Wal-Mart Admits German Defeat

[I'm Gone 60]

Hm Aldi's concept is to have their own brand stuff, and not too much stuff in stock and not too many different brands because that is expensive. They keep their prices low, mostly by the deposit for the shopping cart (nobody has to return them, one employee less) and by selling plastic bags (no free bags, and you pack yourself). The system is simple but works well. Plus: the non-brand stuff is actually brand-stuff! In Germany you can even buy a book which lists the no name brand and its real brand. E.g. the facial cream sold in German Aldi stores is mostly Nivea. The big brands always produce too much stuff, so they sell stuff to the discounter stores who sell it in their own names. So you'll get a low price and high quality, only that you have a not so nice packaging. I think that's okay with me!

I am so happy that there is Aldi in NC - finally less than 3 bucks for Cornflakes!!!!

That's OK for mustard, but Quicky Kola ain't Coke or Pepsi. I bought their Cherrios knock off and I tossed it and went to Wal-Mart to by the real thing. We shop at Aldi, but right now the limited selection means we still need to go to Wal-Mart. In Baltimore, MD they just started to be open Noon to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday. Wal-Mart is open until Midnight. So when I need something Wal-Mart comes to mind, because I know they are open.

P.S. We reuse our plastic Aldi bags 10 cents is 10 cents. LOL

[RaspberrySwirl 20]

I think that's the idea behind the bags, I reused them all the time. I miss Aldi!!

And carrefour.

But mostly Aldi.

And weekly produce markets and the sunday flea market. And and and...

::cries::

[Marilyn. 340]

I am a Walmart shopper and I am not ashamed to admit it

We don't do all our shopping there.... I do most of my grocery shopping at Albertsons but some stuff we buy at Walmart because the price is too good to pass up.... Like I can buy a 12 pack of gatorade at Walmart for about the same price I pay for 6 at Albertsons

[Ban Hammer 14,674]

Hm Aldi's concept is to have their own brand stuff, and not too much stuff in stock and not too many different brands because that is expensive. They keep their prices low, mostly by the deposit for the shopping cart (nobody has to return them, one employee less) and by selling plastic bags (no free bags, and you pack yourself). The system is simple but works well. Plus: the non-brand stuff is actually brand-stuff! In Germany you can even buy a book which lists the no name brand and its real brand. E.g. the facial cream sold in German Aldi stores is mostly Nivea. The big brands always produce too much stuff, so they sell stuff to the discounter stores who sell it in their own names. So you'll get a low price and high quality, only that you have a not so nice packaging. I think that's okay with me!

Walmart in Germany btw was totally different than here. It was expensive, dirty and so far out off city limits. The competition with the strongly discounter dominated German stores was really hard. Still in America I think Walmart is expensive, but the profit for groceries in German supermarkets is 2%, the average in the USA is 5% - so of course Walmart either had to give up or to get used to lower profits. That's why I think food is soooo expensive here - people are just used to pay more for the same stuff here. On the other hand side clothing is extremely cheap in the US and way more expensive in Germany.

I am so happy that there is Aldi in NC - finally less than 3 bucks for Cornflakes!!!!

Lg Anna

i sure miss some aspects of the german supermarkets....like the trinkmarkt and the bier...and the bier...and the bier.

i do wish the usa would borrow that idea of the trinkmarkt, it would cut down on a lot of garbage.

[Anna C. 4]

Mhh sure they dont have everything at Aldi, but most stuff works for me there! The only thing I care for the brand is NUTELLA which unfortunately is not available like in Europe (I know there is Nutella in America, but made with less hazelnuts and with hydrogenated peanut oil *ughh*). I miss that and I need my 3-monthly packages from home for NUTELLA!!!!!!

The Getraenkemarkt (Trinkmarkt) - yes I miss it too. And the beer of course ,) But there's a nice German restaurant in Charlotte, and I assume in every bigger city too, where I can order lots of German beer brands! Harr, 5 years in Munich just leave their traces!

