy time of day..around
>> 10 AM and midweek. Buy only their 80/20 Chuck patties and the frozen
>> Pizza. You cant go wrong like that. We have talked about this deal
>> exhaustively on another thread. Just trying to straighten out the
>> learning curve a bit. They prob also got canned anchovies and pickled
>> japs to go on the pizza...for the more sophisticated pallets of course.
>> Just guessing about some of this stuff. It cost a quarter to free up a
>> shopping cart and bring your own earth friendly burlap bag. Thats all I
>> know about that.
>>
>>
>>
>>
> I don't know if this thread is USA based, so I can only answer for UK.
> They are very good and competitively priced. also, though off topic here,
> they have great deals on hardware.

Here in USA got my 5kw generator there.

Greg

On 07/09/2013 10:12 AM, Pete C. wrote:
>
> news wrote:
>>
>> "Pete C." wrote in message ...
>>
>>> Presuming I recover from the nasty illness I've had the past week
>>> (suspect Dengue Fever from Caribbean travel) I'll go to their Wednesday
>>> "open house" (free stuff) and see if it's worth stopping by again for
>>> their grand opening Thursday. Expectations set low, we'll see...
>>
>> Sorry you're so ill.
>> Cheer yourself up with some delicious chocolate from Aldi, they have good
>> European chocolates for very cheap, try the Waffernusse!
>> The only thing I won't buy there is meat, cat litter, and cleaning
>> products.
>
> I have a better source for super cheap "scratch and dent" upper end
> chocolates. Cosmetic defects get them rejected on the production line
> but they taste the same.
>
Good for you!
I buy candy and confections as part of my job and can get samples from
my reps and brokers or anything else I want wholesale or at a very small
markup, but I still like Aldi chocolates. After quite a few years in the
business I've learned to be sparing in my personal candy purchasing and
consumption.

Hmm..the ones which opened up around here a few years back appear to be grocery stores.

"Pete C." wrote:
>
> Presuming I recover from the nasty illness I've had the past week
> (suspect Dengue Fever from Caribbean travel) I'll go to their Wednesday
> "open house" (free stuff) and see if it's worth stopping by again for
> their grand opening Thursday. Expectations set low, we'll see...

Walked in, did the loop, walked out telling the manager I won't be back.
More than underwhelmend, for the few products that I could potentially
get there, the savings would be less than the extra cost of fuel to
drive across the parking lot to their store, much less my extra time. My
prediction is they won't last very long here.

On 7/9/2013 8:42 PM, gregz wrote:
> Broadback > wrote:
>>>
>>>
>> I don't know if this thread is USA based, so I can only answer for UK.
>> They are very good and competitively priced. also, though off topic here,
>> they have great deals on hardware.
>
> Here in USA got my 5kw generator there.
>
> Greg
>
ALDI often seems to have specials on many non-food items, I guess
anything they can make a deal on. That's why you can't depend on them
to have the same items every time you go in. But as far as food -
canned, fresh, frozen - they seem to just specialize on what they can
sell cheap. Stores like that, it pays to go in on a regular basis just
to see what you can get.

--
CAPSLOCK€“Preventing Login Since 1980.

On 7/9/2013 6:03 PM, Pete C. wrote:

> I'm in Texas too (way north of Dallas), but it would appear that my
> recent trip to San Juan was the culprit. It was raining 4 of 5 days and
> I'm sure there were a trillion mosquitos around.

Those bug-induced illnesses can be so horrible. I hope you recover soon.
I have a friend who contracted lyme disease a couple of years ago from
a tick and is still having flare-ups of the illness. She gets to where
she can't function.

--
CAPSLOCK–Preventing Login Since 1980.

"Pete C." wrote:
>
> "Pete C." wrote:
> >
> > Presuming I recover from the nasty illness I've had the past week
> > (suspect Dengue Fever from Caribbean travel) I'll go to their Wednesday
> > "open house" (free stuff) and see if it's worth stopping by again for
> > their grand opening Thursday. Expectations set low, we'll see...
>
> Walked in, did the loop, walked out telling the manager I won't be back.
> More than underwhelmend, for the few products that I could potentially
> get there, the savings would be less than the extra cost of fuel to
> drive across the parking lot to their store, much less my extra time. My
> prediction is they won't last very long here.

For reference it was not packed at all. There was a steady flow of
perhaps a person every couple minutes on average and perhaps 50
wandering in the store, and this was their "free stuff" day where they
were giving out reusable shopping bags with some sample house brand
stuff and a plastic cutting board (at least I can use that).

