I don't think these are two stores worthy of comparison.

ALDI is a german chain that has opened up in Aermica. Their gig is all generic food, but ioddly enough, their products tend to be better than name brands a lot of the time, namely because they use EUROPEAN food standards, and tend to buy Local when they can. Their prices are cheaper than Walmart. I see a lot of ex Walmart shoppers in their stores.

At least in my city.

The employee's only pay $10 a month for full insurance. I asked the checker if that was for real and she said it's true. I love Aldi. Turns out the family is related to Trader Joe's owners.

Because there staff is a skeleton crew

very few employees per store - so they deserve to be payed well

I wish they had more selections to pick from, but what they do have is generally quite good.

Nothing else matches up.

The local store isn't very large so selections are limited but it's a great place to go for staples, dairy and produce.

Finaly some justice coming to coporate america ! Only a start I hope!!!!

n.t

However, if there were a resurgence in unionism, it would take less time to correct it than Wal-mart did to fuck it up.

at Walmart. She thought it was a bed bug. Yuk!

Turns out it was a tick. They are not native to Alaska.

Now you have to worry about getting Lyme disease when shopping there.

In such a big store, it's reassuring to see the same greeters and checkers and other associates from month to month, year to year. And I really like it that several of the employees recognize and call me by name.

Any big ticket item I've bought from Costco at a discount price covers the fee! I've never had any problems with anything I've gotten from Costco! Love them. And I pass a couple WalFarts on the way to the nearest Costco!

because I have an executive membership. Right before the anniversary of my renewal date I get a check for 2% percent back on my purchases for the year. I think it's 3% back on gas. You can use that check to renew your membership or spend it in the store. My last check was for 140.00 so I renewed and had 40 to spare. They may have gone up to 110.00 since I upgraded my card.

There are also gold star memberships. I believe those are 55.00

$208 bucks. (I have 3 teenage boys, they eat a lot) Free $108 worth of groceries. Can't beat it. The only complaint I could make is they keep re-arranging the damn store. Every time I go in stuff is moved to another place. However if this keeps people working at a decent wage, move away!

They are still selling primarily FOREIGN goods. That is why their prices are so cheap. The markup on slave labor is enormous, so they can cut prices and still make money. Consumers are addicted to cheap goods and are unwilling to pay what Made in USA costs. Until that changes, the race to the bottom continues. I am so amazed to read over and over that people don't know that in these threads.

Are American made. It may be true the electronics are made in China, but then most of them are. I save money every month on food, detergent, etc. I got my tires there (American made) and got a great deal, plus the 2% back. They use nitrogen in the tires, plus free road hazard warranty. The yearly membership is well worth it.

The answer to cheap imports is a structural one, not a matter of individual rectitude. People are economically stressed, and need to stretch their money as far as possible. They are victims, not perpetrators of corporate economic abuse. Blame international trade agreements and similar corporate manipulations of world governments, not the individual purchasers. All we need to do is reclaim enough national sovereignty to place tariffs on any non-union-made imports, and we can start restoring some economic balance to the system.

On the one hand, you argue that Americans, because they are economically stressed, can only afford cheap goods. Yet if tariffs were instituted, that would make foreign goods cost more in line with American made goods, so then Americans would magically be able to afford them??

And the only two choices are Wal Mart full of cheap foreign crap or Costco, slightly better quality but still artificially cheap crap? Americans have no choice but to over-consume cheap goods created by slave labor? No way out of the vicious cycle that puts people out of work and their jobs shipped overseas so all they can afford are goods made overseas? Really?

How about people make better choices, based on the quality of American goods but perhaps less "stuff." When I was a student, I spent a year in Canada, and even though I didn't have a huge budget, one of my Canadian peers came into my house and said, "If you hadn't told me you were an American, I would have known the minute I saw all your stuff." And it's true. Americans have bought into the idea they need as much disposable crap as possible--at all income levels. No sense of buying high-quality, American-made with warranties that lasts or can be handed down or reused. There is article after article that shows that that shopping solely based on prince in the end actually costs more because that crap soon breaks and needs to be replaced. Consumers just need to be reeducated.

The tariffs would help to create an environment in which American workers would have jobs at living wages.

We can't wait while our government officials who are captured by corporations do the right thing. We know they won't. But as consumers, we have the power to create demand. If the corporations were given the message that the Made in the USA label is a serious selling point for an item, they would bring manufacturing back here. That, and removing the cost of health insurance from the cost of the American worker. The understand nothing but profit. We do have the power to change things with every purchase we make.

(p.s. I would also like to add I think consumers have also forgotten, or have never known, the absolute pleasure and satisfaction from buying and using a well-made product. Always saves money in the long run.)

There's none close by, it's about a gallon of gas each way so I'll have to make sure I need things. Thanks people.

.

It's a great value. TP, paper towels, cereal, we've even gotten a set of great dishware there. I love Costco.

In that time, we were forced to go in a Walmart once, and it was because we were out of state at a isolated hotel and didn't know where else to go to get some groceries.

is they run a lot less labor-intensive business model.

It is a LOT easier and quicker for an employee to get a skid of toilet paper out of the overhead, remove the shrinkwrap and put the whole skid in the hole so people can buy full cases of paper, than for someone to go in the back, get one case of paper, haul it to the floor, open it and put the individual packages on the shelf. And because it IS easier and quicker to stock shelves by just plunking a pallet of product on the floor, they need fewer employees.

I know that not everything they sell can be handled that way, but a hell of a lot of it can.

myself for not thinking. I know I did exactly the same thing last year one one of the holidays. I'm glad to see them give their employees those days off. I just wish I'd remember it. I could easily have went yesterday.

I know at least two other people did the same thing. To go down that road and take the left we did back to the main road, there's no reason to do that unless you were going to Costco. Wal-Mart is right next to is. Whatever all three of us wanted, it wasn't worth going to Wal-Mart for.