German Supermarkets

[Bletchleyite]

From: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/wetherspoons.177061/page-7#post-3854605

Apart from the limited choice

That can be an upside; one can complete a shop far more quickly than in a football-pitch-sized Tesco Extra.

and longer queue times

The queues are longer, but the very fast processing by the cashiers and the way you pack at a shelf away from the till at your leisure[1] mean that they move in my experience far more quickly. And it is general Aldi/Lidl etiquette to offer for someone with just a basket to go in front if you have a weekly shop - almost everyone who shops there does that if they see it.

[1] This used to be general UK practice, it was the coming of the French-style hypermarkets that started the "pack at the till" thing. Though you sometimes got a divider in the packing area instead so one person could pack while another person's purchases were rung up.

Besides, I prefer, if possible to support local or UK businesses.

Interestingly, Switzerland (non-EU) doesn't have either of them but does have its own Swiss-owned version of the same thing, Denner.

 

[gordonthemoron]

I prefer the real German supermarkets, such as Edeka & ReWe

 

[Bletchleyite]

I prefer the real German supermarkets, such as Edeka & ReWe

I've never shopped in a ReWe, but my experience is that Edeka, which is a franchised system, is almost identical to Budgens which operates on a near-identical basis. You could certainly pass the Budgens in Stony Stratford off as an Edeka.

Also in a way similar to Nisa and Premier, but that tends to be smaller stores than Budgens/Edeka typically are. Or Spar these days, which seems more consistent in terms of customer experience than it was.

 

[GusB]

The queues are longer, but the very fast processing by the cashiers and the way you pack at a shelf away from the till at your leisure[1] mean that they move in my experience far more quickly. And it is general Aldi/Lidl etiquette to offer for someone with just a basket to go in front if you have a weekly shop - almost everyone who shops there does that if they see it.

The first few times I used Aldi and Lidl, I did feel a bit rushed and was rather annoyed, especially when they asked outright if I was paying by cash or card. Once you get used to bundling your shopping back into your trolley and packing away from the till, it's not so bad. If queues do build up, they are usually very good at opening up another checkout fairly quickly - and it seems to be the checkout staff that are responsible for calling for additional staff.

As for their ranges, I find I can buy most things that I need there, although things like herbs and spices tend to be rather limited. I've taken to growing my own lately, so even that isn't much of an issue these days.

 

[dm1]

Interestingly, Switzerland (non-EU) doesn't have either of them but does have its own Swiss-owned version of the same thing, Denner.

Switzerland has both Aldi and Lidl - and both are pretty successful.

http://www.aldi-suisse.ch

http://www.lidl.ch

 

[Groningen]

The main ones:
Aldi
Edeka
Combi
K + K
Kaufland
Lidl
Netto
Norma
Penny Markt
Real
Rewe
Spar

I am sure the are more.

 

[adrock1976]

The main ones:
Aldi
Edeka
Combi
K + K
Kaufland
Lidl
Netto
Norma
Penny Markt
Real
Rewe
Spar

I am sure the are more.

Is Netto based in Denmark?

I do remember some Netto stores in the West Midlands during the second half of the 1990s.

 

[cactustwirly]

The first few times I used Aldi and Lidl, I did feel a bit rushed and was rather annoyed, especially when they asked outright if I was paying by cash or card. Once you get used to bundling your shopping back into your trolley and packing away from the till, it's not so bad. If queues do build up, they are usually very good at opening up another checkout fairly quickly - and it seems to be the checkout staff that are responsible for calling for additional staff.

As for their ranges, I find I can buy most things that I need there, although things like herbs and spices tend to be rather limited. I've taken to growing my own lately, so even that isn't much of an issue these days.

I've never seen anyone do that, everyone packs stuff into bags at the tills!
Now that I've shopped at Lidl for a while, the glacial pace of the checkouts at Tesco's does annoying me slightly!

 

[DavidGrain]

Is Netto based in Denmark?

I do remember some Netto stores in the West Midlands during the second half of the 1990s.

