They want me to shop there?

In the past few days I have driven past the locations of where the closest two Aldi stores will be. These are the two Aldi stores that will be closest to me. They are still “coming soon” and supposedly opening “Spring 2013.” There is no given date outside of this information as of yet.

I have asked around online to some of my friends who have Aldi stores near them and have shopped in them on a regular or not so regular basis. I got feedback based on their varied experience. I wanted the honest truth from people who had varied experiences. I knew that would be the best way to get honest feedback for something that was truly foreign to me.

At any rate, I knew that I would give them an honest “Grand Opening” trial run, but I still wanted opinions regardless. I did the same for Trader Joe’s. I will be honest, I have not been back to Trader Joe’s and I have no pressing need to go back to Trader Joe’s. There was nothing outside of the cheaper milk that would pull me back into the store for the most part. I certainly would not drive all the way to Trader Joe’s just to get the marginally cheaper milk. I can go to Sam’s Club which is closer and get much cheaper milk most of the time.

Like I said, I will go check them out when they open, however, they are not exactly close so I cannot imagine making them a regular on my shopping agenda. I just do not see that happening. Trader Joe’s was going to have to absolutely wow me to get added to the agenda to in all fairness. The closest two stores are 9.3 miles and 10.8 miles away from my house. Taking the distance into consideration and adding traffic into the equation, that is not a short gaunt to the grocery store.

The thing that struck me about both of these locations, however, is the size of the stores. I was shocked. These stores are no bigger than the local Walgreens or CVS stores. They are tiny in comparison to your typical local grocery store. I am not exactly sure how they intend to pull in your typical grocery shopper. In the areas where these two stores are in, they might work due to the lack of grocery stores in the general areas. In general in the greater Houston area in general that is not what I see as a grand idea of competition in the market place. Of course, what do I know?

Maybe I am not the target shopper they are going for. Maybe I will be surprised when I go into one. I don’t know. We will have to wait and see when they open up. For now I am getting might skeptical of Aldi where I am super excited about Sprouts Farmers Market.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*