Move over Walmart and Costco, as Aldi and Lidl are here to stay. The two supermarkets are known for their cheap prices and bulk sizes, and have been dominating the supermarket business since their birth, overshadowing stores like Key Food, Safeway, and Whole Foods as well as mom and pop groceries. Aldi is a German supermarket chain which is already well-known in European countries and Australia. It has recently announced a $5 billion investment in new U.S. stores, in addition to the 1,600 stores that already exist right now.

“I think Aldi offers better prices for the customers.”

The Aldi supermarkets were first created by two leading global discount supermarket chains with over 10,000 stores in eighteen countries and an estimated combined turnover of more than €50 billion. Their model is unlike that of normal supermarkets; they sell products in their shipping containers and have tons of affordable knockoffs of brand-name products. They are also known for selling new products often, so they have a wide variety of items. The other chain, known as Lidl, is a second German company that is the world’s third largest food retailer. It has recently announced its plans to open 100 stores along the East Coast and hope to open 500 more nationwide.

Both Aldi and Lidl are well liked in their communities. Although they may not be as big as Walmart or Costco, they are enjoyed by families and people looking to save money on groceries. For example, while regular markets may charge up to five dollars for milk, Aldi and Lidl have been known to sell the same amount for as little as two dollars.

Bronx Science students often goes to Aldi for their groceries. Radley Lupiano ’18 has shopped at Aldi for groceries, and Fiaz Bin Sayeed ’18 agreed and was not surprised that Aldi has been beating big supermarket chains. “I think Aldi offers better prices for the customers. I think one thing they’ve done really well is that they’ve used private labels on their products and so they can create better margins while still offering a good price to customers, and at the end of the day, a low or middle income class family would rather shop at a place where prices are low rather than where there are better brand names,” said Sayeed.