ALDI — Local services in Pflugerville

Despite it being here for awhile I've never before shopped at any Aldi. Part of that is that there really isn't one nearby (and I'm a creature of convenience like many people) and part is self-inflicted in that I'm not much of a shopper, and prefer to do my grocery shopping where I can get all my items (or at least most) at one stop. My routine got changed when I had a urologist appointment at a different facility than normal, which was pretty close to the Aldi in Pflugerville.

I'd seen Aldi probably the first time when I was visiting my sister who was living in Cedar Rapids, IA for a short time, it was pretty close to where she lived and she shopped there (close to 20 years ago) but I never did. Of course I'd heard about it, and when the Pflugerville Aldi opened my sister and Mother went there. I knew it was a European grocery chain, and kind of expected it to be like other grocery stores I've been at in Europe (though as I mentioned I've never before been to an Aldi, anywhere). I knew about the small shopping carts you had to "rent" to make sure you return it to where you picked it up (using the value of a quarter to unlock it, though no doubt the shopping cart itself is worth much more, they are really trying to just encourage you to return it to where you got it since there's nothing (except for maybe camera in parking lot?) to keep you from taking the cart. So bring your quarter, no other coin will do, and there's no changemaker I could see (though they might take mercy on you and give you change inside, I didn't ask though). Also, you bring your own bags (which has become common in the US but I think started earlier in Europe). One thing that is different is that you get to bag your own groceries, independent if you go to a self-serve or attended checkout....if you go to the latter, the checker grabs an empty cart and simply places your checked items into that cart (which becomes your new cart upon exiting checkout). In the front of the store is a full length table where you can take your items from the cart and place them into your own bags. Don't know if they sell or provide any bags if you don't bring yours or what they do if they have pick-up service (maybe they just load them in your trunk? If so, you'll probably want to have a box or something at home to load the groceries from your trunk so you can get them into the house if you have an order of moderate or larger size to avoid having to make multiple trips to your car each one just carrying an item or two in your hands.

Aldi is not a big store, but I expected a much smaller store, I guess because the ones I was at in Europe tended to be small (maybe I just haven't been in a larger store . I've been in such a small store in Europe that they have a one way in and one way out, such that if you see something you want you should pick it up while in front of it otherwise you'll have to make a separate pass after checking out a first time and going back into the front door, since there's not enough space to go backward, the aisle is only one person width wide, but that's not every place. My Grandfather used to run a mom and pop grocery store that had a walk-up clientel...there really was no place to park a car, the idea was you'd just buy enough for the day (or even a fraction of a day) and return once you needed more food than you could carry or take home in a cart you brought with you. Those stores used to be more common before the days of cars and supermarkets, outside of cities you hardly see them anymore in the US (even convenience stores while small still have primarily drive-up clientel). Anyhow, the Aldi was much bigger than I expected even though it probably isn't a supermarket . There was one aisle that appeared to have non-food household items but I glanced quickly and it appeared to have items like lamps, which seemed a bit odd to me but I guess they might change what they put there, but otherwise most of the...

I have been frequenting this location every few months for over ten years. I used to shop with my mother as a child in an out of state location. It's nostalic. I make bulk purchases of staples, canned goods, seasonings, etc. Today upon check out there were no lanes open besides the self check out. That alone was nearly enough to make me leave the store without my purchases. My daughter and I both looked around and resolved to using the self check out when we didnt find an employee to check us out. I couldn't see how it would be possible unload a full cart onto the small area allotted at the self check out. I grabbed an empty cart from an unattended register with the intent of putting my cart back in it's place. Midway through scanning my items, an employee returned to the register I had gotten the empty cart from. After scanning my items, I must have overlooked the self check out was card only. I didnt see that noted anywhere which is strange. I turned to the employee behind me to clarify it was card only. I was admittedly very frustrated by the entire situation. The staff member offered to bring the ticket over to his register so I could cash pay. It was then that he berated me for taking the empty cart. That I was hindering him from doing his job by doing so. That I could have fit the entirety of my carts items onto the small space provided at the self check out and then loaded it back into my own cart because "it isn't that hard." Or that I should have went to get another cart from outside if I needed one. That would have meant abandoning my cart and going out to the car with my three children to find another quarter. While feasible, I didn't see the harm in grabbing an unused cart from an unattended register. 1. I wouldn't have shopped there had I known I would have to use self check out knowing the amount of items I intended to purchase, with my children. 2. IF I had decided to do so, I would have came prepared to rent two carts. It has never been my experience that employees are anything but helpful, especially to mothers with children in tow. I can honestly say I have NEVER so much as raised my voice to another in a public situation. I have a dormat personality, typically allowing people to be unkind without acknowledgement. I work in hospitality and deal with difficult patients/family members on a daily basis. This employee berating me after an already very frustrating check out experience absolutely put me over the edge. As an employee they have access to loaner quarters for those customers that don't have a quarter. Thus one would think he could have just gotten another cart instead of the power trip I recieved. The whole experience was absolutely unnecessary, over borrowing a cart. Based on his lack of understanding of the overall situation, this individiual clearly does not have children. I'm sad to say I will not be returning to a store I formerly raved to others about. I'm disappointed in myself that I even stayed to cash purchase the...

Messy experience if you don’t know some things beforehand. They have the carts where you need to insert a coin . Since I tend to give my coins away, I didn’t have anything so had to try to carry with my hands. I failed to bring my own bags to help with this so ended up purchasing one at the end. Maybe I should’ve stopped by register to grab one that way I could put items in and make it easy. There was a bit of attitude from the guy helping at the register tho like he was inconvenienced. I didn’t know they didn’t put items into the bag at the check out belt register. If you’re putting it in the cart next to you vs in the bag (I only had 8 small items) then why get inconvenienced if I ask to now bring the cart to the area where I can bag things up when I was going to bring it back right after I put stuff on the small counter area against the wall.? Small store so not a variety of options but still good when you’re trying to be mindful on what to buy and price is much better than other stores. Some of the shoppers are worse than HEB and others tho. Store can’t control that but just be prepared to have people block you in when you’re trying to grab something or have a very rushed energy and no one says excuse me or anything. It’s not worth being mindful of others because they’re not mindful of you when looking at the options. I’m sure once you have the hang of this store layout it’s a lot easier to shop. Not horrible, just needs getting used to. Definitely use...