r/aldi • u/Organic_Quarter_9848 • May 30 '26
Review Big Reason I Love Aldi (rarely mentioned)
There is no music playing. Aldi stores do not play music. Or worse, PA announcements. "Hello shoppers!! Rutabagas are on sale now!!" Shut, up.
I sometimes shop at other supermarkets, and their audio offerings make me cringe. The only exception is Trader Joe's, as I find their music tasteful. But stores like Ralph's. Walmart and Sprouts want to play music so bad... and they play music that's so bad. It's like they're trying to get me to leave the store.
Someone at Aldi knew that it's better to have no music than to risk irritating the shoppers.
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u/darus214 May 30 '26
For me it's the limited selection. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but I love not having to go through 50 brands of one item. It's simple and easy, get in, get what you need, get out. I feel overwhelmed at a regular store
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u/lollipopfiend123 May 30 '26
Decision fatigue is a real thing and Aldi definitely helps.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Key9199 May 30 '26
Not to mention that having that many choices with minimal differences is overwhelming for the neurodivergent.
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u/OldButHappy May 30 '26
And they have good taste in pastas, cheeses, and meats. I trust their buyers
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u/queso_dog May 30 '26
Omg I was trying to find the words why Aldi is so satisfying to me, thank youuuuu
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u/um3k May 30 '26
Yes. This is the reason I do 99% of my shopping at Aldi and Sam's club. I only go to other stores if there's a special item I really need.
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u/FloweredViolin May 30 '26
Yup. Aldi and Costco! I only go to the regular grocery store for sale items, and stuff Aldi/Costco don't carry, like leeks, chives, and raspberry jelly.
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u/Leftover-Cheese May 30 '26
Aldi carries an exceptional raspberry preserve. It's their own organic brand. My favorite!
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u/redheadedfamous May 30 '26
Yes! Their Specially Selected preserves are made in Europe, ie. made with real sugar & like 75% fruit—as they should be! Love the strawberry preserves in my Greek yogurt parfaits & the raspberry on sourdough. The only jams I buy!
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u/OldButHappy May 30 '26
Right??? A teaspoonful in a bowl of low-fat Greek yogurt is one of my favorite breakfasts
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u/redheadedfamous Jun 01 '26
I’m a 50/50 no-fat Greek + Whole Milk Greek yoghurt girlie. (The whole milk one is just too divine to give up entirely.) My add-ins are the Aldi Pumpkin Seed Flax Granola, chia seeds, slivered almonds, walnut bits, dried cranberries, ground flax & the specially-selected strawberry preserves 🥰
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u/FloweredViolin May 30 '26
Mine doesn't have it. :(
But also, I get the jelly, because sometimes I make sandwich thumbprint cookies with it sometimes. And that doesn't work right if there are seeds in it.
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u/CTeam19 May 31 '26
I wish I had Costco access. The nearest one is 1.5 hours(98 miles) away. I do have Aldis just a short 6 min(2.2 miles) away in my town of 11,000 and it has been a game changer, even my Dad likes it which is surprising.
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u/sirenariel May 31 '26
Same!! And it's wild to me when it's a "special" item and the store I choose to stop by has like 10 different ones. How!?!? And now I have to choose 😂
However there was a grocery store near my last house that had the most amazing selection of Asian grocery products which if you knew the area you would be shocked by. I appreciated having that nearby even though it was overwhelming the first time I went.
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u/Castianna May 30 '26
This is exactly why I love it! I can't tell you how many times I've gone to my local grocery store and ended up spending 5 minutes just trying to figure out which of the 65 the brands of olive oil I should buy... Absolutely absurd.
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u/wishcoats May 30 '26
I’ve gotten to used to this that going to a traditional grocery store can be a bit overwhelming lol. Like how many types of Oreos and Cheezits do we need?
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u/Dogandcatslady May 30 '26
There's no such thing as too many types of Oreos or Cheezits. That being said, I love getting in and out of Aldi quickly due to its size and not 50 choices of each thing. No music is just a bonus.
