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?
