-
Website
http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/ -
Original page
http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/post/224857119/11-supermarkets -
Subscribe
All Comments -
Community
-
-
Top Commenters
-
Popular Threads
All Comments
I love it! So true...
I would add the nightmare of checking out at Aldidl, tryin' to get your stuff into said cloth bags while being pushed out of the way by some german'rentner' who can´t wait two seconds for you to finish.
Not to mention the russian checkout-girl who's outstretched hand impatiently awaits the cash while simultaneously pushing your shit out of the way! Nice!
The average American Soccer Mom takes about 30 minutes to get her SUV and herself from the suburban 5000 sqft "single-family home" to the nearest HEB, Jewel, Publix, or whatever the predominant supermarket chain may be in her area. Then another 15 minutes (each way) to cross the gigantic parking lot.
She then loads up the trunk as if she were to prepare for a global food shortage or natural disaster. Of course those "buy 10 for $10" offers also help, but in the end it's all about filling that massive double-door fridge that needs about as much energy as the A/C. That way, the entire grocery shopping trip adds up to about 2.5 hours, half of which is spent in the store.
Back to Germany: The average German walks(!) or bikes(!!!) by a grocery store every day and stops there about three to four times a week. That's because these stores are everywhere in residential areas. There's always a small store around the corner. The more accurate comparison would probably be the 7/11 or White Hen Pantry. Plus, many Germans live in rather small apartments (1000 sqft. is considered big here!) with rather small fridges and little to no storage space.
Now here's the important question: Given all the above, how much time do you think people spend in Aldidl? You walk in, grab your 6 or 7 items, and off you are in less then 5 minutes (unless a Rentner is holding up the line because he wants to use his coins).
Bottom line: For most Germans, grocery shopping is not a half-day entertainment experience, but an annoying necessity they want to get over with. If I was to spend an hour or more in a store, of course I would also prefer a pleasurable experience. To grab toast, bananas and frozen pizza - not so much...
On another note, there are quite a few Aldis in the US, and they look exactly the same as the German ones.
on a different note though, you forgot the whole price aspect. they actually do have 'normal' supermarkets in germany (kaisers, edeka, rewe..)pretty much resemble safeway, qfc etc, and are just as common and popular. the 'alidls' are rather new. they are much cheaper, hence attract many students etc who just have to watch their money. while you might get not certain fancy stuff there, who cares if you get you flour or your milk from aldi or safeway, its not like safeways cows are prettier. in a safeway when you buy a expensive milk, that milk price includes costs of commercial, the neat looking place, the excess of staff. you dont pay for that in aldidls, therefore its ugly - looking, understaffed and unadvertized. your pick! if it wasnt for the huge price difference, i doubt anyone would prefer aldidl over a 'normal' supermarket. and by the way, other countries love the aldidls, both chains are internationally opening all the time. might be a good idea after all :-)
Unfortunately where I live Aldidls are rarely close-by so I "have" to shop in these cute and pretty little supermarkets which do in fact exist/survive because of the real neighborhood rentners and lavish students only. Thoughts on infrastructural sustainability aside, I would on the contrary prefer Aldidle for a simplify your life-lack of variety of fivethousand brands offering the same product at different quantities and prices. Given the fact that Aldi has the hardest supplier quality contracts ever and is so omnipresent they better not perform badly, if you happen to buy something non-edible once in a while you may appreciate the perspective of finding only one let's say no-name laundry detergent box for each washing purpose (containing a brand product Alidle chose for some reason you do not need to know). A train of thought which is basically true for staple food too. I'm not looking for the bargain, I'm looking for the time gain !
I think Germans don't go for shopping as a leisure activity because they make the most of their free time reading Marx and Schiller and visiting good restaurants after having been to a lecture or ballet.
Just joking about that last bit.
No because he "is becoming a Berliner"... Werden is the main verb here.
In "Ich werde ein Berliner sein" werden is used as the auxiliary verb to indicate the future tense of "sein."
Regardless of all this grammatical nit-picking, I'm sure the name was a homage to JFK's famous quote from his 1963 speech.
It's hard to be a Berliner.
LOL about the comment before me here re the 'barriers' one has to overcome to even be allowed to enter Aldidl's habitat. I does feel like a prison visit. What's next, fingerprints...eyescans.....?
Both stores are sufficient for everyday needs. You go to Aldidl every few days and buy the special stuff from Rewe or Edeka or whatever. Maybe you've noticed that Rewe and Aldi often seem to be narby. ;-)
However you shouldn't make fun of the empoyees. They do an underpaid hard job - whatch a documentary about Lidl / Aldi. They are pressed to be so fast.
The smell, the rude staff, the fear of being killed by a shopping cart of an erratic AldiLidl-holic made me avoid those narrow aisles ever since.
Admiting to hate them and their egoistic and dictatorial owners ( the two ALDI-brothers are the richest guys in Germany, but they never did any good with their money, neither donating to any charity nor improving the life of their employees with their billions) makes me an outlaw at my company, but well that´s something I have to live with.