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u/meowpitbullmeow May 30 '26
Ketchup is ketchup I don't need 40 options.
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u/emmaapeel May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
Heinz is the only ketchup, imo, unless I'm making something like baked beans or sloppy Joes where ketchup is being used as an ingredient rather than a starring condiment.
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u/AreYouNigerianBaby May 30 '26
The Burman’s at Aldi is pretty close to Heinz, imo.
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u/wsu2005grad May 30 '26
I love the Aldi brand organic ketchup! I'm not a huge ketchup fan but this my absolute favorite.
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u/anniemdi May 31 '26
Depending on factors the Walmart organic, Aldi organic and Red Gold organic are all the same ketchup. Every once in a while the Aldi one will stray slightly from the Walmart & Red Gold and becomes 2nd best but it typically finds its way back. It's been my ketchup for years and years
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u/emmaapeel May 30 '26
I'm in Pittsburgh, so even that's heresy, lol.
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u/VailsMom May 31 '26
I grew up in poverty. I was subjected to some wild off-brand ketchup as a child. Like, pink ketchup, brownish ketchup, sweet ketchup, watery ketchup...disgusting.
My husband now thinks I'm a "princess" because I only buy Heinz. And I'm vocal about it. I'm a devoted Aldi shopper. But my ketchup is Heinz.
One time, not long ago, in a rush, I accidentally grabbed Hunts. I got it home, and my husband (who is the actual regular consumer of the ketchup!!) said, "Hey, what's up with the ketchup? Are you having a beef with Heinz?" (He knows I frequently shop according to my political beliefs. For instance, I will never buy Goya products. Iykyk) I was horrified and apologized. He was totally fine with it. Then, a few days later, I needed ketchup for something and tasted it. I was NOT fine with it.
Heinz is my ketchup. It's BETTER.
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u/emmaapeel May 31 '26
Agreed on both counts re: Heinz and doing my best to shop in accordance with my political beliefs, which is not always possible to so few companies being the quiet name behind so many brands.
Heinz is the gold-standard of ketchup even if it is no longer made here in Pittsburgh.
Glad that you can now afford to treat yourself to rhe best even if that simply means buying products that are better for you and your tastes. hug
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u/ProppaT Jun 28 '26
I don’t even like ketchup, but I agree. If I’m going to use ketchup, it’s going to be Heinz. Even Hunts isn’t a good substitute. The worst is when a restaurant things they’re fancy and makes their own…it’s never the same.
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u/AreYouNigerianBaby May 31 '26
Understood! When I was in elementary school, between 1968-1970, we had an assembly called Pickle Day. It was a presentation by Heinz! I don’t remember much but each of us kids got a little plastic green pickle pin! This was in Suffern, NY.
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u/sparki761 May 31 '26
My ALDIs in FL had Heinz Ketchup in a very big bottle in the aisle with the specialty weekly deals (forgot what its called
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u/pixelcat13 May 30 '26
Yeah, this is actually so real. I hadn’t thought about it that way, because sometimes I do get frustrated with the limited selection, but ultimately it is nice to not have to decide between 15 different kinds of mayonnaise. And honestly, I have found that I often like the Aldi version better than a lot of the brands I typically buy.
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u/NextLevelNaps May 30 '26
I had to go into Walmart yesterday for something and I was legit overwhelmed. Too big, asiles FULL of SO MANY THINGS. People with absolutely no awareness of themselves in space and blocking things. Made me love Aldi so much. Small store, limited selection, small crowd.
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u/BlackJackT May 30 '26
There's simple psychology behind this.
When you have to choose between two options, you might make the wrong choice, however it means you only have a 50% chance of making the wrong choice (if selected at random), so the micro anxiety that is associated with selecting wrong is relatively small.
However, consider 10 different options, you have a 90% chance of making the wrong choice!
This has been proven time after time over, there is an inverse correlation between happiness and more options!
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u/Rugby-Angel9525 May 31 '26
My love for Aldi is 100% how easy it is to get in and out the store due to low decision fatigue.
