I finally went about checking out one of these new Aldis. Upon walking up to the store, my initial reaction was "Oh, yeah, I need a coin to get a cart." I walk back to my car. At this point, I should have gotten in and driven off, but, alas, I did not yet know better.

Returning, bail money in hand, I begin to appreciate the layout of the store. It has the charming European quaintness of assuming every customer is a shoplifter. I enter, and off to my left I am greeted with the candy aisle. I wonder to myself if this is a German attempt at catering to the American market. I feel mildly insulted, for the third time in as many minutes.

The selection is expectedly, exceptionally poor. The prices seem competitive with other low-end grocery chains. It's evening, the store seems to have only one employee working. Service is comparable to a convenience store at 3 AM, in that the cashier is not present when I approach the till.

As was commented on in the earlier thread, the store floor is tiled, an unusual expense in America, where linoleum is standard, and polished concrete is substandard. Yet the POS merely has the circa 1980s two line screen for you to see your products ring up upon. Every other grocery store chain in the region has ~15" LCD monitors displaying your running total. German efficiency, I imagine.

I use the counter to place my purchases in self-furnished bags, a practice I'm already becoming accustomed to since my comrades banned plastic bags by popular initiative a few months ago. Although, with the German checkstand layout, it does seem to me that it would be more efficient for the cashier to bag my items as she scans them. Must be more of that legendary German efficiency.

When I return home, I put my groceries away, and look at my receipt. I notice I've been cheated. The ham, signed at $0.89/lb, was charged at $1.09/lb. $1.75, lost. Sadly, returning would be more costly, so I accept my misfortune. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But wait, there's more. I cook the ham. When I carve into it, it is the lowest quality meat I have ever seen. Ho hum. I proceed to make a sandwich. The bread is stale.

I have little hope in satisfaction for the items I have yet to open. I do not expect I will return. Californian grocery chains uber Aldi.