Both are owned by the same family, but one isn't a subsidiary of the other. See:
viewtopic.php?p=59067#p59067

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As I shop both stores quite frequently, I am seeing more products in Aldi's that are carried in Trader Joe's.

Both have very similar philosophies:
1) everyday low prices with minimal promotions
2) limited SKUs
3) Most SKUs are private label.
4) Brand names on promotional merchandise only.

hello
i am a big fan of aldi, trader joes, and costco and sams
they are all different and all the same
they offer value for your money
aldi has flat out the lowest prices in their 800 items
as and example there canned goods are all "grade a fancy" same as dole and libby
to me it is a great thing that aldi exists for folks who actually need the prices that aldi offer day in and day out
i really like trader joes my understanding is that one son owns td and the other owns aldi but that is just what i have heard
to me td offers good stuff healthy and really good prices on organics and wine
im for sams club/walmart pricing not their polices and im for them in big citys not off the highway ruinning small towns with their big box format
costco is the best to me very good prices choice (8ooo sku's) excellent quality
try the kirkland tuna it is way better than cos or bumble bee or the other one
independent stores like ultra offer great deals on sales
in general chicago has lots of choice for shopping big box stores target and sams and costco chains like jewel (by all accounts one of the very top chains in the country) dominicks (i laugh when i see what safeway has done to this once great chain) they bought it for i think 1.1 b and its now worth somewhere in the 4-700 mil range good only for the deepest of sales only the bigest of companys can give safeway enough money to get the support needed to be successful
our last few years the same deal that would have sweet baby rays at 99 cents at jewel and the independents would get us 2/3 at dominicks
there are also a alot of indepents in chicagoland which offer lower everyday prices and still very strong sale prices
with gas prices its not as easy to plan and cherry pick grocery items but in this day and age i think you almost have to
i actually use a combination of all these stores for both business and personal
i worked as a buyer for a long time and i have value ingrained in me
i also have experience either selling to or trying to sell to many retail customers in chicago and across most of the country
it was invaluable to us to have our product priced fairly because it enabled us to get our price to the consumer at a fair price thusly allowing the consumer to have a notion to try a bottle
when i was in the business sams and costco marked up products no more than 13.8% the trial alone from that fair pricing helped get a lot of business for us
jewel and domincks is more in the 35 to 45 range for condiments
and then dominicks would look for simiar markup on deals which is the killer
by the time to pay to reduce the price and buy and ad and pay for a display and demos at least you need the support of the store with a favorable pricing point
or you have no chance of getting the critical mass to make the promotion a sucess
yada yada yada sorry for rambleing on
in the end having been to all the markets in the midwest west and northwest and a fair amount in the south and some in the east
we have good stores and lots of choice
but like most things it takes effort to maximize your opportunity
have a great week

Anyone know what happened to the Aldi's at the Brickyard? The shelves are totally empty, all the lights were on, and the sign says temporarily closed for improvements. It's a brand new store?!? Didn't see any health dept notice or anything like that, and no one that I could see on a slow drive by was inside, but every shelf was bare.

Anyone considering buying the Aldi laptop?
http://usa.aldi.com/index_ENU_HTML.htm

-ramon

A few weeks ago, an interesting story about Aldi appeared at the Chicago Tribune's web site:

Michael Hughlett wrote:Aldi, which counts the Chicago area as its biggest U.S. market, is a breed of supermarket known as a limited assortment discounter. It carries only a fraction of the items offered in a conventional grocery store, and its shelves are dominated by Aldi's own store brands.

But Aldi claims it offers about 90 percent of the foods people buy most, and at prices up to 40 percent below those of conventional supermarkets, analysts say.

Aldi's formula for success: Small selection, low prices

The article also mentions that because Aldi is privately held, actual sales figures are not known but that estimated annual sales are $5.8B and that the chain, which typically adds about 50 stores per year to its roster will add closer to 100 this year. It also points out that Aldi has nearly double the number of stores in Chicagoland as Dominick's and only 27 fewer than market leader, Jewel.

I'm not sure what any of this means but it was news to me. And I thought it was interesting because Aldi's model seems so completely different from that of the other chains that are present in our market. Perhaps because of this, they are better positioned for the current economic climate than their competitors.

