Myra Griffin
The Houston Sun
ALDI opens up nine discount grocery stores on April 11, 2013 in the greater Houston Area. On April 9th the ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the Sugarland store located at 10402 Hwy 6 South, Sugarland, TX 77498, where a large crowd gathered waiting to see the inside of the new addition to their community.
ALDI is a discount grocery that has been in business since 1976 with locations primarily in the Midwest and East. Branching out into Texas three years ago starting in Dallas, ALDI opened 40 stores in North Texas. Now the Houston market is next to join the ALDI shopping experience and is slated to open nine stores on Thursday, April 11, 15 total by the end of the year and 30 in two years time. The areas that will welcome the new stores will be Pearland, Katy, Sugarland, Humble, Pasadena and Spring. Based out of Batavia, Illinois; ALDI has about 1200 stores.
“We serve all demographics and income levels,” said Karla Waddleton, Director of Operations, ALDI Sugarland. “Our customer is a smart shopper who wants to save money and they’re able to save money with us. If that means they can buy more groceries or save for an extra vacation that year that’s what we find successful.”
What makes ALDI unique from other grocers is primarily price. Their claim is to have the highest quality at the lowest possible price. Upon taking a tour of the store with an ALDI representative, The Sun found the produce is extremely competitive in price and that helps keep ALDI in the competition.
“Many national grocers are leaving communities. I’m so excited that there is a national grocer that is coming into this market that looks for communities, sees the value and opportunity and makes a big capital investment in those communities,” Grady Prestage, Commissioner of Precinct 2 Fort Bend. “I hope the community will reciprocate and support the store and as the store grows so will the community.”
ALDI is thriving in Dallas and has high hopes for the 2ND largest market in Texas which is Houston. “We really think we are going to do great here for the same reason since there are so many smart shoppers in Houston that want that same high quality product and value,” said ALDI representative.
ALDI offers a different shopping experience that allots a quick and cheaper run to the store. The shopping experience of ALDI is quite simple, its stream line shopping, five aisles, a quick shop and once customers get to know the ALDI exclusive brands you’re in and out in pretty much a flash. Customers can grab a cart through the quarter cart system, which representatives say, saves on paying someone to gather baskets.
“Carts aren’t in the parking lot dinging cars and it’s a simple quarter deposit put quarter in do your shopping bring cart back put the chain back in and it pushes the quarter back out,” according to ALDI. “ALDI operates on a smart business model that allows them to have lower prices. It starts with the way the products are displayed, we have an open palette display, efficient workers, easy restocking methods,” said an ALDI representative. “We don’t take credit cards so that saves on cost. We only accept cash, debit, EBT, but no checks. We encourage shoppers to bring their own bags. It’s an eco friendly approach and it saves on baggage clerks and if bags are forgotten they can buy an eco friendly bag for $1.99 or a very durable plastic bag for ¢.10.”
Customers also have to bag their on groceries which provide savings that allows the store to have such cheaper prices. Special buys change weekly that are range from 20 to 40 non- food products. The products are advertised either on Sunday or Wednesday depending on the location in the circular. The products change weekly and are seasonal such as rugs, pillows, Swiffer wet jets, steam mops by Easy Home, vacuums, air conditioning filters, shelving, and gardening appliances.
ALDI’s food source is sourced locally whenever possible while partnering with the nations leading food suppliers to get the freshest and most high quality products. They have their chocolates and wines imported from various places such as New Zealand, California, Argentina, Germany and most bottles are priced $6.99 or less.
The have fresh meat, although there isn’t a butcher on site but it is pre-packaged at the ultimate fresh standards with a 25-50 percent price difference. ALDI’s cheeses range from standard to gourmet especially with the new selected line that debuted in the beginning of April. Happy Farms, an ALDI brand, is everyday cheeses and cold cut cheeses. ALDI also has a fit and active line which is low calorie, lower sodium, lower fat and that weaves throughout the store in selections such as lunch meats, salad dressings, and frozen foods. Prices are cheaper as you will see prices like a $1.89 for a gallon of milk, and .79 for a dozen eggs. These are every day and continuous for these prices.
ALDI stores carry mostly their own exclusive brands and that’s another part of this whole efficiency model and how the savings come back to the customers in the end. ALDI produces their own product along with their partnership with food suppliers. ALDI has award winning products such as 14 of their wines, Lullabies Moist Wipes, Nature’s Nectar Juice, Moser- Roth Dark Chocolate Collection, Savoritz Sea Salt Pita Bite Crackers, Belmont Turtle Pie and many more products.
“We have a test kitchen at Batavia, the headquarters which is 40 miles west of Chicago. We have test kitchen chefs that rigorously test the products every day to ensure they’re meeting or exceeding the quality of the name brands,” said an ALDI representative. “When they do they are approved to be put on the shelves for our customers.” For the food that doesn’t meet or exceed the national leading brands such as M&M’s or Pringles they have them in store.
ALDI is confident in their products and offers a double guarantee of its food products. If you try a food product and think its not up to your standards you can bring it back without a receipt and be refunded in cash and given another product of equal or lesser value. The ALDI theory is maybe that particular one is a miss but you’re going to love something else.
All nine ALDI discount grocery stores are open throughout Houston. The locations are 10402 Hwy. 6 South, Sugarland, TX 77498, 2009 S. Mason Rd., Katy, TX 77450, 11510 Broadway, Pearland, TX 77584, 6900 FM 1960 East, Humble, TX 77346 , 13340 Tomball Pkwy, Houston, TX 77086, 2302 FM 2920 Rd., Spring, TX 77388, 5930 Fry Rd., Katy, TX 77449 and 4140 Fairmont Pkwy, Pasadena, TX 77504.