Ich werde ein Berliner - Latest Comments in http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:32:42 -0000

nanschi .. i think this may of gone all over your head with the british sense of humour driving through !! however If the same smells are all over europe or where ever you shop , may be just that may be , the odour is not from the shop?

dec "n" ant

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Christian in Hamburg — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:06:18 -0000

Given how much you hate Aldi you seem to be hanging around a lot there...
Btw the rude Rentner phenomenon is not Aldidl-specific. Shop at Karstadt Delicatessen and they'll get you there.
Nice blog!

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

nanschi — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:20:43 -0000

i don´t know to which aldi shops YOU all have been, but i have never made any of the above depicted experiences. to me especially the first writer exaggerates about the aldi stores! still i have to admit that the other low-price-stores are not my cupof tea either...especially lidl smells really funny when you enter one of them. i even have noticed that it is the same smell all over europe, no matter if you are in greece, spain or italy.
anyway, all in all those are funny comments up there! keep up!

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:37:25 -0000

WalMart left Germany because of the keen competion in food business.
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.

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:56:52 -0000

Fact: LIDL is spying on their employees and treats 'em like $%it and threfore they are slow and unfriendly. ALDI pays the highest salary in the business app. 30% more than the competitors. This leads to highly engaged people that are working fast and efficiency is very high.
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

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:06:22 -0000

commenter nr. 2, i love you!

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Nitpicker — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:49:55 -0000

First of all, I recently discovered the blog and very much enjoy reading it. Keep up the good work!

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.

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Marc Köberlein — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 06:30:09 -0000

I hate shopping at Alidl. Most of the stuff really tastes awful. I would never ever buy meat in there (also not at a patrol-station). Normally, because there are a lot of turkish shops around - I´ll go there. The staff is alway hectic, but still friendly and most of all, treats you as a human being (also they have, beside pig, every sort of meat, you may desire and most important lamb. It´s hard to get lamb-meat in germany.
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.

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:58:15 -0000

@boRp ha, very typical statement. I think the point was to say that the produce sold in the Aldidl stores is of very crappy quality. Something I can definitely confirm. It looks like trash and it tastes like trash.

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 12:09:03 -0000

@ the BAG BOY comment

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

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

boRp — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:18:37 -0000

Well, some people do like to pay for fancy light experiments, pleasant music and designer shelves.

I like to pay for the groceries that I buy and nothing else. Does that really make me as weird as described here?

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:20:54 -0000

Î still think my shop Britain in Neukölln is the best and the service is excellent tea and biscuits on the house plus my garden and cats to play with.
robert Berridge

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:23:11 -0000

Funny, very funny, but I'm not sure that everything said is really true.
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.

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:20:54 -0000

I have two words for Germany. BAG BOY!

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

ulfi — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:39:48 -0000

Empirically the described trend to buy only ecological correct products seems to be vanishing in Germany, especially among the young urban elites the author is making fun of. http://www.spiegel.de/polit...
The well-known political scientist F. Walter from the University of Göttingen seems to have empirical evidence that the "settled" alternative establishment has a cynical attitude towards ecology and the very personal contribution to it, meanwhile.

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:15:13 -0000

You can even find an ALDI in a tent, a big one of course. That gives the perfekt UNO post catastrophy food supply feeling :-)

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:48:55 -0000

Really funny indeed, keep it up!
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.

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Robert — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:11:46 -0000

As coming from southern Germany I have to contradict and say that Aldi is much better here than Lidl (not only regarding the stuff-policy) and it's even quite comfy to shop there compared to Lidl or Plus, which is esp. for the grocery really disgusting.
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.

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:38:47 -0000

Auch das ist wieder ein wirklich witziger Beitrag. Aber trotzdem möchte ich einiges zu bedenken geben:
- 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.

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:41:18 -0000

That was a cool observation =))

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Wed, 27 May 2009 09:32:41 -0000

As long as those supermarkets never become a Costco in the movie Idiocracy, everything's fine: "Welcome to Costco, I love you" LOL

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:11:18 -0000

Some of the most admiring glances I have had in Berlin have been in Friedrichshain Lidl with a calculator.

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:23:00 -0000

OMG! I also live in Cologne and do my shopping exclusively at Delhaize. It's a small world. I can't believe what you say - they are closing shop? When? I haven't seen any announcement there. I hope it's just a rumor, where else should I go???

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Wed, 13 May 2009 08:33:00 -0000

It's sad but true. Yes, Aldidl are good for "basic stuff" and I shop there too but the shops depress me. And most of all it depresses me how they reflect the German attitude to food as a chore to get over with and not a "treat", something to enjoy by picking fresh produce carefully, choosing things, spoiling yourself with quality food now and then and cooking something nice once in a while.

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!

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/02/11-supermarkets.html

Anonymous — Wed, 13 May 2009 05:30:00 -0000

LOOOOL sooo true! I always go to aldi and my mobile-bill is much too high! Great and funny stuff!

Hope you find some positive aspects about Germans as well... ha ha ha

Auf wiedersehen und einen schönen Tag noch!
Alex