How much do snacks, frozen meals and prepared meals cost in Atlanta?

[cittic10]

The publix house brand is really good quality. The only thing I've ever used of the publix brand that I didn't care for was the mini cheddar rice cakes. And their full size rice cakes used to be good but they changed something and now they don't taste as good.

I'll go to some lengths to save money but when cutting operating expenses also means not having a fly zapper in the front of the store then...

Just look for the BOGOs you can save a fortune at publix if you wait until the right time to buy... no coupons required, no stupid cards to scan. And the best part of all is if you find a nice manager they will order as much as you want, even at the BOGO price so you don't have to drive all over town and clear shelves.

I have yet to pay more for paper towels at publix than it is sold for at costco. You just have to wait for the right time to buy. When they go on sale.

As for cleanliness, Aldi doesn't have a butcher or a deli or any of that stuff, so they don't have as many of the same departments that could rack up violations but I would be curious to see their GDoA inspection score. They don't even take stuff out of the boxes.

[belleislerunner]

Aldi is the exact same concept as Costco/Sam's Club. If you feel threatened shopping at Costco - you won't like Aldi. Otherwise you'll be fine.

They keep everything stacked on pallets - however, their business model only stocks the 400 fastest selling goods (i.e. staples) so it keeps the inventory moving and repeat business up. They have their own generic brand (Millville) which is comparable to the Kellogs/Post of the world.

They do have meat/chicken etc - however there is no butcher counter - so it's already packaged in refrigerating coolers/freezers. To be fair - some of the produce can be hit and miss - but that's typical of any place. Other than that - just compare prices and you'll see.

A few pointers to make the first time less scary, in order to get a cart - you have to bring a quarter and put it in the cart (to unlock it) - you get the quarter back when you return in - but it prevents them from having to hire people just to chase carts in a parking lot (i.e. more savings to you). Additionally they do not provide free bags for groceries - but readily admit you to use any of their cardboard boxes for free or bring your own bags (you can also purchase plastic bags).

The lines might look long at first - but their speed is actually faster than any Publix/Kroger/Whole Foods because they do not bag your groceries - nor accept credit card (only cash/debit/bridge cards) so it keeps the lines moving.

I think the store is a testament to efficiency in business. You'll be quite surprised.

[berkeleylake]

Aldi, a German-owned chain, has been in US for decades, just somewhat new to the Atlanta market. Aldi is fine for certain foods like snack foods, milk products, and canned goods. I don't care for its limited produce at all but if you look for specific types of foods, you can save a lot for sure. The German chocolate bars are great and the snack food is decent overall. Since I don't buy such things on a regular basis, I get to Aldi about once a month or less often. Yes, as others said, Aldi is like a Big Lots or Family dollar of grocery stores. If you know how it works, you can get in and out quickly.

Probably Food Depot or Walmart is the cheapest in the metro area for a somewhat larger grocery store.

[cittic10]

Originally Posted by belleislerunner

Aldi is the exact same concept as Costco/Sam's Club. If you feel threatened shopping at Costco - you won't like Aldi. Otherwise you'll be fine.

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Whoa whoa whoa.
I don't feel threatened by costco, I just don't see the benefit to shopping there. I can find fresher, higher quality food elsewhere and why pay $40+ a year for a membership to pay the same price for paper towels and toilet paper that I would pay at publix when it's on sale. Publix will even carry it out to my car.

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Originally Posted by belleislerunner

They keep everything stacked on pallets - however, their business model only stocks the 400 fastest selling goods (i.e. staples) so it keeps the inventory moving and repeat business up.

)))

It's bad enough I have to go to 4 different grocery stores to find everything I need. To go to a place that essentially has the selection of a super target, just more of a waste of time spent going to yet another place that doesn't have everything I need in one place.

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Originally Posted by belleislerunner

They do have meat/chicken etc - however there is no butcher counter - so it's already packaged in refrigerating coolers/freezers.

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Yeah but I don't like several days old meat. I like packaged 10 minutes before I got there meat.
Or better yet, I like to stick my annoying little head in the window and go "hey, I'll take X lbs of ground sirloin" and have it wrapped before my very eyes.

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Originally Posted by belleislerunner

To be fair - some of the produce can be hit and miss -but that's typical of any place.

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Uh... no... You go to the produce manager and ask if they have any more ________ in the back and they wheel out a box for you to select from.

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Originally Posted by belleislerunner

Other than that - just compare prices and you'll see.

