So you were looking for Aldi Phillipsburg NJ reviews. This one wouldn’t fit into the little Google form, so I posted it here on my site.
Apparently, there’s an official term for someone like me: Aldi Superfan. I’m not sure if I’m quite at that status, but close enough. Let’s call me a full-on Aldi nerd. Yeah, that’s more like it.
My enthusiasm for the store has manifested in a variety of activities such as:
- Not ever shutting up about the damn place
- Leaving a glowing review on their Google listing
- Applying for a job there (which I’m not sure I’d actually be good at, given the standards)
Phillipsburg NJ Aldi Review: 5 Stars! Here’s Why I Love It
The Phillipsburg Aldi store gets five stars from me for a few reasons:
- The store is clean, well-organized and easy to navigate.
- Great produce, meats, deli, snacks, packaged foods, much more.
- Aldi Phillipsburg employees – excellent! Always great service and smiles.
- They have everything you need, and it’s of good quality.
Why so many raving Aldi fans?
I wanted to address some things about Aldi that makes them the place to “shop differentli.” (::swoons at the wordplay::)
Have you visited Aldi and found it a somewhat confusing experience? You love the prices but can’t understand the rushed manner of the individuals working the cash registers?
I’ve gone from being that grumpy lady feeling dissed at checkout, to delighted customer yapping endlessly about the joys of Aldi, and let me tell you why.
Aldi boasts a special, no-frills culture that you may not be used to. That’s how they keep their prices so low.
For me, this is bliss. No nonsense, no frills, uncomplicated… these are my buzzwords. The less fanfare and BS involved in a thing, the happier I am.
If you’re on board with my sentiment, keep reading because eeauhh, mah gahht… I think you’re going to like my favorite grocery store as much as I do.
WHY does Aldi do grocery shopping differentli?
The overarching goal of Aldi is to keep overhead low, which enables them to offer the best prices on groceries. They’ve thought up some rather creative ways of doing that.
Private label products
The majority of Aldi’s packaged foods come from private label brands you’ve likely never heard of. They do have one aisle where you’ll see some limited time only, discounted clearance items with brand name packaging. For example, I recently bought Sweet Baby Ray’s buffalo wing sauce from there.
I definitely recommend their Benton’s cookie brand. You can find nearly all of your favorites, including faux thin mints and samosa wanna-bes, from this company, right on the Aldi cookie shelf. (They’re just past the bread, across from the bagged chips.)
So get your cookie on, and take a bite out of the grocery bill while you’re at it, thanks to these fine quality, private label products.
No coupons at Aldi
Unlike other retail stores, Aldi doesn’t use coupons or have a special member club. The low, low prices on their food, cleaning products, personal care items, pet food, and home goods are for EVERYBODY. I LOVE this about Aldi!
Here’s a Guy Explaining Why Aldi is the Best Grocery Store on Earth (and it IS!!)
Lean staffing model
Aldi employees switch off between cleaning and stocking the store, and working the register. They swap tasks as needed.
This can seem alarming as you’re headed down to check out with your cart, and you only see one register open. But don’t worry, assistance is on the way. Aldi employees will radio each other to come on down and help move the line along.
At Aldi, checkout always goes much faster than you think it’s going to go, thanks to these unique work procedures.
Aldi workers also get way more physical and mental exercise than a typical grocery store cashier, who would be stuck standing or sitting at their register the whole time just scanning items for hours on end. Look for career opportunities on the Aldi website here.
Bar codes, bar codes, everywhere
Speaking of scanning. The barcodes of Aldi products span every surface of the package or box they come in. That makes for much faster scanning.
No weighing of produce
You will also notice that the produce is pre-packaged typically; i.e., 3 peppers in cellophane. Or, you might be able to buy an individual loose item like a mango, apple or avocado on occasion, but that’s it.
Not having to separate out and weigh out produce items helps checkout go quicker, and also makes shopping less time-consuming from the perspective of the customer.
What’s up with Aldi and the quarters for the shopping carts?
A popular question and I’m glad you asked. Aldi’s shopping cart protocol is actually an ingenious way for them to keep the long register lines moving more quickly. This is likely different from any other store you’ve shopped at.
Here’s how it goes:
- The cashier starts with an empty cart positioned next to her.
- The customer unloads their cart and places all items on the conveyor.
- The cashier speed-scans and places the customer’s items into the cashier cart, generally without putting them in order.
- The cashier rings up the customer, then moves the cashier cart off to the side and passes it to the customer.
- The customer places their now-empty cart next to the cash register, replacing the cashier cart that was there.
- It is then the customer’s responsibility to move to the side where there’s a bagging area/counter, and bag their own items. Or, they can take the cart full of groceries directly to their car, and bag or box up their things before placing them in the vehicle.
- The customer then returns the cart and locks it into place in the cart corral area, so that the next person can insert their quarter and do the same.
The intention is a smooth transition from the checking out of the groceries to the return of the cart, without wasting time and manpower rounding up stray carts in the parking lot or having the cashier bag for you.
If you were taken aback by the speediness of checkout, eventually you will acclimate like I did.
What about people who hate shopping carts?
There’s always that one shopper. (It’s me. I’m that shopper.)
I only ever intend on buying “one thing” but yet I always leave with six. For people like me, there are cardboard boxes.
If you’re only going in to get a few items, bring your own cardboard box. Or, grab a box from one of the cardboard recycling stations placed throughout the store.