What do you mean with less waste in the Trinkmarkt - because of the bottle deposit?

lg Anna

[Ban Hammer 14,674]

Mhh sure they dont have everything at Aldi, but most stuff works for me there! The only thing I care for the brand is NUTELLA which unfortunately is not available like in Europe (I know there is Nutella in America, but made with less hazelnuts and with hydrogenated peanut oil *ughh*). I miss that and I need my 3-monthly packages from home for NUTELLA!!!!!!

The Getraenkemarkt (Trinkmarkt) - yes I miss it too. And the beer of course ,) But there's a nice German restaurant in Charlotte, and I assume in every bigger city too, where I can order lots of German beer brands! Harr, 5 years in Munich just leave their traces!

What do you mean with less waste in the Trinkmarkt - because of the bottle deposit?

lg Anna

fortunately i can still get warsteiner here. wish i could get bitburger

i also miss rafaelo candy. you know, the coconut ones? can get them here but only the 3 pack at about $2 each. blah. i'd rather have that big bag for like $5

oh yeah nutella! that's some good stuff. that and some hot brotchen yum yum

less waste as in the bottles are being recycled instead of thrown away. also like to see recycling of paper. my neighbors don't believe me when i tell them you have a trash can in germany for this....one for that......and so on

[Henia 11]

LoL Wal-mart has already taken over the US...and South America and China... So it is really Germany rejects Wal-mart but they do have their own versionTesco LoL

[pedroh 21]

mhh i remember aldi in the nederlands.. they had local dutch stuff.. very good homemade bread and good hams... the 'generic' soda wasnt that bad. and the beer! zomg.. 20 eurocents for a pint of schulten-brau.. lolol

[I'm Gone 60]

The only thing I care for the brand is NUTELLA which unfortunately is not available like in Europe (I know there is Nutella in America, but made with less hazelnuts and with hydrogenated peanut oil *ughh*). I miss that and I need my 3-monthly packages from home for NUTELLA!!!!!!

Now it's funny that our daughter likes Nutella and it's I recall almost $4.00 a bottle, so we tried the Aldi coco spread or whatever it's called for a dollar something a bottle and she's OK with it. Now me I like the Aldi peanut butter and grape jelly that comes mixed in the jar. To me it's just as good as the Goobers that Wal-Mart sells for twice the price.

[Anna C. 4]

Hm yeah Nutella is quite expensive in America, and honestly not that good (mentioned above). Whenever you go to Europe you should try it there! In Germany it is what peanut butter is for Americans!

@ Nessa: Yup Raffaelo - it's also made by Ferrero (Nutella, Rocher, Duplo, I miss Duplo), they are the best for any candy stuff!!! Man, Italians know their dolci and how to make good candy! Yummie!

Beer for 20 Cents??? Wow I have to go to Hollland for a vacation (always just passed it on the highway!)!!! Beer is a little more expensive in Germany, but so good! Though Warsteiner is not my choice, I go for Paulaner!

Recycling and the Germans, one big story!!! Trash can for paper, plastic, different colors of glass, recycables and non-recycables, and dont forget the organic-waste-can!!!! It feels good to know to do that, but they do it in NY too (but not that strict, less things are verboten!)

Nessa did you spend time in Germany? It occurs to me.....

Lg Anna

[Ban Hammer 14,674]

Hm yeah Nutella is quite expensive in America, and honestly not that good (mentioned above). Whenever you go to Europe you should try it there! In Germany it is what peanut butter is for Americans!

@ Nessa: Yup Raffaelo - it's also made by Ferrero (Nutella, Rocher, Duplo, I miss Duplo), they are the best for any candy stuff!!! Man, Italians know their dolci and how to make good candy! Yummie!

Beer for 20 Cents??? Wow I have to go to Hollland for a vacation (always just passed it on the highway!)!!! Beer is a little more expensive in Germany, but so good! Though Warsteiner is not my choice, I go for Paulaner!

