In the UK, Aldi (and it’s competitor, Lidl) started out at the discount end of the market, but increasingly they’ve become ‘middle class’, particularly with younger generations (who have a lot less money than their middle class parents).
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Here, south of the Disney bubble, your grocery choices are delivery-only Kroger, Trader Joes or Whole Foods both 30 mins away, a Winn-Dixie 40 mins away, a half-dozen Publix stores, or Aldi.
All four of the Publix stores within a 15 minute drive have terrible produce that dies within days. But that’s not the worse of it, in some cases they charge 2x what Aldi does for fresh staples like produce, dairy and bakery items.
With all the predatory-pricing-masked-as-inflation going on down here, we’ve taken to hitting up Aldi first for fresh stuff and a few of their self-branded items, then over to Publix for anything else. It sucks having to go to two stores to get everything but it’s also cut our food spending by 30% and the produce lasts way, way longer than what Publix does. I don’t get it, Publix must be leaving produce on the loading dock to wilt in the Florida sun or something. All of them.
The Aldi-vs-TJ thing makes sense to me. In Canada, the three big grocery chains in the east (Loblaws, Metro, Sobeys) all also have discount versions (No Frills, Price Chopper, FreshCo) that sell similar pantry staples but lower quality everything else. It always paid to cross-shop both tiers.
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Interesting- this journey you describe is exactly what CostCo is in the US. They started as warehouses selling cheap non perishables straight from the pallets, but over the years have evolved into selling produce, baked goods, groceries, pharmacy stuff, gas, etc.
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I keep hearing this, but according to TJs:
Who owns Trader Joe’s?
Trader Joe’s is owned by families that also own part of Aldi Nord. Trader Joe’s and Aldi Nord operate independently. Trader Joe’s has no business or ownership relationship with Aldi Sud (including Aldi U.S.).
Wikipedia (fwiw) says either Aldi Nord or the Albrechts are owners, depending on whether one is reading the article about Aldi or Trader Joe’s.
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The packages of bacon that promise they’re gluten-free are probably legit.
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Aldi ownership is somewhat complicated. Both Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd are wholly owned by foundations established by the original owners, with the families in question as beneficiaries. The actual businesses are mostly run by non-family-members, though, and they’re fairly decentralised – here in Germany, Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd together consist of 66 regional companies which are running over 4000 Aldi shops. The same concept applies to other countries where Aldi is active. This means that Trader Joe’s is probably correct in pointing out that they operate independently from Aldi Nord, but both belong – at least in part – to the “Markus-Stiftung”, a foundation established by Theo Albrecht (the founder of Aldi Nord) which holds 100% of Trader Joe’s and 61% of Aldi Nord (the remainder of Aldi Nord is owned by two other family foundations also set up by Theo Albrecht). Aldi Süd, including Aldi US, belongs to a different foundation established by Karl Albrecht (the founder of Aldi Süd).
It should be stressed that Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd are not in competition with each other – they’re quite friendly and cooperative, and especially their international expansion happens in close cooperation: one gets to pick a new country, then the other, and so on. The original division between the two probably took place because the two Albrecht brothers, Karl and Theo, differed in their management styles and splitting the company seemed to be the easiest option to avoid perennial conflict. (There used to be a rumour that the split was about whether Aldi should sell cigarettes, which Aldi Süd only started offering from 2003, but that doesn’t seem to be true.)
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You’re better off not, if possible. Publix is probably the primary “lipstick on a pig” supermarket of Florida. So, no Albertson’s down there?
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I’m intrigued by the delivery-only Kroger’s, which I’ve never heard of before. Is this something new they’re trying, or has it always been that way?
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it seems that Kroger is doing that here in florida, perhaps because Publix is just too big and entrenched in the supermarket market? and @knoxblox , i have never seen Albertsons (or Safeway, for that matter) anywhere in the state.
i can’t get Kroger delivery in the islands, so it’s Publix or Winn Dixie for grocs, produce market stands for the best fresh produce (of which, there are many).
could shop at Aldi on the mainland, but that means driving the dreaded “18 mile stretch” through swamp and slew of the Everglades outflow basin, then on to Florida City where there is Aldi and some big box type stores. too much hassle. i hate that drive! it can take over an hour to go the 40 miles.
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Maybe they left? I used to work the separated liquor store at Publix across from Albertson’s on NW 13th St in Gainesville in the 90s, but apparently the Publix is now a furniture store and the Albertson’s is a blood donation center. 
And there’s now a Wawa on the corner?
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Another reason to loathe Publix:
[# Julie Fancelli
Tools
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Julie Jenkins Fancelli (born 1949 or 1950) is an American heiress and conservative political donor.[1][2] She is an heiress to the Publix supermarkets fortune and a member of America’s thirty-ninth richest family.[1][2] Fancelli’s organizational efforts and donations played a decisive role in the January 6, 2021 “Stop the Steal” rally at The Ellipse that preceded the 2021 United States Capitol attack.[1][2]](Julie Fancelli - Wikipedia)
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I imagine the market forces in the supermarket market make marketing to the local market market really difficult.
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Smuggling for personal use is universally tolerated if you live on the border in my experience. Actually it’s treated as a fundamental human right from what I’ve seen. Do not interrupt the smuggling.
ETA
Here ALDI has the best cheap GF food, along with Tesco. Tesco’s produce is rank though so Aldi is my main supermarket.
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Depends on the border. Trying to get the wrong sort of stuff into (or out of) the GDR would easily result in a prolonged stay at the people’s expense at Club Bautzen.
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I hear you but I would be utterly shocked if a significant amount of GDR law enforcement didn’t consider it more a right than a perk of the job to smuggle and to skim.
Or maybe they had the world’s only honest border cops!
Oh, they skimmed and smuggled alright - but those were official Stasi operations to grab hard currency and create kompromat. And getting caught with sticky fingers would have been unpleasant for them.
They were a weird blend of “more Prussian than the Prussians” and “new socialist men with principles”.
One might call that honest, in a broad sense of the word.
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As in an honest politician: one who stays bought when you buy them?
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