ALDI — Local services in Phoenix

Great Aldi. Not as big as some I've been in, but still a very good location. 10/10.

Stock: 10/10. For the cheapest meat prices in town, $8.99 for a giant salmon fillet, decent produce at very good prices, and great options for snacks (I like to bike and I source my road snacks here-- they've got raisins and all the ingredients to make your own trail mix, get the nuts from the baking section if you hate over salted trail mix), make this Aldi a staple! I love the fact that there are only 1-3 choices per item (don't stare at a wall of 300 types of peanut butters, just buy the crunchy or smooth), the self bagging, and the selection of alcohol at this location.

Bathrooms: 9/10. Two individual stalls, both with a toilet, urinal, and baby changing station. Facilities were clean and good smelling. Only -1 for no paper towels, air dryer only. There's also a water filling station in the same area as the bathrooms!

Parking: 9/10. Bit awkward to try and walk through the parking lot, especially when crossing in front of the main entrance -- cars are flying in and you just have to try not to die. I recommend parking further in, so you don't have to cross the narrow way between the lot and the drive in.

Overall: if you're not familiar with Aldi, bring a quarter for the carts (push one in to release, and get it back when you return the cart), and grab reusable bags from home or empty boxes from around the store to bag your groceries. The checkout person will have a cart ahead of you that they scan items into, and once you're done, you push that cart away and replace it with your now-empty cart. If you're used to having tons of decisions for every little item (100 types of dip, 40 types of flour and sugar), you may think that the store is too small to have any variety. But that's not true! In just that space, they can offer kimchi, salami, salmon fillets, random seasonal stuff including real furniture, and amazing novelty ice creams. It's because they're reducing the appearance of choices (300 types of peanut butter, but all owned by one of 3 corporate conglomerates, means you don't really have a choice). In addition, the prices are amazing and you don't have to clip coupons or sign up to be harassed with emails to get the same price as anyone else. I love Aldi so much, and this location did not...

I visited a couple times since this location opened. I'm not overly impressed. I can not honestly pinpoint if its the location, the store, the employees, the customers?

The problems: Who the heck carries quarters? Renting a shopping cart, digging for quarters, and its not an incentive to return the cart because I have kids and after loading up the car in 100+ degree heat that 25cents just isnt worth it.

You just dont know what the store is going to have, you can not grocery shop here, its more of an activity, you browse and hope they have something.

One cashier, sitting down, even if you bring you own bags, you still have to bag this yourself. NO self check- check out is painfully slow. Oh and cash or debit only.

The other customers- I was looking at something in the freezer and another customer came right in and took the last 3 boxes of what I was looking at. This happens frequently, I will be standing and looking at something and another customer will zip infront of my and take the last of something or an entire box of something.

The positive: Aldi's carries a line of gluten free products that are less expensive or equal to walmart pricing. Aldi's is less hassle than walmart and Aldi's usually is in stock whereas walmart is hit or miss. (cake mix, mac n cheese, tortilla wraps, pasta, etc). My kids also like the apple sauce pouches and some of the ice cream is decent.

IMO the positives do NOT out weigh the negatives in any way.

Today we went for our final shop. My cart had a number of items and I put everything on the check out. The customer before me was screaming about 'her missing nickel' she was due. Somehow in the check out process 3 of my items got left unscanned and I didn't notice- so that leaves us with out pizza and 2 packs of tortilla wraps, the entire reason I went to the store, the items I needed for dinner. There is no direct number to call the store and no way contact the store.

Fry's is 50 yards away and a much...

I found this store to have a warehouse vibe. No particular isle for things you have to pretty much go down each isle to see what they have. The prices are ok. Just like other stores some things are cheaper than others depending on the day. They don't offer multiple brands of one item, it's mostly one kind one brand of that item. My biggest issue was this, and hopefully knowing ahead of time you can plan better, I spent about an hour browsing and got 68 items. I unload them onto the conveyor and she's ringing me up. I'm paying no attention because I'm emptying my cart. She finishes and tells me the total , I pay and glance over and see that all 68 items are just tossed back into a cart! Not in bags just tossed back in a cart. Confused I said uh, you don't bag them ? She says you can buy bags for .12 cents if you want. Im like don't you think you should mention or offer that up front for those of us who are clueless?? So then I purchased some paper bags and had to remove all 68 items again to put in bags , put back in my cart, and then unload. It just seems like an important variant to their business model that they should share with all customers before ringing them up . I likely won't shop there again. I'm just more comfortable with the layout and options of products I get at WinCo or Fry's . That's...