Aldi's parking lot

[PeoplesElbow]

If you haven't noticed yet... there are quite a few food snobs around here.

I have, but it seems silly to be snobby about canned green beans etc. Most of what aldi sells is canned food and dried food (like mac and cheese). That is sort of like being snobby over what brand of Ramen Noodles you eat.

 

[vince77]

Aldi is the dollar store for food. They will be very successful in Southern Maryland.

 

[vraiblonde]

I have, but it seems silly to be snobby about canned green beans etc. Most of what aldi sells is canned food and dried food (like mac and cheese). That is sort of like being snobby over what brand of Ramen Noodles you eat.

I have gotten bad canned vegetables before. Spoiled, off-color, once I got a can of corn that had a worm in it. If not wanting worms in my food makes me a snob, oh well.

And there is a huge difference in ramen noodle brands. Trust me, I eat a lot of that chit. Shin Ramyun brand is leaps and bounds better than Nissin or Maruchan and well worth the price. UNLESS you just want the noodles and are going to throw the packet thing away - then go ahead and get the 10 for a dollar brand.

 

[Popster]

Who did that?? Dead end parking lots are the absolute worst - like, THE worst. The WORST! You go around the corner and there are no spaces, now there's no way to get back out. It's too narrow to turn around if you have anything larger than a Prius, so the only thing you can do is jump the curb and go through the field.

WHY??? do parking lot designers do that???

WHY??

That's what my Tacoma did yesterday, right through the field.

 

[Popster]

Cheese is about 1/2 of other places and good. Butternut squash- .99 each. Panatone $5. Avacados .50. Heavy cream good price. Watch the ads and shop selectively.

 

[SamSpade]

I don't have an EBT card. :shrug:

My experience with store brands is such that buying a name brand is worth the extra few cents to me.

Sometimes - you're right. I won't try canned soups (unless I'm using them for cooking) unless they're name brand. I'll buy name brand ice cream for my kids (and me, of course) because the store brand is terrible.

On the other hand - some things, you just don't need the brand name. I don't know what the difference could possibly be between Morton Salt or Domino Sugar - and the store brand. Same generally for things like eggs, butter, cheese, bread and most cold cuts.
I buy name brand dishwasher detergent - because the cheap stuff gums up my dishwasher. I buy cheap paper towels because brand names are three to four times as much sometimes.

Pasta? Store brand unless something else in on sale. Pasta sauce? I'm going to add my own stuff to it, so unless it's truly awful - like canned - I'm going to buy what's cheap. We buy cheap frozen pizza because we always add our own ingredients including extra (store brand) cheese.

My general rule is - if you seriously can't tell the difference, don't bother with the name brand, because in all likelihood, you are actually buying the same product in a different package. I've seen off-brand cleaning products clearly packaged in the same shaped bottles as the name brand, because it's obviously the same thing.

* I used to work for a guy who was CONVINCED the most expensive brand was always the better product - and he routinely got trounced in the wallet. Drove around in an expensive car that cost a fortune when it broke down. My rule is that experience is the best teacher - if Levi's work for you, go with them - my son typically wears out jeans of ANY BRAND in about three months. Doesn't matter what label is on it.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

- my son typically wears out jeans of ANY BRAND in about three months. Doesn't matter what label is on it.

Off topic but if he is big enough try Dickies work jeans. They seem to outlast everything else I have worn.

 

[ltown81]

I don't think the people complaining about Aldi are green beans out the can types. Maybe frozen microwave seam bag

I still don't get the big deal. When I lived in Baltimore County, they had two of these near where I lived and there was no more than 5 cars in the lot a time.

 

[OldHillcrestGuy]

Just got back from there. I cannot believe they made a parking lot like that. A total fuster cluck. and every senior citizen with impaired driving skills were in there. Place was packed.

That aside, there are some really good deals to be had. Milk, butter, eggs, all much cheaper than the other stores. Campari tomatoes, which I use all winter 'cause they taste like vine tomatoes, about a $1 cheaper per carton. Ghiardeli (sp?) brownie mix, far cheaper. The store brand kettle potato chips and imitation seafood, I cannot tell any difference in taste AND cheaper.

