Hubby and I got in today!! WooHoo!
We left home around 9:00 to get to Aldi right after it opened. The parking lot already looked like this.
On every row! Hubby found a spot an a curb that was not TOO far to walk. And we headed in the store. There were employees giving carts to shoppers, so we didn't even have to use our Aldi quarter we have had in the car for a couple of weeks. LOL!
We were greeted as we walked in the door to this:
I don't know if you can tell, but it was filled with shoppers. We had a little clear space in front of us, then it was filled with shoppers and carts!
That is Hubby on the far right with the blue sleeve. I think he was already regretting walking in with me. He hates crowds. Oh, wait, I do, too!
We sucked it up and headed through the store as well as we could with all the people.
We checked out prices as best we could, but we really couldn't stop and peruse for long as there were just as many people behind us as in front of us. We could not even get down one of the produce aisles as it was blocked by shoppers and employees restocking produce. There were employees and flat of product all over the store. Employees were restocking all over the place.
Here is another crowd shot. It is funny that in both pics it looks like there is a lot of clear space where Hubby and I are, but there really wasn't. It was hard to move around and Hubby was quickly frustrated. I was less frustrated as I can pretty much ignore people around me. But I could tell Hubby didn't need to be in there very long. LOL!
We did finally get through the blocked produce aisle and I heard a little girl in her mom's carts say, "This is our new favorite store, huh, Mommy?" Mommy said she didn't know about that. Maybe when the hype died down. I think that is kinda how I feel.
We got through the store and did get some stuff. Here is what we bought.
The very best price: Milk for $1.89/gallon!!! I haven't seen that price in years!
We got to the check out and it went really fast. Even when Kroger is empty, checkout takes longer. And my total: $23.38! And I had a $5 coupon, so $18.38. Hubby was pretty impressed with that. Oh, and for the grand opening, Aldi was giving out bags...the plastic ones, not the fabric ones...so even though we brought our bags, I got some Aldi ones. Yes, they will get used at Kroger sometime. ;-)
We did have to go to Kroger for a few things we didn't find at Aldi. As we were driving, he said, "I hope this isn't grounds for divorce, but I was not that impressed." :-(
Don't worry, I am not going to divorce him. We talked and he agreed that a lot of the prices were really great and it might be better once the crowds died down. I kind of agree with him. I loved the prices, but I will like it better when I have time to look at everything. We couldn't even get down the paper products aisle and whatever else was on there. Couldn't get near the meat or most of the frozen stuff.
Our first experience at Aldi was money-saving even though it was too crowded. We went to Kroger and it was EMPTY. I forgot to get an identifying pic on the way in, but here is when we left.