I’ve gotten into the habit of keeping a box or two in my car, so I don’t have to search out a good box from their cardboard collection. It’s not bad.
But I will say, I didn’t know there was also an Aldi box-packing protocol until just yesterday. Haha. Always learning something new at my favorite store.
The Aldi bagging area is for boxing or bagging up your groceries before you go.
Apparently, the counter just behind the cash registers is called the bagging area. There isn’t a sign there, which is why I wouldn’t have known. Also, I’m sort of oblivious.
But one strong clue would be the various customers stopping there to sort through their purchases and pack them into bags and boxes before heading out to their car. So evidently this spot is purposed for that activity.
I will no longer be needing to slow down the line now with my awkward boxing habits, now that I know what I know. Because you don’t know what you don’t know, until you know. Which is why I’m writing this article. “IYKYK,” as they say.
Don’t worry… the line will move, and you’ll soon be on your merry way.
I ran into a mom friend on the Aldi checkout line the other day who was looking rather dismayed/stressed. She pointed to the other registers with their lack of human beings manning them.
So I explained that they would be coming around shortly after one worker radios the others, because this is the whole deal with the Aldi store.
I’m not sure if I got a chance to tell her about the barcodes. But at this point, I’m now comfortable with the Aldi protocol, and I get it. So if I can educate others to mentally arrive where I now am, I will.
Not too big, not too small.
Another benefit of Aldi is the size and layout of the store. You might disagree. For you, then, there’s Walmart. But I don’t need to be sprinting around a store that’s the size of a small town, trying to get milk, sneakers, and laundry detergent all in one place. So for me, there’s Aldi.
Size wise, it’s just right. Not too big, not too small. Looks like a friendly neighborhood grocery store, but it comes with corporate financial backing. I can send my teen in there to pick up some frozen pizza without worry of the zombie apocalypse breaking out, and him getting lost in the fray.
The friendly, hardworking Aldi employees
I want to mention this: I’ve come to appreciate the people who work at Phillipsburg Aldi. They don’t need to say a lot. Their actions show that they care about doing a good job.
I first noticed the manager who always seemed to be there. Then I noticed that he works his butt off. Then I began to appreciate the cashiers; always very quick, polite and helpful… just normal people that you would enjoy dealing with.
I think everybody wants to be taken care of by hard-working individuals who are engaged in their jobs and who treat you with courtesy and respect. You certainly get this at Phillipsburg Aldi.
Let’s not forget the Aldi Aisle of Shame
Finally, I must mention the Aldi Aisle of Shame (though as someone not easily swayed by impulse shopping temptations, I don’t linger there for long).
I will say that the Aldi Aisle of Shame comes in handy if, for example, you’re picking up a few things… say, heading to a barbecue or something like this.
Maybe you want to grab a little household gift for the host. Perhaps a cutting board or electric carafe… it really just depends on what they have in that aisle, as stock does clear out rather quickly.
I saw a woman recently, running out of the store giggling with glee as she clutched a pair of sandals that she claimed to have just paid 89 cents for.
So, much like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, when you cruise the Aldi Aisle of Shame, you really never know what you’re going to get. But it could be something good.
Aldi doesn’t corral their customers through impulse-purchase mini-aisles.
Speaking of impulse purchases. I’d also like to applaud Aldi for not feeling the need to herd their customers down a long, winding line full of impulse purchases (the line before the line… what the hell??). Certain other stores who shall remain nameless to protect the innocent, all do this.
Like I said, as a self-titled basic biatch, this is one aspect of shopping in those stores that really ticks me off. I’d much rather pick up some off-brand foods at Aldi than deal with their tricky temptations.
When I want to stand in the checkout line, just let me stand there, and don’t try to hard-upsell me at every turn. It makes me feel yucky.
A small shelf of candy and magazines is fine, like grocery stores have had for decades. But any more than that is just corporate vulgarity. If you’re someone who runs a retail store, please consider this.
Aldi offers Curbside Pickup and Delivery Services
I’ve never used these services so I can’t say how they are. But I will tell you the option is there for those in need. Learn more on their website here.
Love Aldi Phillipsburg? Me, too. Show your support with a great review!
If you want to help out the good folks who work at Aldi Phillipsburg, leave them a nice Google review. Their lean business model also applies to how the employees are trained by upper management. They can’t really TELL you what the deal is at their store… but *I* can.
Help them get through their day with a bright smile, a well wish, and don’t try to chat them up too much. They might want to talk to you, but they’re too busy working hard and being awesome… and it’s all in the name of bringing very, very good deals on groceries for all shoppers in the store.
To summarize: Aldi culture may feel a bit unusual at first. But in this new economy, I feel they’re right on time with their sustainable, minimalist approach to grocery store layouts, workers, products and the checkout process.
Do you shop at Aldi? Will you, now that you’ve read this? As you can probably tell, I love it!
See you on the checkout line! 😀
Contact Info
Aldi only uses one, main phone number. You cannot contact the store directly via phone. To return an item, just bring it up to the register along with a replacement item, for their “Twice as Nice” return policy. You’ll receive both a refund, and the replacement, as long as the item is one of Aldi’s exclusive brands. The item will be labeled with a blue “twice as nice” sticker.
Aldi Phillipsburg – Leave a Review!
1316 US-22, Phillipsburg, NJ 08865