Hadn't been to an Aldi before last week but have now been to the Streatham one several times. Well lit and a good comfortably spaced layout (unlike the dingy, cramped Morrisons that was there before). Many items are half or two thirds of the price that you'd pay in Tesco or Sainsburys for something of comparable quality. I'll be visiting once or twice a week from now on. Can't see the overpriced Marks & Spencer next door lasting long.
I went today. Was easy to get to (on a train-enabled travel pass) from Loughborough Junction. 10 minutes each way.
The layout is kind of Bauhaus compared with Lidl. The eye-level fridges containing ice-cream etc was very tempting compared to Lidl's rummaging around in floor-standing freezer cabinets.
I was interested in the bottled beers, and it seems in the ale section the beers are pretty much as Lidl, except that Lidl's are made by Shepherd Neame in Faversham, whereas Aldi's are Marstons from the Midlands - but have more enticing lables. The quality and price between the Lidl and Aldi versions is virtually identical - £1.19 being the standard price for both.
The turn-off for me was when waiting on the platform for my train back home I spotted that the coffee, which was marked as £1.39 on the shelf had been charged to me at £1.49
I find this sort of thing annoying - and it wouldn't normally happen at Lidl, because mostly people use self-service checkouts, so you would see the price when you scanned it.
Aldi don't have self-service checkouts - and their screen showing the items scanned are tablet format with small print positioned for the benefit of the till operator, not the customer.
My advice, if you worry about being charged correctly, is check your receipt before leaving the shop.
Final point - Marks & Spencers looked to be thriving - at least in their café - at 3 pm on a Friday afternoon.
