Sunday, September 7, 2008

Aldi: Look out Walmart. They're Coming to Texas.



Aldi Food Markets is a "no frills" food market. It's the other side of Central Market in the grocery business. And with the economy in the dumpster their timing may be perfect. Aldi is a German company, started in the 60's by two brothers and now advancing into the USA. Aldi is doing well, especially in this down economy because of very low cost for equivalent quality products. Shoppers report a 15 - 25% off of a discount grocery and 40% off of traditional supermarkets.

When I say no frills, I mean no frills:
* Inventory limited to most popular items. About 1300. A big Kroger may have 40,000.
* Private label products.
* Inexpensive building leases.
* No baggers for groceries, no bags either.
* Cash and debit card only.
* Limiting store hours to the prime shopping hours. Open about 10 hours per day.

Aldi even charges 25 cents for a cart, returned to you upon returning, so that carts are brought back to their location.

When do we get one?

Aldi has 8,000 stores worldwide and about 900 in the US. They are planning to open a distribution center in Denton with stores opening in Dallas next year. No plans for Tarrant County that I could find.

It appears that a sluggish economy is here to stay for a while. That effects Central Market, I think. Both HEB, owners of Central Market, and Aldi are privately held companies so their financials are not public information.

By the way, popular Trader Joe's in the Northeast is now owned by Aldi.

http://www.aldifoods.com/index_ENU_HTML.html

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

affects not "effects" Central Market--othewise you're saying that a slow economy produces Central Market as a result, gives birth to it.

Francis Shivone said...

I'll let you know when I start a grammar blog. I hate it when people read a 500 word post and all they have to say is you made a grammar mistake. Go away.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a step up from Town Talk. If you have never been there, it's on Beach Street at 1st Street (between 30 and 121). When it's good, it's very very good. Don't go looking for something specific.

Francis Shivone said...

I like Town Talk and you can get unbelievable deals there. It does have some products that manufacturers over produced. I saw 1/2 gallon tubs of Breyers ice cream for $2.79. It was a flavor that hadn't sold in the stores. But mostly its private label product. Some of which is very good and very inexpensive. This is shopping as a chore, I should have added, not as a day at Central Market.
A step up from Town Talk is about right. Maybe two.