I just found Aldi's today. There wasn't one back where I lived in VA and I'm just learning my way around my area of IN. I was without DH & DD so I really took my time to look at everything. I bought a lot of basics and some snack foods -- reg. pretzles, pretzle twists, chicken breasts, canned tomatoes, beef bouillon, DH's green tea, butter, pasta, ritz-type crackers, and wheat-thin-type crackers. So, we'll give it all a try and see how everyone likes it. With most stuff you can never tell the difference, but once in a while you do. I really hope the chicken is good b/c the price was superb for the quantity I got.
I *almost* wished I needed more stuff b/c the prices were so good, but I can go back next week or the week after for the next shopping trip. I'm going to take DD with me so she can pick out a fun item for her lunches and some frozen juices. They had huge boxes of fruit snacks and I like to send those once or twice a week, so one of their boxes would last us a while. They had a markdown area, too, with several minimally damaged goods. Example: a box of 100 calorie packs of cookies; the back had been pressed in where it's supposed to be opened, but all 6 bags of cookies were still in the box. They're normally $2.50 at the grocery store and these were $2 at Aldi and only $1 b/c they were marked down.
I took cash with me, but had to dig for a quarter to get my grocery cart! It was a learning experience, but I was impressed. It was clean, well-lit, well-marked, and had wide aisles. The biggest surprise -- no music! It was kinda creepy at first, but then I realized I could concentrate more on what I was doing so I didn't mind the lack.
