Good and bad buys from Aldi and Lidl

buglawton

So who would agree, if Aldi is making one mistake at the moment it is that it takes too long for it to develop new stores? Yes, planning permission is the block but it could also be that Aldi was too conservative filling its planning application pipeline. Another thing I notice: It seems to take around a year between planning being granted/building started and the actual opening of a store.

VfM4meplse

buglawton wrote: »

So who would agree, if Aldi is making one mistake at the moment it is that it takes too long for it to develop new stores? Yes, planning permission is the block but it could also be that Aldi was too conservative filling its planning application pipeline. Another thing I notice: It seems to take around a year between planning being granted/building started and the actual opening of a store.

Wow, such intense scrutiny! You must be a diehard Aldi fan

daveyjp

buglawton wrote: »

So who would agree, if Aldi is making one mistake at the moment it is that it takes too long for it to develop new stores? Yes, planning permission is the block but it could also be that Aldi was too conservative filling its planning application pipeline. Another thing I notice: It seems to take around a year between planning being granted/building started and the actual opening of a store.

Planning permission is the first link in a long chain and 12 months between planning and opening is ambitious.

Aldi will be buying sites subject to planning permission, so once approved they need to buy the site, 2-4 months. They need to discharge any planning conditions, they then have to fit into into their development pipeline and get all the services on site. Many developments need changes to the Highway, so local Councils need to programme and carry out their work.

The actual store build takes 5-6 months.

buglawton

By comparison, when a derelict local pub got converted to a Tesco local, it took about 6 months.

shoppaholic_returns

littlemissbossy wrote: »

The cheese and caramelised onion tart sounds good, is that in the fresh section or frozen?

Hi, its all in the fridge, the black packaging specially selected stuff, there is also a bacon one, but the onion one is my fave!

skitler

after trying aldi for the last few months, im now a full confirmed convert.:j


bought the bread maker that they where selling last week for £29.99, it made a superb looking and tasty loaf, I was well impressed.:j

System

daveyjp wrote: »

Planning permission is the first link in a long chain and 12 months between planning and opening is ambitious.

Aldi will be buying sites subject to planning permission, so once approved they need to buy the site, 2-4 months. They need to discharge any planning conditions, they then have to fit into into their development pipeline and get all the services on site. Many developments need changes to the Highway, so local Councils need to programme and carry out their work.

The actual store build takes 5-6 months.

It takes that long to build one of the Big 4 as well. There is new Sainsburys on the other side of town which opened mid Nov. They wanted a particular brownfield site to replace the store which was the first one to be opened in the county 42 years ago. The plans for the use of the land on the former store could not go ahead until the new store was built and open. As 95% of the old store's employees were transferred to the new store.

The biggest problem with building new stores is sorting out the road, traffic lights to/from the store. They need that to be in place ideally when the store is open as it will put customers off.

I have noticed Aldi and Lidl's carparks don't have traffic light controlled lanes to enter the carpark or to leave. Unless it's within a retail park. Prob why it takes a little quicker from plan to opening the store.

Hence why its a PITA to leave Aldi - as the roads are main roads and hardly a break in traffic. Nowt to do with the busy store

JIL

Tried the aldi salads today. They do a beetroot salad. That was OK. Pasta salad was also OK. But the mixed bean salad although expensive at £1.49 was the best one I have tasted.
Also I like the curry sauce jars where there are dry spices at the top of the jar and a sauce in the jar.
Have bought the chilli sauce with dry spices and sauce to try.

JIL

EycplUK wrote: »

The Breaded Goats Cheese at Aldi is superb
8 pieces for less than £2 !
We had them lightly fried with a salad MMMMMmmmmmmmm

totally agree. I buy two boxes at a time. My daughter loves them. The breaded camenbert and breaded mozzarella are also really good. Far cheaper than anything from the other supermarkets.

maman

Stompa wrote: »

Dunno, but Four Seasons frozen garden peas have shrunk from 1kg (99p) to 900g (95p), so a 6.6% increase in price.

Thanks for pointing this out. Just checked and I have both sized bags in my freezer (yesterday's and from a couple of weeks ago). For some reason I'm finding it hugely depressing. I've got used to the Big 4 ripping us off and I know Aldi isn't a charity but some days it really feels like us against the world. I hate the 'shrinking food' trick it's so patronising.:(