--- title: Americans love these 2 cheap German grocery chains - The Hustle description: Aldi and Lidl are 2 German grocery chains growing in popularity among US shoppers. It doesn’t hurt that they’re cheap. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/987783760-HS-News-Brief_2022-04-20T025920.740Z.webp --- # Americans love these 2 cheap German grocery chains ![Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) [Juliet Bennett Rylah Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/JBRylah) Published: April 20, 2022 Updated: October 11, 2023 Some stores draw us in with their bougie amenities, like Whole Foods’ [bars](https://la.curbed.com/2015/11/4/9903892/here-it-is-downtown-las-insanely-fancy-new-whole-foods) or Wegmans’ [cheese caves](https://www.wegmans.com/cheese-caves/). ![Americans love these 2 cheap German grocery chains](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/987783760-HS-News-Brief_2022-04-20T025920.740Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=987783760-HS-News-Brief_2022-04-20T025920.740Z.webp) But 2 minimalist German grocers have been growing in the US thanks to their no-frills approach. - **Aldi** has 2k+ stores in the US across 36 states. - **Lidl** has 11.5k+ stores worldwide. It expanded to the US in 2017, where it now operates 150+ locations. In March, Aldi enjoyed an 8% YoY increase in foot traffic, and a 6.1% increase compared to March 2019, [per](https://www.placer.ai/blog/european-grocers-aldi-and-lidl-are-thriving-in-the-us/) location analytics company Placer.ai. During that same period, Lidl saw an 11.9% YoY increase — and a **78.1%** increase compared to March 2019. #### **Why do people love these stores?** They’re cheap! Dunnhumby’s annual US Grocery Retailer Preference Index (RPI) survey found Aldi to be the [cheapest store](https://clark.com/shopping-retail/cheapest-grocery-stores/) (Lidl placed 6th). Its tactics include: - Few brand names — [90%](https://www.businessinsider.com/reasons-why-aldis-groceries-are-so-cheap-2018-3#they-have-a-small-selection-which-means-smaller-stores-2) of its products are private label. - A smaller selection of products, which equals smaller stores. - No fancy displays, just products, thus fewer workers and less time spent [making LaCroix art](https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlysatisfying/comments/ckyk2c/the_way_these_la_croix_boxes_were_stacked_at_a/). - Shopping cart rentals. Customers [pay](https://www.aldi.us/en/about-aldi/faqs/about-aldi/) a 25-cent deposit to unlock a cart, incentivizing them to return it themselves. Lidl has [larger stores](https://www.today.com/food/what-lidl-discount-grocery-store-giving-aldi-run-its-money-t182688), more products, and bakeries. But it still cuts costs via similar thrifty strategies, like selling products straight out of the boxes they came in. And with inflation at a [40-year high](https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/inflation-hits-new-40-year-high-of-8-5-why-prices-keep-climbing/), it’s no surprise these stores are attracting fans. **No, but for real:** Aldi actually has its own [fan club](https://www.aisleofshame.com/) called the Aisle of Shame. Topics: [Food](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/food) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![Holy smokes, there may actually be a limit to Texans’ love of barbecue](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1244337807-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-Texas-BBQ_20230928210924.webp) ### Holy smokes, there may actually be a limit to Texans’ love of barbecue - ![Think your industry is weird? Get a load of the beaded ice cream business](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/908447747-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-dippindots_20231002233115.webp) ### Think your industry is weird? 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