I have been an Aldi fan since January 2019. I know it’s odd to know the exact date you fell in love with a grocery store but I did a whole spiel on Instagram so it’s documented. I also have a blogpost I wrote three months into when I converted to Aldi. It’s actually a pretty good summary of what I love about Aldi and it’s all still true except the part where I went from spending $700 a month down to $500. COUGH! 2019 was another lifetime wasn’t it? I spend DOUBLE that now.

Last year I was beyond thrilled when I started hearing rumors that Aldi was coming to my town! Then it was confirmed and I actually said on a neighborhood group “If Aldi comes late June that will be the best birthday present ever” followed by a shopping cart and coin emoji (if ya know ya know).

Summer arrived and Aldi was almost complete and ready to open at the end of June as anticipated, but wait, it gets better. THE ALDI GRAND OPENING WAS ON MY BIRTHDAY! I was ecstatic.

So I found a couple of friends crazy enough to join me for this big event. We originally were planning to arrive at 6:30 am for the 8:30 am ribbon cutting but one of my friends arrived a little before 6 and saw that there were people lining up.

I was already ready so I immediately hopped in the car to head that way. It was important to be the first 100 people in line because you would be eligible for a golden ticket, some of which were $100 gift cards, and everyone got a goodie bag. Regardless of the prizes I wanted the satisfaction of knowing I was in the first 100!

I arrived to find a decent line but it didn’t look like 100 people so I figured we were good. With my coffee, a big bottle of water and chair in my arms I marched over to Aldi along with my two amigas and we parked ourselves in line with the other fanatics.

For my birthday they gave me the sweetest gifts including a chicken mug and a chicken keychain to put a quarter in for your shopping cart. How perfect is that!?

 

We also chowed down on donuts from Holtman’s (my fave) and a pastry from Servatiis (also my fave).

 

All complete with a candle and a balloon. I know people wondered how or why I would wait in line for a grocery store. To be clear, I was willing to do it by myself but with friends it made the time fly by. It wasn’t boring waiting in line for hours, it was fun!

At about 30 minutes before the ribbon cutting someone started handing out numbers to mark where we were at in line.

We were numbers 30, 31, and 32.  More and more people continued pouring in, but the police were having to redirect them because there just wasn’t anymore room! I saw how long the line was and I can imagine how it felt to be number 99 or 100 and just barely make it. I also imagine how it felt to be 101. Ouch.

There were also people from the city there celebrating the new business so received some freebies from the city of Milford while we were waiting.

When the time finally came to go in we each were handed an Aldi reusable bag full of Aldi products.

I was expecting free samples, but these were full size products. We were also each handed a golden ticket! Mine was worth $10 and so were my friends, but I think someone in front of us got a $100 gift card (I posted a screenshot of her collage above). We also received multiple $10 off coupons which for me was like cash money for me because I know I am going to use everyone of those coupons.

We shopped a little, but not much. This wasn’t about the shopping. It was about the experience. I loved it and would do a grand opening again.

Later that day on Facebook a conversation started on the neighborhood group where a lot of people were flabbergasted by who on earth would want to line up for a grocery store. They just didn’t get it.

One person went as far to say “Some people just have no life! My goodness people it’s a stupid grocery store.” One person replied asking him why not let people have their joy and he said “I celebrate Jesus, my family and health you know the stuff that should be important to people.” I know better than to engage with negativity online but I couldn’t help myself. I had to share my experience.

I got a lot more happy birthdays after I posted that. To be honest this was one of my favorite birthdays. I am thankful for another year of God’s faithfulness, health, family, and friends. And I’m not gonna lie, after driving 20+ minutes to an Aldi every week for the past 5 years I am thankful to now have one 4 miles away.