Hope you find some positive aspects about Germans as well... ha ha ha
Auf wiedersehen und einen schönen Tag noch!
Alex
We have a Belgian supermarket here in Cologne (Delhaize) that is rather upmarket and I just LOVE shopping there, because they offer so much you don't get in regular German supermarkets (not just Aldidl) and I was gutted to hear that Delhaize wants to give up their four German supermarkets again because they can't succeed against all the trashy cheap discounters. It's a disgrace!
- Lidl sieht meistens nicht ganz so schmierig aus wie Aldi, und außerhalb von Berlin sind eigentlich beide Läden ganz annehmbar;
- die Waren, die es in beiden Supermärkten gibt, werden meistens gut getestet und erhalten beste Noten für das Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis. Insofern stimmt das Schema der anderen Beiträge (Deutsche handeln in irrationaler Weise, um sich wechselseitig in der jeweiligen "peer-group" als "hip" zu beeindrucken) darauf bezogen nicht. Vielmehr scheint es in hohem Maße rational zu sein, bei Aldi oder Lidl zu kaufen.
- In typischen deutschen Städten gibt es neben Aldi und Lidl lediglich einige weitere schmierige Supermärkte (Penny, Plus, Norma, Netto) der billigen Kategorie und ein paar Märkte der teureren Kategorie (Edeka, Rewe, Tengelmann/Kaiser´s, Real-Kauf, Kaufland). Bei letzteren würde man auch hier nicht von schickimicki-Märkten sprechen, zumal das Ladenbild dort in der Regel auch nicht durchgreifend besser aussieht. Und für die Nicht-Berliner zur Information: Echte schickimicki Läden (z. B. KaDeWe) gibt es außerhalb Berlins eher selten (wobei echte Berliner ja nicht ins KaDeWe gehen, weil dort nur Touristen aus Baden-Württemberg einkaufen)
- Zu Aldi oder Lidl kann man im Porsche genauso wie im Golf oder mit dem Fahrrad fahren. Oftmals haben Aldi und Lidl mittlerweile auch Bus- oder Bahnanschluss oder sind zu Fuß erreichbar. Beide Läden sind also im besten Sinne klassenlose Läden
- Ich bezweifle, dass die Supermärkte in anderen OECD-Ländern wirklich qualitativ oder vom Einkaufserlebnis her besser sind.
- In immer mehr OECD-Ländern sind Aldi und Lidl mittlerweile genauso erfolgreich wie in Deutschland. Auch das spricht nicht dafür, dass Deutsche beim Einkaufen besonder merkwürdig sind.
On the other hand people here tend to go more to little markets with fresh & regional products.
An astonishing experience from France: supermarkets for deep-frozen products only: Picard – les surgelés.
A little correction though on the Wal-mart part - they didn't stop business here in germany because of Aldidl. They stopped because they got whacked by the trade/labor unions for treating their employees just a little bit better than modern slaves.
It was definately a shock at first, going shopping in deutschland, but over the years, the selection of products available at Aldi & co has improved, and I have even grown to appreciate the stuff you can get (specially the choccie). That said, I still love going to Tescos or the like when I'm back in the UK.
robert Berridge
I like to pay for the groceries that I buy and nothing else. Does that really make me as weird as described here?
Wal-Mart tried this and failed. I as a German can say that most Germans do not like someone else touching our food etc after we bought it because after we bought it its our property and no slimy bag boy teenager should ever touch it. i certainly would not want this and i don't know anyone who would want this.
Ben
But I can understand the staff at alidl, I wouldn´t do much more, being low-paid. This markets are a place to rush in and leave as fast as you can. Ah by the way - you forgot "Penny-Markt". Alidny-Markt perhaps.
A quick note on the notable differences in style, product selection and cleanliness between ALDI stores in South and North Germany:
There are actually _two_ chains: one with a blue logo and the other with an orange. Being owned by a pair of brothers, they do not compete but divide the German market between them.
I have only ever seen orange "ALDI Süd" stores abroad though.
The look of the Aldi shops is as said before depending whether it is a shop from the north or the south branch. The north branch still looks as 20 years ago whether the south shops are looking at least a little bit more convenient.
And if you go to shop to other markets you pay only for their marketing expenses, not one penny is going to their employees who are nowadays on the lowest payment in all of Germany.
Spent some time in Germany and just wanted to give my twos on this matter.
Although I have to admit that it is funny stuff to read.
See you in the funny pages
Their managers were to dumb to compete with Aldi or Lidl.
And: Their behavior to their employees was unlawfull and they lost nearly every trial at court.
The unions were to strong for them - how come competitors know to handle that "problem".
Simply: WalMart managers behaved like idiots.
anyway, all in all those are funny comments up there! keep up!
Btw the rude Rentner phenomenon is not Aldidl-specific. Shop at Karstadt Delicatessen and they'll get you there.
Nice blog!
dec "n" ant