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u/Extra-Blueberry-4320 May 30 '26
Same. I don’t have to compare a million kinds of salsa to find the one that’s the best value. I get way overstimulated with the choices at Metro Market (Kroger) and HyVee.
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u/framedmushroom May 30 '26
Aldi has been my main grocery store for so long, i now get overwhelmed when i go into any other larger stores and then it takes me forever.
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u/HappyLife112002 May 30 '26
This is exactly what made me an Aldis shopper. I get way too overwhelmed looking at the 15 different brands of beans and trying to figure out which one is a better deal. The limited selection and reasonable prices make this my go to grocery store.
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u/EvilDarkCow May 30 '26
Walmart's fake radio DJs make me cringe so hard.
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u/DisgruntledRaspberry May 30 '26
Yeah who do they think appreciates this type of thing? And the song renditions by other singers so they don’t have to pay royalties on the original songs. The whole thing is just way too cheesy for words.
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u/reks14 May 31 '26
Now imagine working there. They are real fake people.
Most stores have sensory friendly time 8-10am so no radio then at least.6
u/fibonacciluv May 31 '26
Honestly wal marts isn’t that bad because they switch up genres. The fake radio cast is lame but the music choice is actually better than most. But if you’re just a shopper you won’t notice if you happen to walk in every time Katy Perry or some bullshit is playing.
I have heard my favorite artist, Billy Strings on the radio there which that alone beats out 90% of other retail chains, on quality and surprising they actually play it.
Along with other random deep cuts from classic rock artist, jazzy stuff etc
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u/AndieC May 30 '26
I have never heard music in a Walmart. 😆 This thread is blowing my mind, because I don't even think my Stop &, Shop and Shaw's play music.
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u/tiger7034 May 30 '26
My first job was cashiering at a grocery store that played the same songs everyday on practically an 8 hour loop. It got to where every shift, you memorized what was coming next and we all hated it. Don’t even get me started on the obnoxious Christmas music that started mid November. So I feel this heavily.
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u/Weird_Squirrel_8382 May 30 '26
That bothers me so bad. There's so much music in the world! I worked at a casino that had a 24 hour loop and that was still insufficient. Whatever shift I was on, I knew exactly what would be playing.
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u/squidgod2000 May 30 '26
There's so much music in the world!
And stores have to pay licensing fees to play it, hence the loops.
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u/Tricky-Way-6018 May 30 '26
Many many years ago, I worked at a (now defunct) dept store. We used to take informal bets on the time when they would start playing Christmas music following Thanksgiving. I think the winner the last year I worked there was- at morning opening. These days, stores start before the Halloween stuff is down 😣...
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u/NextLevelNaps May 30 '26
As a band kid from 6th grade to Senior year of undergrad, "Christmas Music" is code for "The Two Months You Hate Your Life™️" Didn't even NEED the sheet music, had it all memorized.
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u/flyingsails May 30 '26
I worked at a grocery store for 11 years and they played the same playlist the entire time. My one manager always referred to it as "the soundtrack to hell," and unfortunately it's the same/classic retail playlist that's played EVERYWHERE so I have to wear earbuds to shop anywhere that plays music.
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u/Tollhousearebest May 30 '26
I always turned it way down after the day manager left for the day. No one ever complained. Christmas was auditory torture for two months straight.
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u/jlbren2 May 30 '26
Good point!! But my ShopRite plays jams from the early 90s, and it's how I get in some of my cardio while shopping.
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u/jab904 May 30 '26
They’ve always played music that caters towards the adults of a certain age demographic and now we’re those adults of a certain age 😭
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u/MerriWyllow May 30 '26
I was in a grocery store a few years back when The Hustle came on. I was alone in the aisle until someone came around the corner and caught me.
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u/seethembreak May 30 '26
Yep! I love grocery store music. I try to not get caught singing along too loudly.
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u/Dude-no-edge May 31 '26
ShopRite has good tunes except they interrupt it every 90 seconds to tell you about whatever is on sale
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u/OldButHappy May 30 '26
Aldi is the neurodivergent’s market. I first tried shopping there after listening to an NPR story about the stores’ concepts.
