I left a new local grocery store Thursday wondering a few things after meeting some shoppers in the parking lot. Some had bought products with unfamiliar names, at a market with an unfamiliar name.
Did Maverick, a black Lab who lives in Newbury, like his new doggie treats?
And what about Bonnie Jaillet of Pembroke? Was she satisfied with the crunch of those chips masquerading as Fritos?
The treats were made by Nudges, those phony Fritos came from Clancy’s, the store was called Aldi and the buzz inside and out involved, among other topics, the low prices of products no one had ever heard of before.
In other news, bring your own shopping bag, because Aldi doesn’t provide them. Bag your own groceries, because Aldi doesn’t bag them. And return your own shopping cart – and get your 25- cent deposit back – because Aldi doesn’t bring them back to the front of the store.
This strategy brings down costs, and the savings are passed on to you. Concord now has six grocery stores to choose from, and Aldi now has seven stores in New Hampshire.
Mary Barbour of Newbury rolled the dice with those dog treats for Maverick. She and two friends, part of the congregation at their church in Newport, stopped by Aldi’s after spending time at a nearby bible bookstore.
This was Barbour’s first trip to the mini grocery store with the trailblazing ideas. She bought Nudges dog treats, hoping her beloved Maverick would like them.
“This is a tryout for Maverick,” Barbour told me as the wind and temperature reminded us that summer was long gone. “He’s never had this type of treat before, so I don’t know if he’ll like them. I hope so.”
The stuffed shirts at Aldi – founded in Germany 58 years ago and headquartered in Illinois – hope you’ll like them. The people I met did, saying the store serves a vital role. For the most part, shoppers went to Market Basket for their major shopping needs. Shaw’s was mentioned once, Hannaford’s not at all.
As Jaillet, the woman with the lookalike Fritos, told me, “It’s not a weekly grocery store, but it’s good for getting things when you’re on your way home from work.”
Aldi is spread around the country, and Jaillet’s friend in Wisconsin had mentioned the store to her a few months ago. The prices are lower than those of the bigger chains, Jalliet was told. And try the cranberry almond chicken salad, her friend insisted.
“I’ve got it,” Jaillet said. “I’m trying it.”
She bought Clancy’s chips and marveled at the price, $1.89, as compared to chips with brand names, which Jaillet said sell for between $3 and $4. She’d find out about the crunch and taste later on.
“It might not be as crunchy, but I don’t know,” Jaillett said. “My friend in Wisconsin said the chip products here are a little saltier.”
Sarah O’Day from Springfield was part of the church group that traveled south, along with Barbour and Sandy St. Denis of Claremont. O’Day had shopped at the Aldi in Keene, and St. Denis had shopped at one of the branches as well.
When it came to tuna fish, O’Day said sorry, Charlie, bypassing StarKist and instead buying a 48-can case of tuna called Northern Catch at 79 cents per can. She also raved about the boneless, skinless chicken thighs for a mere $1.69 a pound.
St. Denis bought vegetables,crackers, potatoes and gravy mix for her beef stew, and she said the prices were low.
Jill McNeil of Pembroke said Aldi complements her shopping at Shaw’s, where she was going when I met her after unable to find tomatoes for her husband’s soup. She also had oatmeal, bananas, strawberries and coffee.
Meanwhile, Kim Beers of Concord knew what to expect Thursday, after having shopped at the Aldi in Manchester before. She said some brand-named goods were more expensive at Aldi than Market Basket, but Aldi’s organic products and obscure brands like Simply Nature chips and Benton’s mint chocolate cookies were as good as the big boys.
“The mint cookies are as good as the kind the Girl Scouts sell,” Beers said. “So I buy from the Girl Scouts when they sell them, and then you can buy from here the rest of the year.”
Some products, like bacon, cream cheese and chocolate chip cookies, had generic names but looked awfully similar to products sold by main stream companies like Oscar Mayer, Kraft and Nabicso.
So let the buyer beware.
Elsewhere, the shopping cart system created quite the buzz for those who’d never used it before. It works like this: slip a quarter in the slot, unlock the chain, use your cart, bring it back, click it back in and get your quarter back.
Some shoppers appeared intimidated at first, looking quizzically at the chains dangling and the carts lined up, connected like a train.
McNeil, the woman who couldn’t find tomatoes for her husband’s soup, was familiar with the deposit-for-a-cart routine at Aldi.
“I brought my quarter,” she said, extending her arm and opening her hand. “See.”