I am a total Aldi's convert. When they came to my area a few years ago, I didn't think much about them and actually never went into the store. Then I got hooked into the frugal blogging world and decided all of you Aldi's shoppers out there must know something. So I shopped there a few times trying this and that and eventually started to go there regularly for the good price on milk. Each visit I tried a few more things and finally reached the point that I did almost all of our grocery shopping there.
But there's another thing that I really liked about Aldi's besides the good prices. I liked the fact that I have never gotten a wobbly or bent shopping cart there. Even now when the carts are starting to show some wear, they still work well. And this is because you have to put down a quarter deposit to use the cart. They are chained together and released with a quarter--much like the luggage carriers in airports. A quarter is not much money these days, but it is just enough that people will return the cart to get their money back. That means there are no random carts in the parking lot. There are no Aldi's carts at other stores. There are no loose carts running into cars. No carts getting bent however it is that shopping carts get bent.
Now here's what I find interesting. I have a friend, Judy, who is a real bargain hunter and does not want to spend a penny more on something than she has to. And Judy won't go to Aldi's. She is insulted by the whole chained cart thing. She thinks it means that they don't trust her. That thought never occurred to me. I just know replacing carts is a big expense for stores and this was another way that Aldi's was able to keep their prices down.
Are you insulted by the chained carts at Aldi's or at least annoyed by them? Or have you ever even thought about it?
Wow! I've never heard of such a thing, but then again, we don't have Aldi's here. I think it's actually a great idea.
ReplyDeleteFrom afar, it seems like it would be annoying at the least. However, I don't find it takes any more effort than pulling out a regular cart. And all of the wheels face forward!
DeleteIt took me the longest time to convert my hairdresser to Aldi's--she didn't want to "pay for her cart". It's interesting how people perceive things. I think the quarter-for-a-cart thing is brilliant--I, too, love that there are no carts left in the parking lot. Around here, if you are in the parking lot unloading groceries or returning your cart, usually someone will come running toward you with a quarter, asking to take your cart.
ReplyDeleteI had a funny experience at Aldi's a few years ago. I was shopping with my kids (my youngest was small enough to be sitting in the front of the cart) and I saw an older woman struggling to get a watermelon. I offered to help, and after I got it out of the box, she told me, "just put it in your cart". It was then I realized that she didn't have a cart. I offered her a quarter to get her own cart but she told me "I'll just put my groceries in your cart". I had no idea how to respond, so there I was, putting my groceries at the front of my cart and hers at the back and hoping she didn't expect me to pay for her groceries, too! (She didn't).
That was an odd experience with the shopping cart and the watermelon. After you understood what was going on, I'm sure it was okay. But until then, I would have been scratching my head too.
DeleteAs one of my random acts of kindness, I try to give my cart to someone without taking their quarter. Others do this too. Some will accept it and some will not. But whatever exchange takes place, everyone is happy. My husband thinks the people who shop in Aldi's are more considerate in the store. I might write about that another time.
Well, it was still odd. She continued to stack her groceries in my cart (I kinda needed the cart space ... ) but it was just one of those funny, quirky experiences.
DeleteMany Aldi customers give away their quarter or won't take a quarter when offered one (I do this especially, as Lili noted, if someone looks like they are struggling and could use a bright spot in their day). The other trend I notice at Aldi is that customers will grab an empty packing box in the store and use it to fill up with groceries--if you don't need a lot, it eliminates the need to get a cart and to buy a bag (paper bags are 6 cents at Aldi, not sure how much plastic ones are. I buy the paper bags--we are required to use them for our paper recycling products and they aren't always easy to come by since most stores use plastic. I'm also cheap enough to reuse my paper bags several times!).
We have a bag tax here and have to pay a nickle a bag no matter what so people mostly use the boxes. They are sturdy so I like them for carrying things even though I will have my cloth bags with me.
DeleteIn reading your post, I was thinking "how smart" of Aldi's. Then I read Kris's comment, and I realized that this might actually be a burden (though small burden at that), for a few folks. Even though you get your quarter back when you return the cart, I would hate to think of an elderly person, or a young struggling single mom, unable to come up with a quarter in the first place, and then trying to carry all of their groceries through the store.
ReplyDeleteI am really glad to hear that some people "give away" their used cart as an act of kindness. I think I would be visually searching out an elderly person or young mom with several kids in tow, to give mine to.
As for carts -- the trend that I am really loving is the smaller cart that many stores now have in addition to the large ones. I love those! I can pack a whole bunch of stuff in one of those carts, and still navigate through the aisles with ease.
I like the small carts also. However, I am disappointed that some of the bigger stores no longer have hand baskets to shop with. They said that people carried them off and they could not keep them stocked. So now, they don't carry them at all.
DeleteI love their quarter policy. There are always carts and they're never all over the parking lot.
ReplyDeleteI think the funniest comment I've heard about Aldi was someone being offended about bagging their own groceries. I just shook my head and went on.
It's all what you're willing to do to save money. Some want to pay for the service of having their groceries bagged (with higher prices) and some of us would rather pocket that money. :)
DeleteI haven't been to an Aldis in years but it never bothered me to pay for the cart, I am amazed by how many of the customers are very poor but never complain about having to pay for bags. Goes to show the rest of the stores could do it too, most people grab boxes to put their purchases in.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. Other stores could do it too. However, I think they're going for a "higher" image. Too bad, it isn't working for some of them.
DeleteI never thought about how well the carts work at Aldi, but you are right. Nope. Not insulted they require a quarter for use. The prices at Aldi are very reasonable and I'm thrilled they have more and more organic products to try.
ReplyDelete