just want to have a rant about this. I'm registered to receive the Aldi newsletter by email each week, prices are displayed in euros only. Today, I could not get access to my email account, so I looked up the www.aldi.co.uk page, where prices are in sterling. I spotted two things that I wanted - the over the door hooks for £1.49 and the electric wok £19.99. So off I went over to the shop.
The hooks were (wait for it) €7.99, and the electric wok €34.99.
I didn't buy them, but I'm so mad with aldi! I've always been a great fan of theirs, as I thought they gave fair value. But how on earth they could justify the jump from £1.49 stg to €7.99 I dont know.
Is there anything that can be done about this? I presume that I cant offer to pay in sterling + just pay the sterling price?
That's because costs are higher here. Such as wages etc.
You should compare their prices to other stores here who sell similar products to determine if you are getting good value.
In Northern Ireland the price of goods in Lidl (there's no Aldi stores up north) is usually *cheaper* than here. Also, the price of goods in Lidl stores in Britain is *cheaper* again than Northern Ireland.
My unscientific observation indicates that the prices charged here in Lidl & Aldi have increased over time. My main recollection of the prices when they opened were that they were significantly (30/40/50%) lower than Tesco/Superquinn/Dunnes, but now I find they are only somewhat lower.
This applies to both their regular groceries and the weekly specials. My view is that they have increased their prices rather than competitors having decreased their prices.
Tesco and Dunnes have definitely reacted to the arrival of Aldi and Lidl by cutting prices particularly on own brand items (e.g. Tesco Value range). Aldi prices did rise gradually after their arrival but many seem to have fallen again in recent months. I still find Aldi and Lidl (the odd time I manage to get there - no store handy for me yet) significantly cheaper than others for most items.
I know a guy who was high up in LIDL - the reason their prices went up was because they couldn't believe how expensive Tesco's and Dunnes were. They felt like fools charging 25c for a tin of beans (which was 17p in England) when 35c or 45c was still nearly half the price of Tescos.
I assume the same applies to ALDIs' specials. We may not be getting as good value as the brits - but they are still giving us better value than any of the rip off merchants they are competing with! In time when competition heats up between ALDI and LIDL - (ALDI are still only growing here) then you'll see some serious price wars!
Aldi got subsidies for opening and running shops in Scotland.The Scottish(?)health department found out that people living in some parts of Glasgow(?) where malnourished because they had no transport and therefore no access to fresh food.Other shops had closed down because it was to dangerous in these parts of town.That was 3 or 4 years ago.These subsidies would have been illegal but where justified with the threat to public health.
Sad but true.
The "Guardian" wrote several articles about the issue.
I don't think there are any on southside yet. You'd have to go down to Arklow! But there is supposed to be a Lidl opening up near Sandyford and I've also heard a possibility that one of them were trying to get a site in Deansgrange. For the moment Lidl seem to be concentrating on the west of Dublin. Lucan store opened a few months ago and there is one due to open in Leixlip at the end of the year.