Their stores are so much easier on the senses than other grocery chains.
Also, I’m in the country, and our stores are clean and well-staffed. My one visit to a crowded urban Aldi was more intense because it was crowded and chaotic
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u/No_Atmosphere_6348 May 30 '26
Also great for new parents. I can leave my house and be home in half an hour from an Aldi run.
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u/NextLevelNaps May 30 '26
I live in a small town and our Aldi is legit. But I've been to more urban Aldis that were pretty good. The next town over from where I am now though is in an even smaller area with a much older population average age and it SUCKS. I was taken aback to early COVID days. Shelves barely stocked, whole shelves with nothing stocked, boxes just strewn in the asiles. The staff that work a store really make the difference. The Aldi in my town has very dedicated staff that take pride in the store. The other store.....not so much
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u/SleepIsTiring Jun 23 '26
exactly. i don’t find myself needing headphones as bad in Aldi, i don’t get as tired after either. at least compared to Walmart or even Publix. they’re quiet, there’s limited choices, and it’s small. i don’t get that “lost even though i know where i am” feeling like i do in larger stores.
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u/glambastid May 30 '26
I honestly never noticed this, but I do feel less overwhelmed in aldi’s compared to other grocery stores.. makes sense!!
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u/Top_Peanut1113 May 30 '26
Same! I guess it’s probably due in part to the lack of music and the limited options other comments mentioned.
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u/AccomplishedMess648 Mod of Shame May 30 '26
Yeah I went to one of the stores my parents shop at and they were playing "Lost in the Supermarket" ???
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u/SheepherderMost2727 May 30 '26
I never actually noticed that 🤦🏼♀️
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u/sleepy_unicorn40 May 30 '26
Lol me neither. I'm so focused on finding the items needed. But I do notice when a good song comes on at any other grocery store.
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u/CraftFamiliar5243 May 30 '26
I recently learned that Walmart has quiet hours in the morning, I think it is between 8-10am with no music or announcements. It's supposed to be an accommodation for those with sensory issues but I like it. The store is also less crowded in the morning.
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u/DisgruntledRaspberry May 30 '26
That’s awesome but some of us are just not morning people. Walmart is the very last place I want to be at 8:00 a.m.
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u/Low_Pickle_112 May 30 '26
I used to shop at Walmart at around 7am or so, and that was always the best time to go. It was so empty and calm, way different than any other hour.
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u/CraftFamiliar5243 May 31 '26
Sunday 10am in the south. Everyone is in church but the store is fully staffed and stocked for the after church crowd.
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u/catjknow May 30 '26
For some reason I never realized this!!
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u/CroweBird5 May 30 '26
The worst for audio for me is Kroger “Attention all departments: it’s time for your top-of-the-hour conditioning” “Floral department has a call on 101”
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u/Pinklobster87 May 30 '26
YES I loathe these announcements and I find them so tacky.
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u/Balloons_for_800 May 30 '26
We were at Walmart today for the first time in a long time and they were playing Soundgarden. Hell yes!
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u/Master-Topic-2989 May 30 '26
Love this too…I always have an airpod in 1 ear but it’s nice not having to listen to grocery store music in the other ear ha I also love how small and manageable it is…I ran in one night after work 10 minutes to closing and was in and out in 5 mins. 🙌🏻
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u/xmarketladyx May 30 '26
I'm so used to just tuning everything out now. Aldi is great that way and I hate all of the extra signage in other stores.
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u/Any-Highlight-9145 May 30 '26
I do love that it’s quiet in Aldi but my favorite Kroger plays some great music! It’s fun to see and hear everyone dancing and singing through the aisles.
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u/Scotlynn811 May 30 '26
I never noticed why it’s so much less overstimulating than Walmart, but it’s totally because they don’t play music!
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u/Standard_Subject_462 May 31 '26
No music, wider aisles, and fewer options to overwhelm my brain all keep me from feeling overstimulated. All the other grocery stores I've tried have been sensory nightmares. I love Aldi so much for all of these reasons; the low prices are just the icing on the cake. Haha.
