Friday, November 09, 2012

In Praise of the Aldi Middle Aisle of Random

As a noted cheap-skate (a habit from which Jane is desperately trying to cure me), I positively enjoy a regular shopping visit to that king of discount supermarkets: Aldi.

Apart from their Almost-Nearly-Famous brand names - on which I have waxed lyrical before - there is one superb feature that brings me back over and over again:


THE MIDDLE AISLE OF RANDOM STUFF

The middle aisle of random stuff in a huge table stretching from the very front of the store to the very back, carry all manner of bargain goods in no particular sense or order. Yes, there's beer. Yes, there's discount toilet paper and snack foods. But also items you will never dream of buying in a supermarket (or any other shop, for that matter), yet will still somehow find their way into your trolley.

I've seen - with my own eyes:

  • A chainsaw  
  • A bird table  
  • Roller blades  
  • Welding goggles  
  • Double inflatable air bed  
  • Ten pound lump hammer  
  • A BMX bike  
  • Cuddly Toy  
  • Fondue set
 
On any other day, these might be prizes on the conveyor belt round of The Generation Game, or the worst ever edition of The Price Is Right. But this is where I go to get my food for the week. But man, I love that chainsaw

11 comments:

Al said...

Whilst my local store is on the wrong side of town for me to be arsed going to most of the time, I'm subscribed to their twice-weekly emails notifying of the offers. Sometimes they're themed. Sometimes they're not, with weird results.

Paul Riddle said...

An inflatable, two man canoe, was the best that I have even seen in there.

Pavlov's Cat said...

I love the Aldi , sadly Bexleyheath was not ready for it and it closed after only a few months , I cried real tears.
Once in the middle aisle I saw a full set of riding tack , helmet and horse blanket, strange as bexleyheath is not known for its love of equstrianism unless you coun tthe pikeys down in Erith and they are hardly likely to bother with the kit.

There was also a full size Lumber Jack Axe

I love that axe

a blog post on Aldi And Thus They Spake Unto Him

TRT said...

The bargain basement shopping experience. Every Lidl helps.

dr_atheist said...

Lidl are similarly awesome, my favourite find to date is a suit in a box.
http://img.ly/zzS

Pavlov's Cat said...

Suit inna box , that's just th'awesome

mike lawrence said...

Many is the time when, at 7:45 pm, i've decided what i really need is a kilo of rollmops, a bottle of albanian port substitute, and a ladder. Aldi - never knowingly making sense.

I suspect the head buyer for aldi is a man who spends his whole working day laughing...

Anonymous said...

I thiunk they pick up that stuff from companies going bankrupt...

Phil Parker said...

Lidl is good as well, and "The Middle of Lidl" rhymes.

TangledLou said...

Please pick me up some welding goggles next time you're there. I need some.

Anonymous said...

I have purchased the following from the Aisle of Random: a camping fridge, 50 metres of rope, a catering sized tin of duck fat and a bottle of 2eme cru Chablis.

The salami isn't bad either.