ALDI — Local services in Salisbury

Aldi is my favorite store for low prices and basic items. I stopped there for the sole purpose of getting vinegar in gallon jugs that day. Unfortunately, they were out (they've been out the last few times I've been there). When I asked two associates if they had in in stock in the back, one said that if it wasn't on the shelf then they didn't have it. She seemed a bit more concerned with what they were doing (looked like inventory), and at first I thought maybe I was imagining it. A few minutes later, she cut me off while walking by, and completely ignored me, not apologizing or anything. Throughout my shopping trip, she and the other employee, kept showing up where I was. I had to navigate around them many times. There were also two customers with fake service dogs, walking around letting the dogs sniff everything. They kept interacting with my service dog (she ignored them), and the owner roughly yanked one of the dogs away and yelled at it. All of their behavior indicates no training on the part of the dogs or humans. Real service dogs do not misbehave . If they do, they have to leave the premises. If it is an issue, they are retired. Also, there was only one package of white pita bread. There seems to be an issue of ordering too many wheat pita bread packages and not enough white ones. Some of the hummus had containers that were expanded, like they were about to burst. On a positive note, they had some Sharp Cheddar Cheese on sale, so I was happy with that! And they had my favorite Chicken Salad with Cranberries and Almonds! In case you didn't know, Aldi cashiers are timed. And they are supposed to sit to be able to ring up items faster. If you have a lot of items, maybe you can do what I like to do and ask the cashier to let you get everything on the checkout first before starting to ring up items. I let them know that I know they are timed, and want to help. They appreciate it. The cashier on this visit was super nice...

You will find a few really good deals, but you have to be a bargain hunter who is ok with taking the time to look at every single thing. And some days I leave here without buying anything as I could not find anything worth standing in line for.

Layout and organization of products is not good here. You'll find some related things together but then others located in absurd places.

Be careful because not everything is a deal here. For example, I just saw Suji organic cold pressed juices here for $2.99 and then saw them at Food Lion for the same exact price, same day.

I've found some neat surprises here like their Aldi brand Dark chocolate covered coffee beans. They taste way better than those from Whole Foods and cost less than half the price, I couldn't believe it. Another awesome deal I found was an organic cold pressed watermelon cherry juice which was delish and full of nice, healthy ingredients. Both those items were a "special buy" so stock up because once those are gone, they may never get it again. An organic lentil pasta was another good one I found once, but it's gone now.

A couple of fails include their Aldi brand "hot pockets" type frozen sandwiches. No flavor at all, and mostly breading. Their organic "artisan romaine lettuce hearts" were bitter and you only got 2 small heads for about $5. Definitely not worth that one.

Their deli made salad type offerings are yuck and they use palm oil in most of them instead of olive oil (probably to save money), which is horrible for the environment and leaves a thick, oily flavor and texture.

Overall, I go there with low expectations and get surprised by something neat about...

I went to Aldi's on a Thursday evening to purchase a few items that were in their sales paper. But they were out of them, I asked an employee if she would check the back room to see if they had anymore, she didn't go look instead she said they were sold of these item. It was hard to believe that so many sale items were sold out ( remember their sale starts Wednesday and this is Thursday evening) and she said the quantity of these item that they received from their warehouse were not many. So I went to another Aldi store and it was also SOLD OUT. My family tease me, they say if you can't find Momma on Wednesdays she's at Aldis. Very upset...