Cheryl wrote:
>
> On 7/9/2013 6:03 PM, Pete C. wrote:
>
> > I'm in Texas too (way north of Dallas), but it would appear that my
> > recent trip to San Juan was the culprit. It was raining 4 of 5 days and
> > I'm sure there were a trillion mosquitos around.
>
> Those bug-induced illnesses can be so horrible. I hope you recover soon.
> I have a friend who contracted lyme disease a couple of years ago from
> a tick and is still having flare-ups of the illness. She gets to where
> she can't function.

I seem to be pretty much over it now, but my voice isn't quite back yet.

On Wed, 10 Jul 2013 20:12:29 -0500, "Pete C." >
wrote:


>
>Walked in, did the loop, walked out telling the manager I won't be back.
>More than underwhelmend, for the few products that I could potentially
>get there, the savings would be less than the extra cost of fuel to
>drive across the parking lot to their store, much less my extra time. My
>prediction is they won't last very long here.

While I agree with your overall assessment, I bet it will last for
some time. They seem to be doing well at the two I'm familiar with.
Some people think they are great stores. I don't.

On Tuesday, July 9, 2013 4:58:24 PM UTC-5, Ema Nymton wrote:
>
> We like their wine and their decaf coffee.
>
>
Ewww. Their coffee is awful. If you have a store that carries Supervalu products, the Java Delight Sumatra is a great bargain.
http://www.supervalu.com/sv-webapp/retail/retail.jsp
>
> Becca

--Bryan

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> On Wed, 10 Jul 2013 20:12:29 -0500, "Pete C." >
> wrote:
>
> >
> >Walked in, did the loop, walked out telling the manager I won't be back.
> >More than underwhelmend, for the few products that I could potentially
> >get there, the savings would be less than the extra cost of fuel to
> >drive across the parking lot to their store, much less my extra time. My
> >prediction is they won't last very long here.
>
> While I agree with your overall assessment, I bet it will last for
> some time. They seem to be doing well at the two I'm familiar with.
> Some people think they are great stores. I don't.

I'm sure they'll last a year or two, you don't open a store without
planning to fund it at least that long trying to develop a customer
base. I think they have too many more convenient competitors in the
immediate area - Sam's, Target, Wal-Mart, Albertson's, Kroger, a Mexican
market or two and probably some others I haven't noticed, all in a
couple mile radius. Their location isn't convenient to any public
housing or public transportation either so they don't have access to the
bottom economic rung.

On Thursday, July 11, 2013 4:21:16 AM UTC-7, Pete C. wrote:
> Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> >
>
> > On Wed, 10 Jul 2013 20:12:29 -0500, "Pete C." >
>
> > wrote:
>
> >
>
> > >
>
> > >Walked in, did the loop, walked out telling the manager I won't be back.
>
> > >More than underwhelmend, for the few products that I could potentially
>
> > >get there, the savings would be less than the extra cost of fuel to
>
> > >drive across the parking lot to their store, much less my extra time. My
>
> > >prediction is they won't last very long here.
>
> >
>
> > While I agree with your overall assessment, I bet it will last for
>
> > some time. They seem to be doing well at the two I'm familiar with.
>
> > Some people think they are great stores. I don't.
>
>
>
> I'm sure they'll last a year or two, you don't open a store without
>
> planning to fund it at least that long trying to develop a customer
>
> base. I think they have too many more convenient competitors in the
>
> immediate area - Sam's, Target, Wal-Mart, Albertson's, Kroger, a Mexican
>
> market or two and probably some others I haven't noticed, all in a
>
> couple mile radius. Their location isn't convenient to any public
>
> housing or public transportation either so they don't have access to the
>
> bottom economic rung.

So, no dollar stores where you live? No Big Lots?

In the lower middle class neighborhood where I grew up, there are now three Aldi's. The first opened over 40 years ago. They represent good value, a poor man's Trader Joe's. In my experience, the more money people have, the more willing they are to save money where it doesn't matter.

On Thursday, July 11, 2013 4:21:16 AM UTC-7, Pete C. wrote:
> Their location isn't convenient to any public
>
> housing or public transportation either so they don't have access to the
>
> bottom economic rung.

Speaking of the bottom economic rung: I note there's an Aldi in Darien, IL, mean family income of $95K a year, Wheaton ($115K), and in Naperville ($130K).

But North Shore residents have to shop at the one in Evanston, or (shudder) Morton Grove.