Mid-Michigan Dining

• 5625 W. Saginaw Hwy.
• Lansing, MI 48906
• (636) 278-4700
• Website

Aldi's on Saginaw Highway

It has been years since I’ve been to an Aldi.  We didn’t shop there much when I was growing up because there was kind of a stigma to shopping at Aldi’s.  On top of that, it’s kind of a pain in the butt.  They don’t have the conviences of a modern mega-mart, but that’s how they keep prices down.  The stigma is gone now and more and more people are taking advantage of Aldi’s low prices.

The one thing I always use to go to Aldi’s for was their animal crackers.  I know that sounds stupid, but when I was in high school, my distrcit swtiched to the Eight-Block schedule.  Instead of a regular school day with eight 40 minute periods, we had four 80 minute periods each day with an every other day schedule.  Because of the schedule, there was always one group that would have three morning classes before lunch which means we didn’t get to eat much before one o’clock.  The teachers would let us bring snacks in and Aldi’s animal crackers were a big hit or some reason.

OK, now that I’ve told you a story you probably don’t care about, on to today’s stop.  I had stopped in this Aldi’s one other time while I was killing time waiting for my girlfriend.  What I noticed was bags of chicken were about half the price of what Kroger charges.  We polished off all the chicken breasts in our house so I needed to get some more.  After a stop at another grocery store where I wasn’t thrilled about the prices, I thought about giving Aldi a shot.

Like I mentioned earlier, Aldi does a lot of things some may find inconvienent, but they do it to keep prices down.  The first thing you’ll notice is the carts.  They’re locked together outside.  In order to get a cart from the rack, you need to put a quarter into a slot on the handle.  You’re not charged a quarter to use it because if you put the cart back in the rack, the quarter pops out.  This way, they don’t need employees to return carts from the cart corral.  There is no cart corral.  Once you get in the store, you find more of a wharehouse set up than a grocery store.  All items are shipped to the store in containers that become displays.  Employees just have to move the pallets to the floor and open a flap on the box. 

I walked around to the cooler section where the meats are stored.  In college, some friends of mine made a mistake and bought meat from Aldi’s that turned out to be bad.  Their mistake was buying ground beef in a package that you couldn’t see the meat.  So, my rule has become don’t buy meat you can’t see.  Things have definately improved since then.  Aldi’s now offers Tyson meat as well as their own brands.  I grabbed my 5 lb. bag of chicken and headed to pay.

The cost cutting continues at the check out line.  You unload your cart then swing the cart around so the checker can put the items back in the cart…unbagged.  Aldi doesn’t supply bags for free.  There are some you can buy, but you’re encouraged to bring your own.  After you pay, you move over to a bagging table and bag your groceries before leaving.  Since I only had one bag, I didn’t have to worry about that.  I just paid the cashier, grabbed my bag and left.  Oh yeah, paying.  They don’t accept credit.  Cash or debit only.  Again, they keep prices down by not having to pay credit card companies.

There’s an Aldi within walking distance of our place and I’ve thought about walking to get some things before but I never did.  If you can get over the percieved stigma of shopping at Aldi’s, you can save quite a bit of money on your grocery bill.  We’ve had some problems in the past with purchasing cheap chicken from other stores, so I’m hoping I’ve found a winner here.