=R=

Ramon wrote:Anyone considering buying the Aldi laptop?
http://usa.aldi.com/index_ENU_HTML.htm

-ramon

You're smiling, but I have to admit to buying the Aldi TV; we were very happy with it until we broke the remote - and can't find a replacement. I'd stay away from their kitchen devices, though - they are as crummy as they are cheap. However, otherwise, our non-food purchases at Aldi have been top-notch.

Mhays wrote:You're smiling, but I have to admit to buying the Aldi TV; we were very happy with it until we broke the remote - and can't find a replacement. I'd stay away from their kitchen devices, though - they are as crummy as they are cheap. However, otherwise, our non-food purchases at Aldi have been top-notch.

Have you tried a basic "universal" remote? I have a $10-$15 one I got from WalMart going on eight years ago that I managed to program to my TV, DVD player, VCR, etc. If I can manage to set up something technological, anyone can probably manage it.

We did, but some of it's more unique functions don't work...however, as a TV, it was fine. I'm an all-around Aldi's supporter, with the exception of the Crofton line (is that theirs?) of appliances.

Mhays wrote:We did, but some of it's more unique functions don't work...however, as a TV, it was fine. I'm an all-around Aldi's supporter, with the exception of the Crofton line (is that theirs?) of appliances.

Yes, that's theirs. Although I had a bad experience with some Crofton items too (Crofton Stand mixer? What the hell was i thinking? ), I have liked some. For example, my Crofton spice grinder and electric knife are awesome.

The Crofton products are hit or miss. We bought a Crofton pasta pot a few years back. Stainless steel with a copper bottom, an immersable strainer thingy (also stainless steel); all of it very heavy duty and high quality. We've used it happily and successfully as a pasta pot, stew pot, potato boiling pot, etc. since the day we bought it.

It was this level of success that gave me the confidence to buy a Crofton shower head last year. In the package it appeared to have the same high quality, heavy duty manufacture that characterized the pasta pot. Once installed however, it was a disaster. Leaks at almost every connection, and that alluring heavy duty construction was so heavy the reticulated plumbing going from the pipe coming out of the wall to the actual shower head drooped under its own weight!

In Aldi's defense, they gave me a full refund, no questions asked, even though the plastic packaging was slashed open and unusable, the shower head was half assembled, half in pieces, and the whole thing was soaking wet.

Bottom line, Crofton products should be carefully concerned before purchase.

As far as other Aldi products are concerned, we have been generally pleased and even thrilled with most of the other items we have purchased.

Buddy

Marmish wrote:Anyone know what happened to the Aldi's at the Brickyard? The shelves are totally empty, all the lights were on, and the sign says temporarily closed for improvements. It's a brand new store?!? Didn't see any health dept notice or anything like that, and no one that I could see on a slow drive by was inside, but every shelf was bare.

I tried to shop there on Sunday and saw the same re-model sign. There were workers inside re-habbing away. Said it would re-open on August 29th. Maybe they're trying to make it as fancy as the new one next to Value City on North Ave. in Melrose Park. That one is really nice.

Keli

keli1203 wrote:I tried to shop there on Sunday and saw the same re-model sign. There were workers inside re-habbing away. Said it would re-open on August 29th. Maybe they're trying to make it as fancy as the new one next to Value City on North Ave. in Melrose Park. That one is really nice.

Aldi's is gradually remodeling many of the older stores. I do NOT believe that they are trying to make it fancy. They need to rehab the older stores to all all of the newer frozen SKUs that they are carrying in their stores.

Everytime I head into one of their stores, I am totally impressed as to how they 1) know what their customers want and 2) remain completely focused on their business plan. What a great business model.

jlawrence01 wrote:

keli1203 wrote:I tried to shop there on Sunday and saw the same re-model sign. There were workers inside re-habbing away. Said it would re-open on August 29th. Maybe they're trying to make it as fancy as the new one next to Value City on North Ave. in Melrose Park. That one is really nice.

Aldi's is gradually remodeling many of the older stores. I do NOT believe that they are trying to make it fancy. They need to rehab the older stores to all all of the newer frozen SKUs that they are carrying in their stores.

Everytime I head into one of their stores, I am totally impressed as to how they 1) know what their customers want and 2) remain completely focused on their business plan. What a great business model.

The brickyard store just opened within the last year. It was not an old store. I haven't been in the one by Value City, so I don't know how it compares to the Brickyard store. Will have to check it out.

BuddyRoadhouse wrote:The Crofton products are hit or miss.

