A strange thing has started to happen in Dublin. Words that 12 months ago would never have been whispered in polite company, like Aldi and Lidl, are now being said loudly and in public.
Apparently we are all tightening our belts and it has nothing to do with the new personal trainer at David Lloyds. Even my sister, (whose definition of economy is getting a taxi rather than wasting shoe leather by walking in her Louboutin’s), has started to skimp. On Sunday we went on our first shopping to Lidl.
Now we’re obviously not the only ones to downgrade as the car park was like Ballsbridge Motors, which was a bit challenging as those spaces are not designed for SL’s. (Primal did reference this phenomenon months ago, but I assumed he was joking.)
Inside the supermarket it was a dazzling mix of social classes. Who knew that a German retailer could be the catalyst for such social integration? Some customers were obviously more experienced than others, you could tell by their full baskets. The newbie’s would generally be pushing around a gigantic trolley containing a jar of jam and absolutely no wine. (You have to draw the line somewhere).
After 30 minutes and extensive use of language skills, we managed to half fill the basket. Despite the multitude of products the bill came to less than €20. Who knew you could buy food so cheaply?
One week later we still haven’t eaten anything, but we both agreed it was great value.
.
.
PS – Twenty did a post on this topic, which is shorter and funnier, but as I had already written mine I was determined to post.
Assuming you are very drunk, in a dark room and squinting - a lot. Email me on Irishflirtysomething at hotmail.com
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:33 pm
lol. some of the stuff in the fridges in lidl scares me. the wine isn’t too bad . . one day it’ll be all you have left in the cupboard and you’ll drink it!!
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Lidl is great, but the wine is mostly crap.
Twenty’s piece was good, but this is better
http://www.currychips.com/archives/2007/02/specials_from_didl.html
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:02 pm
the food is actually quite good (except for the frozen stuff and some of the meat stuff in their fridge… if i can’t tell what it is, i’m not buying it!). the spirits are ok too, the wine works well for sangria and for cooking as it’s mostly plonk…
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:16 pm
the apple juice and tinned veg like tomatoes and mandarins are really nice and super cheap. but then again it’s hard to mess up fruit and veg.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I think they could lose the ‘reformed’ meat descriptions on some of their goods and I’d be happier!
You pay peanuts, you get monkeys….or chicken shaped monkeys at least????
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Everyone knows they don’t have baskets in Lidl - you weren’t really there at all were you?? lol
I think there will definitely be trend of people shopping around a lot more for the basics, about time people copped on to being ripped off by the bigger retailers!
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Lidl does some very nice German style cakes, confectionery and jams. They do a big tub of vanilla ice cream which is nearly as good as Haagen Dazs. I wouldn’t try the stiff looking German sausages or dairy products but the cleaning stuff is second to none (all that German efficiency). I bought a sewing machine there for €75 and hope to recycle all my old clothes!
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:55 pm
When I lived in Holland, the D4 equivalent had no qualms about shopping at the stores like Lidl and weren’t shy about talking about it either.
Here, on the other hand, up till recently we never mentioned the L word, prefering to go to supermarkets that boast about their prices being the SAME as their competitors and, in Tesco’s case, refuse to divulge their Irish profits (I wonder why). Even the head of the Consumer agency said we’re eejits in this regard. And, she also implied that poeple like Mary Coughlan had more important things to be doing that (pretending to) be concerned about the Irish shopper … if she really was concerned about that issue then she and her colleagues would ensure that in the future no planner was allowed build houses miles from anywhere so that people were forced to shop in only one place, simply because they have no time to shop around.
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:09 pm
It’s great for improbably cheap dodgy wine. And rice. My local one, though, tends not to have chicken or onions most of the time; I’m sure they do this deliberately to annoy me.
Also, their brand names are sometimes hilarious. Landgutt!
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:15 pm
My 86 year old mum swears by Lidl and bores me rigid by telling me all the things she’s just bought there for half the normal price. Her engrained penny-pinching is so irritating I’m determined never to set foot in the place.
July 4th, 2008 at 8:19 am
“extensive use of language skills”?
Are you like us though, buy it, forget what you roughly translated it to and then stare at it in the cupboard trying to work out what you thought it was - until it goes past it’s expiry date?!
July 4th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Heh, top marks to clever-clogs Niamh whis is spot-on.
Anyhow, this whole media-frenzy about people shopping in budget supermarkets is a bit puzzling.
The closest supermarkets to me are (in closeness order): lidl, Iceland, Farmfoods, Asda, Aldi.
I’m a very, very long way from a waitrose.
It’s just…life.
July 5th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
you should read orna mulcahy in the weekend Irish Times regarding Lidl/Aldi http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/newsfeatures/2008/0705/1215184125643.html
-she copied your article!!! unless you are Orna Mulcahy, that is
July 5th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Lidl or Aldi are great places to chat up hot Polish men. Tall, blond, knowing what to do with a bratwurst.
Yummy.
July 6th, 2008 at 5:22 am
We have Aldi’s here too and it’s so popular. I can’t get my head around the whole throwing my stuff on the conveyer belt and then bagging them up. I’m too unco.
July 7th, 2008 at 12:31 am
mmmmmmmm I’m not there just yet……yet.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Lidl is quite amazing for the weekly shop for under ten euro, except they don’t accept credit cards..Alcopops for 89 cents happy days!