In Camden, London, the chains I food shop at are (and I’ll rank accordingly) Marks & Spencer/Waitrose, Lidl and Aldi. I find them all a step up from Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s for the ingredients I buy and rarely shop at either of these large supermarkets. There’s also a small Tesco which I haven’t stepped into since they were clearing out Easter candy last year. The one chain other than M&S, Lidl and Aldi that we occasionally pop into because of the convenient location by the canal close to Kings Cross is a Co-Op.

Most of Lidl and Aldi’s own brand stuff is much better than that of the large British supermarkets’ value offerings, quite a few we prefer to their “The Best” or “Finest” or whatever they call their premium ranges. Took me a while to understand Lidl’s produce line, but once I did the conversion was spiritual, and it left me open to Aldi when it opened on the High Street. Out of the two, I definitely lean towards Lidl.

—-
Carrefour Spain is very different from Carrefour France, definitely not in a good way.
Aldi Spain is extremely different to Aldi England. Aldi Spain feels very “foreign”, Aldi England adapted much more to English preferences (which is why I don’t like the pickle section)
Lidl Spain and Lidl England are pretty comparable, Lidl has adapted to each of these two countries in a consistent way but kept its “continental” identity, which I value.

ALDI did not enter Texas until 2010, but I had the same impression of ALDI in the mid-90's too as in St. Louis and the few stores were in lower to lower-middle-class suburbs. I recall one in central Illinois too which had to be near a distribution center between Chicago and St. Louis.

Now, in Florida, while the older locations are across the street from Walmart supercenters in strip malls, the new locations are stand alones opening in areas where the middle-class population is moving.

I even think this has been discussed before, but not as a full OMNI thread.

The best thing about hyper markets is going French and saying 'eyper marshay' instead

The last Carrefour I went to was in Dubai and it was massive although still not as big as the eyper marshays in France. It also wasn't as nice, was full of the riff raff (and sold some really low end stuff, giant suitcases and those plastic coated nylon holdalls everywhere!) I preferred the Waitrose there!

M&S I love, and I would kill for something like their meal deals here, but it still falls into the 'can't do a full weekly shop there' category because of the fact they don't carry (many) mainline brands (it used to be none, but I think you can now get some things like diet coke etc.) Washing powder was top of my 'can't get it there' list!

What about Iceland?

I was mostly Waitrose and M&S.

When I lived in the UK, "Mum of the Year" Kerry Katona (LOL) was the spokesperson for Iceland and they had something like feed the family a Christmas lunch for a tenner. It had all your favourite Christmas treats like frozen spring rolls etc.

Actually here's an ad from Christmas 2008.


Aldi in Australia seems like a staple for a lot of families. From the people I know who shop there some of the stuff is amazingly good and cheap and other stuff is pretty cr@p. Seems to be fairly hit and miss.

The M&S on our High Street is almost empty in the early morning. I pop in, see what they have and then go into Lidl or Aldi, sometimes both - they’re all a few doors from each other and there are no queues at that time. We get a weekly Riverford vegetable delivery and our house is a rental; it has a fair size freezer and a tiny fridge, hence the frequent small shops. There’s also a Korean store (Oseyo), a Thai mini mart and a Longdan’s East Asian shop in that same High Street area. A Camden Waitrose came and went, it didn’t last long, but we do still make the 20 minute hike to Waitrose at Kings Cross every now and again - this last year, that’s usually the furthest I get from home in any given month. That we can’t travel and don’t get out much is so much easier with accessible, affordable foods and goods that have come to us from all over the globe, it’s a privilege we rejoice in and celebrate.

I went to a Carrefour in Jakarta when the "cronut" was popular; their own version was better than the one I had in NY. Having lived in Asia for a few years, the only reason I would go to hypermarkets was to make change for big bills (my travel tip of the year). Oh, and in China they had the Skippy Peanut Butter Chocolate combo.

As for Aldi, in my neighborhood their main clientele is FOBs. Have no problem with Aldi's merch, nor with Lidl. Bad purchases have been made across the supermarket spectrum.

At the end of the day, I wish I had Bangkok supers at my disposal.

They own Hannaford here in Maine. There are two grocery chains here, Hannaford and Shaw’s (owned by Albertsons I think). Hannaford is nicer, or maybe it’s just that I shop at the Hannaford in Falmouth...

It is fun going to a French eyper marshay. The last Carrefour I went to was in Dubai too! Maybe we went to the same one. The guy didn’t know I was looking for hummus until my friend I was visiting came up behind me and said “hooomooos” with a guttural h.

If that's the one by Granary Square then I don't blame you - that is a LOVELY store; we have done a lot of omiyage shopping there!

The few times I’ve bought produce there, it turned out to be poor quality. I’d rather choose individual items than buy it prebagged.

Central Market clear winner, though I won’t be going there or HEB as they’ve declared the stores mask-optional for customers.

I guess that explains why I always think of Tesco as the UK version of Walmart.

I do like Aldi for some things. Their price for duck is lower than anywhere else.

Iceland. You want dodgy, you want Iceland.

That�s the one! I comb through it after Christmas and Valentine�s Day for primo-good discounts and, so long as the consume by date stretches to at least May/June, that�s where WE get our omiyage for family and friends in Japan too (I.e. half price Prestat chocolate boxes and Neals Yard Remedies are common January finds)

Not true at all here. The local Aldi is full of shoppers using their free green Waitrose bags. I think the idea of Aldi being full of riff raff is dependent on the local area and views held by those who probably don't shop there.

Of course it is but, please let us cling to our middle class stereotypes for a bit.