Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

Re:Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending Ame... by llamataboot on Friday May 17, 2019 @05:49PM (#19943899)

I find it hard to shop at Aldi because of the almost brutal aesthetic. No signage, no colors, no nice lighting, just industrial meta shelves on an industrial floor with bare fluorescent lights overhead and everything jammed together. It gives me a headache just thinking about it.

I will however still occasionally run in because although they run out quick almost every day, when they have grass-fed meat and some organic veggies, they are about twice as cheap as any other retailer around here has them for.

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Re:Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending Ame... by the_duke on Friday May 17, 2019 @06:08PM (#19944050)

I've wondered why they don't improve the aesthetics a little bit, it can't make that much of a difference to the bottom line.

I think it's just part of the philosophy: you come because it's cheap and the quality is good for the price point, you buy, you leave.

You don't get a experience, you get a utilitarian transaction. And that is reflected by the interior.

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Re:Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending Ame... by lostapathy on Friday May 17, 2019 @06:09PM (#19944065)

They are remodeling some stores - the one near me actually feels nicer than most traditional grocery stores in the area. Funny how things change.

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Re:Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending Ame... by pnathan on Friday May 17, 2019 @06:27PM (#19944194)

I've found that groceries run for and by immigrants have a similar approach. The "experience" Americans crave is revealed to be so vacuous.

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Re:Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending Ame... by Scoundreller on Friday May 17, 2019 @06:30PM (#19944219)

Depending on where you’re from and how impoverished you were, being able to go to a store full of food, putting one or more of a large sample in your cart, and only pay at the very end, can be quite an “experience”.

I’ve observed that this effect can last for decades if your formative years didn’t involve enough food.

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Re:Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending Ame... by jhbadger on Saturday May 18, 2019 @06:25AM (#19946666)

Also a lot of restaurants run by (and mostly for) immigrants. They aren't into fancy decor with statues and paintings from the appropriate country the way ones aimed at Westerners tend to be. Cheap tables covered by plastic tablecloths and folding metal chairs work just fine.

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Re:Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending Ame... by llamataboot on Monday May 20, 2019 @01:57PM (#19963107)

True but even that tends to be driven by a certain 'idea' of authenticity - look at all the restuarants in here that would like to upgrade the decor and food (and prices!) but immediately get dinged as 'in-authentic' when they make those changes

https://ny.eater.com/2019/1/18/18183973/authenticity-yelp-re...

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Re:Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending Ame... by ip26 on Friday May 17, 2019 @10:36PM (#19945243)

There's a middle ground between a fancy luxury market and flickering green-tinged fluorescent bulbs that always make you feel slightly ill. Signage & organization also serves a function aside from "experience".

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