TRADER JOE’S LESS-LOVED COUSIN MOVING INTO HOUSTON IN A BIG WAY 
Aldi isn’t exactly Trader Joe’s without the hype, but the 2 grocery chains are owned by sister companies from Germany. (Aldi Nord operates 1,200 stores in the U.S., mostly in the eastern half; Trader Joe’s is owned by Aldi Süd) Both of them specialize in private-label products. And they’ll be traveling in some of the same circles too: While Trader Joe’s is opening a measly 3 stores in the Houston area this year, its bigger and cheaper cousin has just announced a much grander Houston-opening gambit (after plans for a store outside Katy’s Oak Park Trails subdivision were met by protests from some neighbors earlier this year). The company now says it plans to invest $100 million to open 30 new Aldi stores in the Houston area over the next 3 years. And at least 10 of them should be open by next spring. There are already 37 Aldis in Texas, mostly near Dallas and Fort Worth. [Instant News Katy; PR Newswire] Photo: Garth Schweizer
Sign up for the Newsletter
Do they sell any organic products?? I couldn’t find a single organic item at Joe V’s.
Please put one the 77018 zip. I am sick of stadnding in line at Kroger!
The article sites 400 jobs for 30 stores. This should be in keeping with what we know their staffing practices to be. Although the hourly wage is higher than some other comparable jobs,the employees are all classified as exempt so no overtime can be paid and they schedule them for only 20-30 hours per week. So 13 employees per store – just enough to staff with 2-3 employees per shift for two shifts per day x 7 days a week. Yep – that’s the norm for these Aldi folks.
Aldi is also bag your own, cash or debit card only, which also helps to keep staff levels low.
You’re confusing joe v’s with trader joes. Not the same at all. Joe v’s is like a wholesale HEB – cash only – you won’t find organics there.
Please put an Aldi in the EaDo or East End areas. We desperately need more grocery store options out here!!
Tsk, Tsk! Having the same parents makes Aldi and TJ’s siblings, not cousins!
I can’t wait for Aldi. Hope they open one in Greenspoint. The Kroger there is terrible and the only other option is Walmart which isn’t any better. Shopped at Aldi all the time when I lived up north. By far the best place to stock up on off-brand groceries for super cheap (and I mean super cheap). Always had to carry my own bags to shop there; They sell paper and heavy duty plastic bags, or you’re free to use their empty boxes. Lines are usually long at the checkouts but their checkers are super fast and move the line quick. Also, be sure you bring a quarter. Their shopping carts are corralled by the entrance and take a quarter to unlatch. You get the quarter back once you load up your car and bring your cart back.
Why would somebody protest a store opening near their neighborhood? People are bizarre.
Also, organic foods are a scam and are bad for the environment and bad for humanity. Don’t buy them.
Spoonman, I don’t get the whole idea of protesting a grocery store either. When you consider how many neighborhoods in Houston don’t have grocery stores nearby or at all, the protest in Katy seems a bit silly. I don’t know if the fact that the store was going to be an Aldi’s factored into upsetting the folks, might have been increased traffic congestion for all I know.
It’s about time! I love Aldi!
Ashby
Awty
Audi
Aldi
As for the Aldi Germanic invasion, cheaper is not better–please stay away from Montrose.
Note to Eddie: The Eastwood area needs a decent full-line grocery store where one can do weekly shopping, not something like Aldi with its severely edited inventory!
There is a decent size movement to keep Joe V out of the Fondren South West area right where the old movie theater use to be at West Bellfort & Braseridge here is the link to the story http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?referral=other&pnum=&refresh=2Fp0n1Y5Qx31&EID=583efef1-6f71-4ab2-8ac0-57a3c105f205&skip=true
Brian D, thanks for the link to the story. So HEB will only build a low end store in the Bellfort/Braseridge area due to the “income of area residents”. I wonder if this is the same reason HEB does not put a store in the Heights? Whole Foods appears to have discovered a market with a high income level at their new location on Waugh.
My experience regarding Trader Joe’s (T.J)has always been very positive. My son introduced me to the store when I visited Los Angeles. The larger stores have a wide selection of organic products and a fair selection of domestic and foreign wines. Above all, customer service was superior to any other market here. Yes, I like the HEB stores in the Spring-Woodlands area, but they can’t touch the quality and low prices of T.J. It’s rather amusing to see people who offer robust support to free enterprise and competition come unglued when a German company comes to Texas and kicks butt. “Trader Joe’s uber alles.”