Aldi

Having lived towards DC where Aldi is quite popular, I was glad to finally see a location open in Culpeper. For those that don’t know…
1.) Aldi is designed to be as cheap as possible. You will get a lot of bang for your buck here, more so then Wal-​Mart.
2.) Bring a quarter if you want a cart. It’s refunded when you return the cart.
3.) They don’t bag your items. This keeps the line moving.
4.) Either have to purchase plastic (or paper) bags, bring your own bags or you can get free boxes scattered throughout the store.
5.) The reason for this? Keep labor down, pass the savings to the customers.
6.) Aldi either produces or distributes their own brand for most items in the store. It all taste delicious. After shopping at Aldi for over 8 years, I’ve only ever had one product I disliked.
7.) If the item looks like the national brand, but w/​a different name, more & likely it’s the national brand. The national brand does that so that their items doesn’t have a lower perceived value at other stores.
8.) The pretty much carry exactly what you need, no more, no less. If you want something that’s not as popular or harder to find, you aren’t going to find it here.
9.) Since Aldi hasn’t caught on in Culpeper like it has in NOVA, the lines at this location are nowhere near as long. You can get in & out of this store real quick.
Aldi gets five stores from me, b/​c the prices are unbeatable, the items taste good and it’s easy to get in & out of this location.

I love this place! I love those amazing sweet ladies that are always in there. Now that work has gone out about how awesome they are it sucks for me. Produce goes fast now and always crazy long lines! I will continue to go there anyway for the simple facts healthy affordable and to the point. Thank you Aldi

I appreciate this German food chain. Aldi is a grocery store that gives you savings instead of «frills.» You won’t see spacious shelves, food demonstrations or tons of employees in the grocery aisle.
I like the food selections. The produce items are usually high quality and cheaper than most other stores. I have gotten a bunch of bananas for as low as .24. That price varies but it always cheaper than Safeway, Giant, Harris Teeter, Whole Foods and Shopper’s. Crackers are normally cheaper at Aldi too.
Merci chocolate packages range from $ 6.99 to .$ 9.99 at other stores. I just bought several for thank you gifts and paid $ 4.99 a piece.
The owners have an innovative way of never having to collect their own shopping carts. You have to have a quarter to «deposit» into the cart to unlock it from the other carts. Your quarter is returned to you as soon as you replace the cart. If you don’t have change, the cashiers are happy to give you change for any bills.
Bring grocery bags. If you forget them Aldi has a wonderful giant reusable bag that you can purchase. I am not a fan of their plastic bags. They don’t last long if you have heavy items.
You won’t find many brand name items but the products are produced in the same warehouses as the brand name items and are just as good.
This location isn’t near my house but I enjoy stopping by when I am in the area. The employees are nice. The bathrooms are clean.

Aldi is not your average grocery store. It is a smaller, much less expensive store that carries a limited amount of products.
The disadvantages of shopping here are that they do not carry all of the brands you would find at a «normal» grocery store. If you are a meal planner (like me), prepare to stop at another store to get all of the necessary ingredients (particularly if your recipe requires a lot of spices).
The main advantage is that the prices are unbeatable. The prices of milk, meat, and produce are dramatically lower than they are at the grocery stores near my house. I was able to cut my grocery bill by about a third by shopping here!
Something that was a little frustrating was that I checked the «weekly specials» online before arriving at the store to shop, but none of the products I wanted from this list were in stock.
For me, it’s worth it to shop here, but expect to be surprised by how different this store is from the grocery stores you are used to.
Things to know before you go:
1) Aldi does not take credit cards. Bring cash or a debit card.
2) Bring a quarter so you can get a grocery cart.
3) Bring reusable bags.