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I did compare prices. The prices were not any different than the prices of the stores I already shop and if they are , it might be something that I don't buy because I only looked at prices for items that I buy.

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Originally Posted by belleislerunner

A few pointers to make the first time less scary, in order to get a cart - you have to bring a quarter and put it in the cart (to unlock it) - you get the quarter back when you return in - but it prevents them from having to hire people just to chase carts in a parking lot (i.e. more savings to you).

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I don't like using coins. And I don't like having to schlep the cart back to the store. Thats why I shop at stores where an actual human being takes my groceries and the cart out to my car then loads them into the car then wheels the cart back to the store for me. And if I'm in the mood to DIY then I just leave the cart in the cart corral. No deposit necessary. I don't appreciate the lack of trust like they think I'm going to walk away with their shopping cart and take it to a scrap yard.

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Originally Posted by belleislerunner

The lines might look long at first - but their speed is actually faster than any Publix/Kroger/Whole Foods because they do not bag your groceries - nor accept credit card (only cash/debit/bridge cards) so it keeps the lines moving.

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Oh forget it. No credit cards, no deal. I get an extra cash back bonus for using my credit card for groceries. Bag the groceries???! Please, why don't I just go milk the cow and slaughter the chicken if I'm going to do all that.


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Originally Posted by belleislerunner

I think the store is a testament to efficiency in business. You'll be quite surprised.

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That may be but I'm more interested in a store that's a testament to freshness, cleanliness and customer service.

[JoeTarheel]

Okay...you had to go through all of that just to say you hate Costco? That's fine if you do - don't shop there - but they are still doing well financially without you.

There are many of us that love a bargain and aren't really concerned about freshness and customer service when purchasing paper towels.

[ATLTJL]

He's talking about Aldi, not Costco.

I love Costco. One thing that's great about Costco is even though it has a yearly fee, all you have to do is find 2 or 3 things you buy from them to make it worthwhile. For example, say you buy laundry detergent at Costco...that adds up to probably $20 a year in savings. If your dog eats Costco dog food, that can be several hundred dollars a year, or if you use Kirkland branded Frontline, that saves a ton. But whatever you are into, some people use Costo for toilet paper, some for frozen chicken breasts, whatever.

It goes deeper than that, though. I love Costco because I have never yet been disappointed by the Kirkland brand. In fact, it is always from a major manufacturer, but Costco often puts more stringent requirements on the company than they put on themselves. Thus, even though Kirkland tuna is actually Starkist tuna, it might cost a little bit more because Costco's standards for the Kirkland name are higher than Starkist uses for their own tuna. Pretty much everything with the Kirkland name has been held to very high quality standards.

I also like Costco customer service. It's like Nordstrom, you can return anything there. I returned a partially eaten bag of dog food because it gave my dog gas (I just said she didn't like it). No problem. One time I accidentally bought a pack of medium bristle toothbrushes instead of soft bristle. It was my own fault, and I didn't realize it until I had opened the pack and used one of the brushes. Still, I took them back and Costco say no problem, go get a soft bristle pack. To me, that level of service is worth $50, even if you didn't save a dime.

A few pointers to make the first time less scary, in order to get a cart - you have to bring a quarter and put it in the cart (to unlock it) - you get the quarter back when you return in - but it prevents them from having to hire people just to chase carts in a parking lot (i.e. more savings to you).

This is a ludicrous policy. I can't tell you how many times I have driven by Aldi and not gone specifically because I didn't have a quarter. Who carries change anymore? They could develop another system. Besides, Aldi stores are so small, you could send one kid out and within 3 minutes he could have all the carts back in the store. If I had the time to do it, I would get a roll of quarters every day and take every cart out of the corral and leave them all over the parking lot just to show Aldi how stupid their policy is.

nor accept credit card (only cash/debit/bridge cards) so it keeps the lines moving.

This is not why they do not accept credit cards. Credit cards do not take any longer to run than debit cards and are almost always faster than cash because you don't have to wait for the moron customer to search for it, count it, hand it over, then the cashier has to make change and hand it back. The reason Aldi doesn't accept credit cards is because they don't want to pay the 1 or 2% commission that most credit card companies take from every sale. If they were smart, they would accept credit cards and just add a 2 or 3% card surcharge for the purchases. Then customers could actually decide if they wanted to shop there. The current system alienates anybody who wants to use a credit card. Most financially intelligent people do not carry debit cards, and I don't either. I rarely have enough cash in my pocket to buy groceries and I'm not going to make a trip to the ATM just to buy from Aldi. At the very least, they should create a store card.