I would definitely agree with this. We got a Crofton crockpot a few years ago that I use often and have been very pleased with. On the other hand, we also bought a Crofton rice cooker once. It stopped working after about 15 minutes or so - just long enough to wreck our rice. I took it back d they exchanged it. Same thing happened. The second time I took it back, they gave me a refund with no problems. (To be fair, they offered me a refund the first time, but Science Boy really wanted a rice cooker and thought maybe we just got a "defective" once since the crockpot was so fab. He was wrong. Never did get a rice cooker and somehow we have survived just fine!)

Interesting take on Aldi's - our Alderman asked her message board what people think of the store. Apparently they are looking at an undeveloped area in Evanston to put in a store, and she's trying to gage the community's response. (I'd link, but the discussion is pretty buried - but it's under Great 8th Message Board - you will have to scrool down or scroll back through several pages)

I posted that I like the store and their brands. The majority of other people posted that they'd walked into an Aldi's, looked around and decided their products were all "strange," "surplus" or my favorite "They are like the pawnshops of the grocery store world."

Interestingly, the people participating in the discussion who were making these statements did not seem to have bought or tried a single product.

I'm not surprised. It won't be easy for Aldi to shake its "poor and strange" image, but I'm hoping with all of the European imports, that will change. BTW, your Alderman has a messageboard? Is there any way for me to find out if mine does? Or...even WHO my alderman is?

I just returned from Aldi today. Where else can you get a pound of pistachios for $3.99, I ask you! Great values in that store.

Mhays wrote:I posted that I like the store and their brands. The majority of other people posted that they'd walked into an Aldi's, looked around and decided their products were all "strange," "surplus" or my favorite "They are like the pawnshops of the grocery store world."

The "pawnshops of the grocery world" would be Big Lots, Grocery Outlet, Marc's and a few other places that purchase overruns, salvage, and the like. Also, there are generally Amish bulk stores that carry the same merchandise.

90% of Aldi's goods are private label products that are generally labelled "Distributed by Aldi's, Geneva, IL". The other 10% are a variety of NAME brands that Aldi's negotiates a special purchase for.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE to buy some MBA's mistake at 25 cents on the dollar.

Right - but, like the majority of posters there, if you aren't willing to take a chance and buy something to see what it's like, you'll never know an Aldi brand is different from a store generic.

Marmish wrote:

jlawrence01 wrote:

keli1203 wrote:I tried to shop there on Sunday and saw the same re-model sign. There were workers inside re-habbing away. Said it would re-open on August 29th. Maybe they're trying to make it as fancy as the new one next to Value City on North Ave. in Melrose Park. That one is really nice.

Aldi's is gradually remodeling many of the older stores. I do NOT believe that they are trying to make it fancy. They need to rehab the older stores to all all of the newer frozen SKUs that they are carrying in their stores.

Everytime I head into one of their stores, I am totally impressed as to how they 1) know what their customers want and 2) remain completely focused on their business plan. What a great business model.

The brickyard store just opened within the last year. It was not an old store. I haven't been in the one by Value City, so I don't know how it compares to the Brickyard store. Will have to check it out.

Brickyard Aldi is open, although it doesn't look much different. I asked the cashier what they did and she said they just re-did the floor.

Mhays wrote:Right - but, like the majority of posters there, if you aren't willing to take a chance and buy something to see what it's like, you'll never know an Aldi brand is different from a store generic.

I started heading to Aldi's the day that I went to Jewel looking for a box of saltines. The cheapest price of the store brand was $2.49.

The Aldi's brand was 0.89 and it was pretty decent

Apparently Aldi is looking at the new outlot by Home Depot and the Steak & Shake in Evanston. It's unfortunate that no one seems to be stepping up to support the store: beyond my own personal interests, I think it would be a great service to the many people in difficult circumstances in Evanston who really don't have a lot of options for groceries right now.

http://www.evanstonnow.com/business/bill-smith/story/2008/09/09/another-grocer-looks-at-evanston

jlawrence01 wrote:

Mhays wrote:Right - but, like the majority of posters there, if you aren't willing to take a chance and buy something to see what it's like, you'll never know an Aldi brand is different from a store generic.

I started heading to Aldi's the day that I went to Jewel looking for a box of saltines. The cheapest price of the store brand was $2.49.

