Let’s do a little roundup of ALDI news and other tidbits today. Of most immediate importance to me: My usual ALDI (on Roosevelt in Villa Park, for those of you in the area) will be closed for remodeling after this weekend — and it won’t reopen for six weeks! Nooooooo! I was over there yesterday; there were already large chunks of shelving missing, and they hadn’t gotten in any of this week’s limited time special buys.
ALDI is remodeling and expanding 1300 stores
In all, ALDI is going to be remodeling and expanding more than 1300 U.S. stores by 2020. Has your store been remodeled yet? I’m so curious what mine will look like, and would love to hear comments from anyone who’s been in one of the newly remodeled stores!
My store did have sheets of $5/$30 coupons at the register, good at the next nearest ALDI on North Avenue in Villa Park. That one has been closed for remodeling, so I’m hoping that it is indeed reopening when this one closes — since my other option, the one in Glen Ellyn, isn’t slated to reopen until nearer the end of October. (That one looks like it’s going to be huge. Well, huge for an ALDI, anyway!)
ALDI now accepts contactless payment
I noticed on the back of this week’s ALDI ad that they’re now accepting contactless payment: Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay! This is huge news for those of you who prefer those payment methods, and: Here’s the press release announcing the nationwide rollout.
ALDI vs. Lidl
ALDI’s rival German discount grocery chain, Lidl, hasn’t made its way to the Midwest yet. It is, however, expanding rapidly in the U.S. — now up to 30 stores after just recently launching on the East Coast. An interesting segment from NPR yesterday discusses the two stores, their competition, and their impact.
So again, I’m curious: Have any of you on the East Coast been in a Lidl yet? How does it compare?
That’s all the ALDI news I have today
So if you’ll excuse me, I’m just going to take a moment to myself and mourn the temporary loss of my favorite nearby store. 🙂
maggie
Sunday 1st of October 2017
I'm from Europe and my family shops at Lidl ALL the time! It has a very good reputation there, won several awards for their products. They are very cheap and have more selection that the local Aldi. A lot of ready-made meals as well, which is great for the busy and elderly (and everyone else :) . I'm actually looking forward to having one here in the Chicago land area, but I think it might be a while...
Melissa
Saturday 30th of September 2017
Mine just reopened yesterday after a remodel. I will be going tomorrow. I was disappointed in the coupons they gave us to use during the remodel.... they were NOT for the next closest locations... but for locations a good 40 minutes away. Oh well... I am excited to return to stomping ground tomorrow.
As always, thank you so much for your meal plans. You have helped my family in more ways than one.
seachicago
Friday 29th of September 2017
One thing that I really like about Aldi is that because the product turnover is so high (and they don't put out very much of an item to begin with), I don't have to worry about buying expired products! Maybe that's more of a Chicagoland-specific issue (Dominick's was infamous for having years-out-of-date products on the shelves), but I often find all sorts of items that are well past their sell-by dates at Jewel. It's annoying to have to double-check everything you put in your cart!
I realize that "sell by" dates can be arbitrary, and the food is often good past those dates, but who wants to start out with that?!! It just lessens the amount of time you have to use it once you get it home!
Aaron
Friday 29th of September 2017
I made my first trip to a Lidl (BIG GRAND OPENING) store yesterday and I am sorry to say I was disappointed. To me their products are more expensive than Aldi's. Also the store felt very unorganized and products were in random places. For instance I was looking for Feta and could not find it in the cheese section for the life of me, but I did find crab meat in that section. I was also looking for sausage and one would think it would be with the bacon, but sadly no it was in a completely different section. I was hoping to be able to shop this store more often since I can literally look out my office window and see it! Sadly no, I don't think my weekly budget can afford it. Lidl did offer a larger variety of organic and healthy foods.
Jennifer
Friday 29th of September 2017
I have been shopping at Aldi since the early 90's and it has definitely come a long way! I thought what we already had was great...so this remodel just rattled my rhythm a bit. The produce section is much expanded with organics and there is a refrigerated produce cooler (think Trader Joe's). It did take me two actual trips to the new store to find zucchini and three laps around the produce section when I actually found it. All in all, those remodeling weeks were the toughest of my life. I love Aldi and COULD NOT have raised 4 children in DuPage county without it. I have so many people in my life who poo-poo Aldi as a second class store, well, they just don't know what they are missing!