Recycling and the Germans, one big story!!! Trash can for paper, plastic, different colors of glass, recycables and non-recycables, and dont forget the organic-waste-can!!!! It feels good to know to do that, but they do it in NY too (but not that strict, less things are verboten!)

Nessa did you spend time in Germany? It occurs to me.....

Lg Anna

actually charles....nessaandcharles is nessa it's ok everyone gets us confused.

yes i was in germany for about 8 years. frankfurt am main, darmstat, and kaiserslautern.

[Anna C. 4]

Oh so you're with the Air Force or Army I assume! Hm I cant wait to get my AP to fly with my hubbie, mother and grandma in law to my parents for Christmas (and to see good old Germany again) and get some of our nice beer and snow for Christmas (Charlotte doesnt look like snow in winter, tooooooooo hot). So I wont miss a Christmas with snow!

Edited August 2, 2006 by Anna C.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Mhh sure they dont have everything at Aldi, but most stuff works for me there! The only thing I care for the brand is NUTELLA which unfortunately is not available like in Europe (I know there is Nutella in America, but made with less hazelnuts and with hydrogenated peanut oil *ughh*). I miss that and I need my 3-monthly packages from home for NUTELLA!!!!!!

The Getraenkemarkt (Trinkmarkt) - yes I miss it too. And the beer of course ,) But there's a nice German restaurant in Charlotte, and I assume in every bigger city too, where I can order lots of German beer brands! Harr, 5 years in Munich just leave their traces!

What do you mean with less waste in the Trinkmarkt - because of the bottle deposit?

lg Anna

WHAT??? Nutella is made different here? Son of a ....!!! I used to buy it at Trader Joe's. But I've been avoiding anything using trans fats (hydrogenated oils - nasty stuff). I'd sure like to know why the hell Nutella doesn't provide the same quality version here that they sell in Europe. I feel jipt.

[Anna C. 4]

Nutella:

I assume that there are several reasons.

1) Americans love peanuts. That's why they put in peanut oil instead of sunflower oil. It just has a nasty peanut flavor. Urhhhg for me (I really hate it, really).

2) Peanut oil is probably super cheap here! And hydrogenated oil is CHEAP! People dont care so much about it here, as far as I can tell. I dont want to touch that stuff. It's like cholesterol and cloggs the arteries!

3) There are less hazelnuts and more sugar in the American version, I strongly assume because that is the American taste. Everything's way sweeter here than in Europe. They adapt the product...

4) If you really wanna get the original taste, go to Italy. It was invented there. The German version is organic and tested by a foundation that cares for organic products only. They said it is very good (only good ingredients). I'm happy to assist you to find the real stuff which you can actually buy in the US! In NYC there are several stores in Astoria (Queens), Italian stores, and they sell imported Nutella. Expensive, but it's worth every penny!

Lg, the Nutella Freak!

[tmma 467]

Hm yeah Nutella is quite expensive in America, and honestly not that good (mentioned above). Whenever you go to Europe you should try it there! In Germany it is what peanut butter is for Americans!

@ Nessa: Yup Raffaelo - it's also made by Ferrero (Nutella, Rocher, Duplo, I miss Duplo), they are the best for any candy stuff!!! Man, Italians know their dolci and how to make good candy! Yummie!

Beer for 20 Cents??? Wow I have to go to Hollland for a vacation (always just passed it on the highway!)!!! Beer is a little more expensive in Germany, but so good! Though Warsteiner is not my choice, I go for Paulaner!

Recycling and the Germans, one big story!!! Trash can for paper, plastic, different colors of glass, recycables and non-recycables, and dont forget the organic-waste-can!!!! It feels good to know to do that, but they do it in NY too (but not that strict, less things are verboten!)

Nessa did you spend time in Germany? It occurs to me.....

Lg Anna

actually charles....nessaandcharles is nessa it's ok everyone gets us confused.

yes i was in germany for about 8 years. frankfurt am main, darmstat, and kaiserslautern.

-I was at Rhein Main--LOL--Partied in Darmstadt alot too

duh can't get post right (edit)

Edited August 2, 2006 by tmma