The Aldi's brand was 0.89 and it was pretty decent

I bought the mayonnaise I used in the elotes casserole, served at the LTH Picnic, at ALDI. I checked first at Caputo's, where I bought the corn, and only found Hellman's, available for over $5.00 a jar. ALDI's house brand mayo was $1.99. Worked pretty well in the dish, too.

Buddy

When I make elotes casserole I always use McCormick's Mayonesa con Limon from the local Mex market. It's made in Mexico and somehow adds a touch of authenticity, to a dish that probably isn't authentic to begin with. Think I paid $2.69 last time I got it.

Recently laid off so we have begun shopping at Aldi. Honestly we had been shopping at a local chain - I had not been in an aldi since college. They were so generic back then, once we got some money I never wanted to shop there again. It is so different now. I have found the follow things to be good: fish section, good prices, so far everything I have found has been good there. Soup: my son likes their chicken noodle soup, their new england clam chowder is as good as the campbell's or progresso brands (scratch made is always best though)
Their cookies are good. Chocolate chip, peanut butter, or oatmeal raisin, soft or the kind like "chips ahoy" are good. My family likes them. Their brand of "butter substitute" tub margarine is good. Hamburger: good. Bagged potatoes, apples: good quality. eggrolls: they liked. Vanilla flavored coffee creamer - good. Pasta: good.
Not good: hotdogs and cheddarwurst... family did not like. So basically it is trial and error there.
Frozen strudel you cook at home: good. We got some frozen chocolate cream cake: very good. Hamburger and hot dog buns: good. Corn chips: good. Good deals on the reggio's pizzas there.
You can only shop for some things there. I personally still like to buy the pasta and pre-made jar pasta sauces at Butera or caputo's... for the great variety they have. Any ethnic foods, we go to the above mentioned chains.
On the whole we are very happy with aldi quality though.

I was a total grocery snob, too, until I met Science Boy and he insisted we shop at Aldi. Now I get as many of our groceries as I can there, especially since SB has been in and out of work so often. There has been little I don't like there - the "jello" cups were disgusting to us! - but most things have been fine. I *love* their canned greens especially. Their prices on laundry detergent and paper products are particularly good and those items do as fine as job as any name brand more expensive products I have bought. And their version of Oxy-Clean is the *best* for cleaning!

gardener34 wrote:Not good: hotdogs and cheddarwurst... family did not like. So basically it is trial and error there.

Try their German sausages; smoked brats and knackwurst. Both are very good and reasonably priced.

Buddy

keli1203 wrote:

Marmish wrote: Maybe they're trying to make it as fancy as the new one next to Value City on North Ave. in Melrose Park. That one is really nice.

Keli

I've been there, but it seemed like a typical Aldi to me. Why do you consider it "fancy" and "really nice?"

BuddyRoadhouse wrote:Try their German sausages; smoked brats and knackwurst. Both are very good and reasonably priced.
Buddy

We *love* their German items. Sadly, they don't always have them, but when they do, we get what we can. I agree that the knackwurst are particularly good. We also go t some great dark German bread there fairly recently, and a jar of delicious white asparagus, all well within budget.

Encouraged by this thread and my, sadly, Un-Paulina worthy bank account, I decided to make my first trip to Aldi's today. Joined by Queijo, we hit the Aldi's on Milwaukee, close to both of our homes and long overlooked by the both of us. We went seeking some basics and, perhaps, something interesting to try based upon the recommendations here.

For $20.31 I purchased:
1 gallon of milk
Hickory Smoked "Gourmet" thick cut bacon
Hamburger buns
1 bar European chocolate
1 dozen Large eggs
American Cheese (the non-individually wrapped jumbo pack)
2 bacon wrapped filets, choice grade
1 bag potato chips
1 bag pork rinds

A very good value, certainly, I'm glad that I went in. Very limited selection and I was disappointed not to see the good sausages that I've read about here, but that seems to be part of the experience. The only thing they did not have that I was actively looking for were bagels. I have yet to try the meats, but am certainly encouraged by the prices - if something is truly awful, I won't feel too bad if it goes to waste. This really was an excellent tip and I'm sure that I'll be returning, if only for the basics (and the raved about whole hams, I must try that!).

This location, btw, is rather "Thunderdomish." Despite (or perhaps due to) my physically unassuming stature, other shoppers bumped into me no less than 4 times during my 30 minutes in the store! Is this normal for this location?