Netto is based in Denmark. They had a chain of stores in the UK but pulled out some time ago. Sainsburys then started a budget chain under licence using the Netto name, for some reason I don't understand, siting them next door to Sainsburys stores but they pulled out of this idea as well. So there have been two attempts at a chain of Netto stores in the UK, obviously not successful

 

[Groningen]

Wrong! The Danish Netto is not related to the German Netto. HQ is in Maxhuette-Haidhof and solely active in Germany. 4600 stores and 65000 workers.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Switzerland has both Aldi and Lidl - and both are pretty successful.

http://www.aldi-suisse.ch

http://www.lidl.ch

I sit corrected, never actually saw one.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The first few times I used Aldi and Lidl, I did feel a bit rushed and was rather annoyed, especially when they asked outright if I was paying by cash or card. Once you get used to bundling your shopping back into your trolley and packing away from the till, it's not so bad. If queues do build up, they are usually very good at opening up another checkout fairly quickly - and it seems to be the checkout staff that are responsible for calling for additional staff.

I'd say I prefer the "pack away from the till" system, it is less rushed and allows me to take my time to pack in such a way as to save time on getting home.

They do ask about method of payment but it's just a practical question.

As for their ranges, I find I can buy most things that I need there, although things like herbs and spices tend to be rather limited. I've taken to growing my own lately, so even that isn't much of an issue these days.

They don't do much gluten free stuff, but my nearest one has a Morrisons on the other side of the car park, so I can go to Aldi for what they do have and then Morrisons to fill the gaps.

 

[DavidGrain]

Wrong! The Danish Netto is not related to the German Netto. HQ is in Maxhuette-Haidhof and solely active in Germany. 4600 stores and 65000 workers.

Perhaps you would like to sign into Wikipedia and edit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netto_(store)

 

[furnessvale]

I'd say I prefer the "pack away from the till" system, it is less rushed and allows me to take my time to pack in such a way as to save time on getting home.

I shop at Tesco and use a hand scanner. By the time I get to the automated checkout everything is packed in my own bags ready for home.

 

[JonathanP]

Wrong! The Danish Netto is not related to the German Netto. HQ is in Maxhuette-Haidhof and solely active in Germany. 4600 stores and 65000 workers.

Perhaps you would like to sign into Wikipedia and edit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netto_(store)

Sigh...
There are 2 supermarket chains called Netto with a large presence in Germany, Netto and NettoMarken-Discount.
I even know one town where the two chains built stores immediately adjacent to each other!
Colloquially they are known as "Netto with a dog" and "Netto without a dog". However "Netto with a dog" operates only in North East quarter of Germany, so although in that region they are commonly seen, the brand is probably completely unknown to many Germans and the overall store count is much lower.

 

[jon0844]

I shop at Tesco and use a hand scanner. By the time I get to the automated checkout everything is packed in my own bags ready for home.

That is the best outcome, except at my local store they now have one person to cover the scan & go and self-checkouts, and on the occasion you need authorisation for alcohol, or a random scan/check, you can wait bloody ages.

Tesco always say they're short staffed, implying that someone is off or they're recruiting and just short, but it doesn't take long to realise they have no intention of having more than one person there most of the time.. and you just have to wait.

It gets very frustrating to have everything packed up, and of course some stores may be better than others.

 

[Groningen]

Look at the logo of Netto Danmark and Netto Germany and see the difference in Google Images. Danmark is yellow/black with dog and the Germany one is yellow/red without dog. There are than 2 Netto chains, but except name not related.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Sigh...
There are 2 supermarket chains called Netto with a large presence in Germany, Netto and NettoMarken-Discount.
I even know one town where the two chains built stores immediately adjacent to each other!
Colloquially they are known as "Netto with a dog" and "Netto without a dog". However "Netto with a dog" operates only in North East quarter of Germany, so although in that region they are commonly seen, the brand is probably completely unknown to many Germans and the overall store count is much lower.

I guess this occurs because the brand is too generic a word to trademark, meaning "net" (as opposed to "gross") in both German and French.

FWIW, Netto Marken-Discount appears to be basically what Kwik Save was - branded products sold cheaply in a warehouse style shop, as distinct from Aldi/Lidl where almost everything is own brand (but fake names rather than just "Aldi Value Beans" etc).

 

[DavidGrain]

Sigh...
There are 2 supermarket chains called Netto with a large presence in Germany, Netto and NettoMarken-Discount.
I even know one town where the two chains built stores immediately adjacent to each other!
Colloquially they are known as "Netto with a dog" and "Netto without a dog". However "Netto with a dog" operates only in North East quarter of Germany, so although in that region they are commonly seen, the brand is probably completely unknown to many Germans and the overall store count is much lower.