This is the place to go if you want to save some money on things you get everyday.

My wife has been going to Aldi's since opening day at Brandywine. I use to tease her about shopping there and when we both went together one time, I said look how empty this parking lot is, no ones going to shop there its going to go belly up. Well their parking isn't empty anymore and guess who like's going there now. Love the chip isle Im always grabbing either white round corn chip's or the corn chips like Frito's, can taste no difference, we use to get our milk there it was always the cheapest price until recently Costco across the street in Brandywine now is cheaper. We get our eggs, the frozen kernel corn is awesome. Always buy their fresh ground turkey, yogurt and cheese. Ive got a bit of a sweet tooth and you couldn't beat their prices on Halloween candy, (Im still enjoying my tootsie rolls) We buy alot of their produce. Its not our one stop place to shop, we do BJ's and Costco sometimes Sam's. It has stopped me from having to run to Food Lion or McKays as much.

There was a time when we were in the Brandywine store, there was a white shirt executive type young man from Aldi's that we got into a conversation with and the misses mentioned how we shop there often and how it would be nice if they would consider a store in (Im not mentioning where) and I said how there are couple of great locations and even gave names of the developer to him. He said he would be going that way in a couple of days and would check them out. Well we saw him again about a month later in the Brandywine store and we asked him if he had checked out the locations, he said yes he had and even talked to the developer and that Aldi was looking at locations. So don't be surprised if another one doesn't pop up in SoMd. sometime soon in the future.

Sorry for such a long post but its a rainy day and I have nothing else to do. Well I do but don't feel like doing it.

 

[vince77]

My wife has been going to Aldi's since opening day at Brandywine. I use to tease her about shopping there and when we both went together one time, I said look how empty this parking lot is, no ones going to shop there its going to go belly up. Well their parking isn't empty anymore and guess who like's going there now. Love the chip isle Im always grabbing either white round corn chip's or the corn chips like Frito's, can taste no difference, we use to get our milk there it was always the cheapest price until recently Costco across the street in Brandywine now is cheaper. We get our eggs, the frozen kernel corn is awesome. Always buy their fresh ground turkey, yogurt and cheese. Ive got a bit of a sweet tooth and you couldn't beat their prices on Halloween candy, (Im still enjoying my tootsie rolls) We buy alot of their produce. Its not our one stop place to shop, we do BJ's and Costco sometimes Sam's. It has stopped me from having to run to Food Lion or McKays as much.

There was a time when we were in the Brandywine store, there was a white shirt executive type young man from Aldi's that we got into a conversation with and the misses mentioned how we shop there often and how it would be nice if they would consider a store in (Im not mentioning where) and I said how there are couple of great locations and even gave names of the developer to him. He said he would be going that way in a couple of days and would check them out. Well we saw him again about a month later in the Brandywine store and we asked him if he had checked out the locations, he said yes he had and even talked to the developer and that Aldi was looking at locations. So don't be surprised if another one doesn't pop up in SoMd. sometime soon in the future.

Sorry for such a long post but its a rainy day and I have nothing else to do. Well I do but don't feel like doing it.

By the end of 2018, Aldi expects to operate nearly 2,000 stores. The German company already operates nearly 1,400 stores across 32 states. WSJ June 2015

 

[LightRoasted]

If I may ...

Stopped in the store tonight. I really can't see the attraction. Narrow isles and slow in-the-way-people. The off brand cheese is less, not so the name brands such as Kellygold. Bought some cheap cheese. But I do stand with vrai. Think I'm a gonna get some industrial strength paint remover and get rid of at least four of those parking spots on the end next to the field and do it in the middle of the night, dressed as a ninja (because no one can see a ninja in the night) to bring peace and sanity to that parking lot.

 

[cheezgrits]

If I may ...

Stopped in the store tonight. I really can't see the attraction. Narrow isles and slow in-the-way-people. The off brand cheese is less, not so the name brands such as Kellygold. Bought some cheap cheese. But I do stand with vrai. Think I'm a gonna get some industrial strength paint remover and get rid of at least four of those parking spots on the end next to the field and do it in the middle of the night, dressed as a ninja (because no one can see a ninja in the night) to bring peace and sanity to that parking lot.

