The Quest for Best: Aldi vs. Wal-Mart

In today’s world, to save as much money as possible is very important to many people. Grocery shopping is probably the time many people spend most of their paycheck. People will flock to Wal-Mart to take advantage of the low prices. However, another store also offers low prices, and almost consistently more than Wal-Mart does. The store’s name is Aldi, and it is a great store for those customers who are in a rush, and want to save money

To begin with, some store history may be helpful. In 1914, Anna Albrecht opened a small store, Albrecht Discount, in the town of Essen, Germany. By 1948, her sons had taken over the business and had expanded it to four locations. In 1962, the store’s name changed from Albrecht Discount to Aldi. In 1976, Aldi makes their debut in the United States, opening a store in Southwestern Iowa. Today, in 2014, Aldi has 1,300 locations in the United States and 4,000 locations worldwide (Aldiuscareers.com). In 1962, Wal-Mart opens in Rogers, Arkansas. In 1983, Sam Walton opened the first Sam’s Club in Midwest City, Oklahoma. By 1988, Walton had opened the first Wal-Mart Supercenter in Washington, Missouri. Wal-Mart went global in 1991, opening a Sam’s Club in Mexico City, Mexico. Today, in 2014, Wal-Mart employs 2.2 million associates, serves 200 million customers, with 11,000 stores in twenty-seven countries (Corporate.walmart.com).

Firstly, Aldi’s carries most of the same products as Wal-Mart, and at consistently lower prices. For instance, avocadoes at Aldi are around nineteen to thirty-nine cents apiece, whereas at Wal-Mart the price for avocadoes averages around a dollar apiece. The avocadoes at Aldi are less expensive and are usually bigger and fresher than the avocadoes found at Wal-...

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... Lastly, the two features of Aldi may not be effective if the customer is looking for specialty items, such as caviar. Aldi does not carry very many specialty items, and if they do, it is not very often, and not in big quantities. In addition, if the customer were looking for items like medicine and clothes, they would be much better off going to Wal-Mart to find these items. Since Aldi is mostly a grocery store, the customer would not find very much of these items at Aldi. Aldi is definitely the place to go, though, if customers are looking for a way to go shopping more quickly and save money while they shop.

Works Cited

"History." ALDI : About ALDI :. Aldiuscareers.com. Web. 06 Feb. 2014.

"History Timeline." Walmart Corporate. Corporate.walmart.com. Web. 06 Feb. 2014.

Lewie, Vicki J. "Prices at Aldi Compared to Wal-Mart." Personal interview. 5 Feb. 2014.