Thanks for the clarification

 

[Groningen]

Danmark Netto has 3400; German Netto stores. By the way the dog is called Scottie. When you look on Google Maps for locations all the stores are east from the line of Niebuell, Hamburg, Braunschweig and Zwickau. It is a huge yellow area on Google Maps.

 

[Bantamzen]

I'd say I prefer the "pack away from the till" system, it is less rushed and allows me to take my time to pack in such a way as to save time on getting home.

I love their checkout system, even with large queues you can get through in a matter of minutes. Then as you say you can pack at your leisure.

But for me the big selling point (for Aldi at least) is the quality, especially the meat. Their beef joints in particular are above and beyond anything I have had from any of the other big supermarkets, and of course considerably cheaper. The only place I can find better is at local butchers and farmers markets.

 

[Groningen]

Netto (Danmark) has 345 stores in Germany; not 3400. The UK had 16 stores from 2014 untill August 2016. Further active in Poland and Sweden.

 

[DavidGrain]

The pack away from the till does not work if, as I usually do in Aldi, you just have a basket not a trolley.

 

[richw]

Don’t like Aldi. Find the staff Inattentive touching rude. The last few times I’ve been the checkout operator has been Deep in conversation on their headset to colleagues non work related. Also Find their fruit and veg of poor quality. They do some great products i like which keeps dragging me back though

 

[Senex]

The pack away from the till does not work if, as I usually do in Aldi, you just have a basket not a trolley.

Why not? The German practice as I've seen (one version of it) with baskets is you unpack from your basket for the till and the cashier puts the scanned goods into the basket left behind by the customer before you. Or else you've emptied your basket into one of the separate "channels" whilst the person in front of you is being dealt with so you can take your basket with you to the other side.

 

[DavidGrain]

Why not? The German practice as I've seen (one version of it) with baskets is you unpack from your basket for the till and the cashier puts the scanned goods into the basket left behind by the customer before you. Or else you've emptied your basket into one of the separate "channels" whilst the person in front of you is being dealt with so you can take your basket with you to the other side.

Not seen that happen in my local Aldi. Baskets are unpacked at the end of the conveyor belt and the empty baskets are stacked under the belt. I have never seen anyone carrying empty baskets to be refilled by the check-out operator.

Don’t like Aldi. Find the staff Inattentive touching rude. The last few times I’ve been the checkout operator has been Deep in conversation on their headset to colleagues non work related. Also Find their fruit and veg of poor quality. They do some great products i like which keeps dragging me back though

The only fruit and veg I ever buy at Aldi are the special offers because with the faster turnover they are usually fresh. I have been very disappointed with other fruit and veg going off very quickly when I get it home

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not seen that happen in my local Aldi. Baskets are unpacked at the end of the conveyor belt and the empty baskets are stacked under the belt. I have never seen anyone carrying empty baskets to be refilled by the check-out operator.

They won't actually let you do that in UK Aldis, which I find a bit strange. Maybe too many people were nicking the baskets?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Don’t like Aldi. Find the staff Inattentive touching rude.

That's interesting, I always found you got a better class of staff at Aldi because it is a well-paid (for the type of role) and really quite skilled job (given the speed of processing they require).

Any "old hands" who've worked there for years probably even better - as in the 1990s early days there were no barcodes[1] - you had to know the price of everything by heart.

[1] Even the humble barcode has been improved upon by Aldi - they put it all the way round the item, built into the style of the label, so whatever way round an item passes the scanner it will scan.

 

[DavidGrain]

Went into Aldi this afternoon. Nice man on the checkout packed my bag for me and took into account the weights, sizes and shapes of the goods that I had purchased. Admittedly this was the first time that had happened to me.
They were announcing over the PA the opening of extra tills before the operator got to the till which enabled customers to unload their purchases onto the belt ready for the ioperator. The only store I know that does this.

 

[Groningen]

Sorry to say this i never had problems with Dutch and German supermarkets. Dutch supermarkets have baskets and trolleys. It is possible for a trolley to get a lock on 1 of the wheels to prevent from escaping. I thought that Germans have only trolleys. The worst supermarket chain i know is Colruyt in Belgium. They have no belt to put your goods on.