You are incorrect. You can't see ninjas anytime. Supposedly. lol

 

[CleanTheSlateInSMC]

Who did that?? Dead end parking lots are the absolute worst - like, THE worst. The WORST! You go around the corner and there are no spaces, now there's no way to get back out. It's too narrow to turn around if you have anything larger than a Prius, so the only thing you can do is jump the curb and go through the field.

WHY??? do parking lot designers do that???

WHY??

I was thinking the same thing! What a disaster! I watched a dually have to do a 9 point turn to get out of there. Did the Planning Commission approve that?

 

[BernieP]

WHY??? do parking lot designers do that???

WHY??

They were probably limited to X number of square feet of impervious surface (i.e. parking lot). They may also have been required to have Y number of parking spaces to accommodate the traffic studies said they would have. In a word, "Government".
Parking lots are not laid out for the customers, that's the last thing they have in mind

 

[BernieP]

Sadly, place appears to be so small that once it goes belly up, you would have to rebuild the whole thing to fit the Wegmans they should have built in the first place.

Dutch retailer Royal Ahold NV, which operates U.S. supermarket chains Stop & Shop and Giant, has agreed to merge with its Belgian counterpart Delhaize Group, in a deal that creates a $29 billion company that will serve over 50 million customers a week across the Atlantic.

The all-shares merger, which will lead to the formation of a single company called Ahold Delhaize with more than 6,500 stores, is expected to be completed in mid-2016, subject to regulators' and shareholder approval, the companies said Wednesday in a joint press release

Delhaize owns Food Lion. You can expect some empty stores in St. Mary's, either the Food Lion brand will go or the Giant store. Since there is only one Giant, my guess is there will be a vacant supermarket in First Colony in the near future.
Store is too small anyway, does not carry the merchandise of the store in Lusby.

 

[vraiblonde]

Well, all I know is that a bad parking lot means I will never set foot in that place, no matter what they sell or how cheap it is. It's not worth the stress of trying to navigate that mess, or putting up with other people trying to navigate it.

 

[PrchJrkr]

Doesn't anyone here back into parking spots? This has become a common practice of mine, as the spaces are all getting smaller and smaller.

 

[ltown81]

Delhaize owns Food Lion. You can expect some empty stores in St. Mary's, either the Food Lion brand will go or the Giant store. Since there is only one Giant, my guess is there will be a vacant supermarket in First Colony in the near future.
Store is too small anyway, does not carry the merchandise of the store in Lusby.

Giant serves a different more upscale market. If you close Giant, those shoppers aren't like "Geez, guess I will go to Food Lion". They will go the the Ltown McKays (kinda a stretch) or the new Harry Teeter when it opens. Now, they may close some Food Lion's since they are downmarket and get hit more by stores like Aldi

Well, all I know is that a bad parking lot means I will never set foot in that place, no matter what they sell or how cheap it is. It's not worth the stress of trying to navigate that mess, or putting up with other people trying to navigate it.

The parking lot is small because Aldi's are normally not packed. All the ones in Baltimore county only had a few cars at a time in front. It is a small store and you really cannot spend a bunch of time in there as a shopper. There is just not that much to look at.

 

[kwillia]

Doesn't anyone here back into parking spots? This has become a common practice of mine, as the spaces are all getting smaller and smaller.

I typically do with my Chevy Suburban but I took my mom to Aldi's on Friday and that parking lot is so horridly designed it does not allow for much of any kind of maneuvering.

It's not a typical grocery store where you can go in and expect go pick up pretty much everything on your list. To utilize the store you'd have to become familiar with what they carry and make a point to not buy those things when you are doing your regular grocery shopping and then make a trip to Aldis to buy the things that you expect to save on. I can honestly say that if I ever consider such a trip to Aldis I will rarely actually do it because the parking is such a cluster####.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

Doesn't anyone here back into parking spots? This has become a common practice of mine, as the spaces are all getting smaller and smaller.

You one of the people that backs into a spot then later realizes you cant access your trunk or your tailgate?