Monolithic Discount Grocer Bringing Low Prices, "Going Out of Business" Signs To Queens

By Chez Pazienza, Wednesday, Sep. 23 2009 @ 12:22PM

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Looks like Queens will be getting one ~~more~~ thing to brag about -- and, not surprisingly, it'll have to do with food.

ALDI, the international discount grocery chain, has announced that it'll be opening its first store in New York City in early 2010 -- and that it'll be in Queens. (The owners won't say exactly where.) ALDI already has more than a thousand stores in the U.S. It's a sister store to Trader Joe's -- they're both owned by the same brothers, German-born Theo and Karl Albrecht -- and is sort of like the Wal-Mart of grocery store chains, offering deep discounts and a large selection of store-brand merch exclusive to ALDI. (Remember by the way, that's "ALDI," not "IKEA.")

"They shake up a market," says supermarket consultant Burt Flickinger. "And they don't come in with just one store. They'll open five, then 10 and 15."

That noise you hear is Mom & Pop already being crushed under the heel of the coming German supermarket blitzkrieg.

Comments (7)

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Comments (7)

NYC Rhymology says:

Kinda shot yourself in the foot with that xenophobic last sentence, Chez Pazienza. (Is that an American name??)

Posted On: Wednesday, Sep. 23 2009 @ 12:43PM

Chez says:

What say we go to the doctor together? He can have a look at my foot and make sure you're healing properly from where you had that sense of humor removed.

Posted On: Wednesday, Sep. 23 2009 @ 1:54PM

Peter says:

If they take on the also German owned Food Emporium with it's ridiculous prices then that's something to welcome, I'd say.

Posted On: Wednesday, Sep. 23 2009 @ 2:11PM

NYC Rhymology says:

Oh snap! You are so completely hilarious, how could I possible have overlooked it??

Posted On: Wednesday, Sep. 23 2009 @ 7:27PM

Volker Detering says:

I'm German, and I live in Queens. Folks, an ALDI is the best thing that can happen to the city, I can tell you that from having grown up in Germany. This chain knows how to keep the prices down, the products top notch, and reduce the BS to an absolute minimum (meaning, zero). Consumers can pick the items right out of the boxes. No decoration, no soothing music. Just the stuff you want, and out. And always perfectly restocked.
We should all clap our hands now. My only worry is that the products don't compare to what you get in Germany. We'll see.

Posted On: Wednesday, Sep. 23 2009 @ 8:27PM

/b says:

what is the author of this post smoking? Grocery stores in Queens are largely abysmal, and there are very few "mom and pops." Near me, we have Waldbaum's, Waldbaum's and Waldbaum's, each one worse than the last and all owned by A&P, not exactly a mom and pop operation. A little better and a little more mom and pop is Key Food and C-Town. The only true mom and pops in the area are either strictly kosher or asian markets, and I don't think they can be classed as competitors to ALDI. Some real competition would do us good.

Saying these guys are like the Wal-Mart of grocery stores implies a whole mess of things, in particular about how they treat their workers. But given that you're saying they are owned by the same people who own Trader Joe's, I would be very surprised if those implications were warranted; I hope I'm not wrong about that.

Posted On: Thursday, Sep. 24 2009 @ 1:06AM

Aldi Fan says:

Another thing that Chez, the ignorant, didn't mention: ALDI does not supply "free" bags to customers. Customers need to bring their own or buy bags at ALDI. (That's the policy in all ALDI stores world wide).

Now, isn't that environmentally correct?

Posted On: Thursday, Sep. 24 2009 @ 9:51AM