Kultur1

     After reading the "Bargain Buys..." article, I found  many of the things that the Australian author said to be laughable.  It started even in the beginning with the description of the German Aldi--"apparently the designer was going for that 'nuclear fallout shelter' look." What??  As somebody that shops at Aldi when visiting Germany out of convenience and affordability, I find it more than a little surprising that a significant portion of this article is devoted to the shabby appearance of the store.  The thing is, Aldis have a certain "Aldi" charm to them.  I perceive the store as having a cheap charm to it; in no way does it seem to look like a nuclear fallout shelter or something similar.  Also, I personally find the Aldis that I have shopped at in Germany to be kept up far nicer than the Aldis I have shopped at in the United States.  This is not a valid argument since I have not visited every Aldi, but it is merely my experience.  It is laughable to me, therefore, that the author stresses how unfriendly the workers at the German Aldi stores are, how they fail to clean up messes, and how they have a lack of respect for the customers.  This is not a valid argument any more than my experiences with Aldi are.  It is like saying that workers at McDonald's are all unfriendly and lack a will to please the customer.  Obviously this may be true in some franchises, but not others.  It is impossible to label an entire worker base in a country such as Germany as being unfriendly, disrespectful, etc.  The author goes on an on about how the fruits are not refrigerated (if it bothers you so much, then don't buy them? I personally don't mind, so I buy them, and I have had nothing but success) and how the brands Aldi uses can be rip-offs of the mainstream "Wallmart" brands.  This is true, however who cares??  That is the appeal of Aldi: cheap stuff, same quality!  In fact, I tend to prefer Aldi spaghetti sauce over the brand names such as Prego.  The author then complains about how the customers need to bag their own groceries.  There is a big table/countertop laid out in front of the cash registers made solely for bagging groceries.  It does not take long at all.  The bags are insanely cheap, as is everything else in the store, so that really should not be grounds for an argument either.  

     I understand that Aldi is cheap, and perhaps there is a bit of a pride factor in shopping in places other than Aldi.  I get that.  I do not regularly shop there, I am just here to defend the store for all that it is.  The author overly dramatizes the store into this nasty, decrepit "nuclear fallout shelter" and makes it sound like an achievement just to survive a painstaking trip through the store.  My advice to anyone reading the article: take literally nothing the author said seriously.