ALDI People Are My People

I feel like my delight over the opening of the Signal Mountain Road ALDI was a little out-of-hand. You should have heard my great enthusiasm and sighs of relief. No longer would I have to go out to Brainerd Road or Hixson and haul a month’s worth of groceries back to my house (at Baylor School). It would be possible to JUST go buy eggs and milk and come home! I can feel my heart speeding up just thinking about this again.

For years, I’ve done the majority of my shopping at ALDI, the little grocery store where you have to bag your own stuff, insert a quarter in the cart, and might never know what’s there.

Wait, you say, that sounds scary. 

Well, if you’re the kind of person who needs super specialized ingredients for every meal, wants someone to load your groceries in your car, or wants in and out of the store as quickly as possible, ALDI might not be your jam. But if, like me, you have a whole bunch of kids who seem to devour everything in sight, live on one salary, and are willing to trade a little inconvenience for a big savings…you’re probably also an ALDI devotee.

I find that those who love ALDI are my people.

We are the ones who will hand over a cart to the next person coming across the parking lot and generally refuse the proffered quarter, making someone a little happier and 25 cents richer.

We are willing to change up dinner a little or a lot if items are not available, just to avoid a trip to another grocery store.

We get excited about a new ALDI-brand product, like last summer’s Brownie Hummus, even know we know it might only stick around for a month.

We wait for German Week so we can grab up sour cherries in syrup and spaetzle and imported strudels.

We enjoy checking out the ALDIfinds aisles and being able to get a new backpack, tea kettle, pack of socks, or waffle mix for an incredible bargain. (I’m not saying I’ve bought all these things in the last year…OK, I totally have.)

Maybe like me, my ALDI friends are trying to stretch a buck, also shop for clothes at the thrift store, and scope out SlickDeals like a boss. Or maybe they just enjoy a deal and how super speedy the cashiers are. Either way, I’ve found ALDI shoppers to be some of the nicest people I encounter in public. And it’s nice to have one errand where I can smile at others and nobody thinks I’m insane.

Psst…if you’re in East Brainerd, another ALDI is opening on Gunbarrel Road in two weeks!

(This is not at all sponsored by ALDI.)