Red Mosquito

i also got some sharp cheddar pub cheese

so a new amazon fresh store opened up somewhat near us, and we decided to try it on sunday. my wife used to go to them all the time when she was traveling back and forth to london for work, but that was mostly for something quick, like picking up a bag of almonds and an apple for lunch.

the concept, foreign to most shoppers, makes sense - enter the store, scan your amazon account qr code, pick out what you want and put it in your cart or bag, and then scan out once you leave. the objective is to save shoppers time. and it's supposed to be 10% cheaper than traditional, brick-and-mortar stores.

i'm not sure why i was expecting something more along the lines of whole foods (because of the amazon ownership), but i found the whole thing overblown. we saved about 5 minutes in not having to check out. the quality of the produce sucked. the shelves were a mess. and the selection was more in line of a regular, but scaled down, grocery store. color me unimpressed.

i can see these stores working in a larger metropolitan area, like a condensed downtown where you work closer to the store, simply because you can run in to grab a few things and get out. but for traditional shoppers, i'm not so sure.

I went to the one in San Francisco when I was there. It is definitely scaled down, and I can see how it is great for a city neighborhood, but yeah, not the best selection for grocery shopping. Plus, if you like to buy certain staples in generic brands, you are out of luck in this store.

Take a machete to this post and you have just described a lot of what's to love about Aldi.

Chris_H_2 wrote:...the objective is to save shoppers time. and it's supposed to be...cheaper than traditional, brick-and-mortar stores...and the selection was more in line of a regular, but scaled down, grocery store...you can run in to grab a few things and get out

I know I've said it before, but if you love Aldi, you'll really love Lidl. We just got two here in town. Same concept as Lidl but a little better selection.

washing machine wrote:Take a machete to this post and you have just described a lot of what's to love about Aldi.

Chris_H_2 wrote:...the objective is to save shoppers time. and it's supposed to be...cheaper than traditional, brick-and-mortar stores...and the selection was more in line of a regular, but scaled down, grocery store...you can run in to grab a few things and get out

why did you cut the part about the produce sucking? you mentioned this about Aldi eariler in this thread:

washing machine wrote:The thing about Aldi also, however, is that it's terrible for produce and the meat is not much better.

I've come around on that issue. At my Aldi, it's not so much that the quality sucks. It's good produce. The problem is there isn't more than the basics. No "exotic" things like taro root, chayote squash, rambutan, things of that nature. We use a lot of those things and Aldi understandably does not source them.

Reid, when the checkout person says "Did you find everything you were looking for today?" do you ever say "Yeah, I found Aldi stuff!" ?

Trag.

tragabigzanda wrote:Reid, when the checkout person says "Did you find everything you were looking for today?" do you ever say "Yeah, I found Aldi stuff!" ?

Trag I swear to God

what is peyote squash??

i can't even get fresh beans or okra at my store

hold onto your seats, boys, but i've only been grocery shopping at a Trader Joes about 3 times. i just never had one conveniently located. BUT, if i were to go to the one in town, what should i look out for? what should i avoid? does their produce or meat suck? do they do better with packaged goods?

bodysnatcher wrote:hold onto your seats, boys, but i've only been grocery shopping at a Trader Joes about 3 times. i just never had one conveniently located. BUT, if i were to go to the one in town, what should i look out for? what should i avoid? does their produce or meat suck? do they do better with packaged goods?

I’ve only been once. The closest one to me is about an hour and a half away.

Just go browse. You'll find some things that are up your alley

i could type out my last grocery list from there the other day

bodysnatcher wrote:if i were to go to the one in town, what should i look out for

The nearest exit

Hey guys, check out big city snob Chris who only shops at whole foods