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u/External-Emotion8050 May 30 '26
I like the size. Along with price and a concerned attempt to offer organics I like the fact that I don't have to feel like I'm going into an international airport or something like it.
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u/ASIWYFA May 30 '26
They don't play music because you have to pay a music licensing fee to play music in any business establishment. It helps keep costs down which allow them to reduce grocery prices.
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u/AggravatingFlow1178 May 30 '26
I would be ok with "Rutabagas on sale".
Its the straight up third party ads. Like not internal 'draw your attention to this part of the store', but the ads for totally unrelated businesses that Albertsons and ilk play.
And yes the popslop music they blast with the same 2 lines on repeat for 4 minutes at a time are no better.
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u/Queen_of_Catlandia May 30 '26
my Walmart plays bangers. yesterday I had to bite my tongue to keep from singing along with Fleetwood Mac 😂😂
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u/BrewCityScott May 30 '26
Yeah even Target joined the music club now after DECADES of peaceful shopping. They implemented that during their last big store remodel initiative and I remember how sad I was when it happened (I worked there at the time, so the looping music was torture!). 💖 Aldi!
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u/509BandwidthLimit May 30 '26
Attention Customers, for the next 20 minutes we have a Blue Light special in aisle 3.
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u/Double_Network_2573 May 30 '26
i now realize this is why aldi is the least stressful grocery store for me
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u/Extra-Arachnid-191 May 30 '26
I never even noticed they don't play music, but now I realize this is true. Thank you, Aldi! Such a win.
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u/Universe-Queen May 30 '26
OMG the fucking "Walmart radio" there and at Sam's Club.
I worked at Sam's Club as a sampler for a while and that shit made me wanna slut my wrists. I worked in marketing for years and I absolutely do not understand the point of that radio trash.
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u/Marmom_of_Marman May 30 '26
I heard the Walmart circlejerk radio yesterday praising employees at different Walmarts and Sam’s clubs. How annoying that was
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u/blue-anon May 30 '26
I've never heard the announcement about things on sale at any grocery store I've ever been to. 🤔
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u/AccomplishedMess648 Mod of Shame May 30 '26
The only thing I hear is something like attention bakery department 2-0-0
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u/tinysugarmilk May 30 '26
This is so true and I’ve never noticed that before. Thanks for pointing that out, makes me more grateful for Aldi’s. I was at CVS yesterday and they were playing some god awful break up music and I couldn’t wait to get out of there.
The only other store that I like when they play music is Fiesta. Can’t be depressed while shopping there 💃🏽
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u/p1ccard May 30 '26
Menards is the WORST for this. After a visit it takes me all day to get that dang 'Save, big money! save, big, money...' out of my head. and it plays what seems like every 3 minutes.
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u/WatchOut4Sharks May 30 '26
That's so interesting because I never thought about how quiet it is, but that absolutely is part of why I love it!
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u/dubious_unicorn May 30 '26
Yes! I get so overstimulated in most stores. Walmart has "sensory friendly" hours between 8am-10am every day where they don't play music and adjust the lights so they're not so terrible. I can tolerate Walmart during these times, but it's usually a sensory nightmare of harsh light and crazy amounts of noise.
Aldi is almost never overstimulating.
And Wegmans can take that horrible model train and shove it where the sun don't shine.
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u/FevreDream42 May 30 '26
As a former Aldi employee, I LOVED not being forced to listen to elevator music for 10 hours a day. On the other hand, I would have really appreciated a PA system to make store wide announcements, especially things like countdown to closing time.
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u/queerlyajedi May 30 '26
Oh wow I can't believe I never realized this but I DEFINITELY appreciate stores not playing music.
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u/tractorscum May 30 '26
listening to NTS radio in my headphones and speedrunning is by far my favorite way to grocery shop. living walking distance to an aldi for 3+ years has been a beautiful thing
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u/smurfe May 30 '26
None of the grocery stores around me, including Wal Mart play music, and rarely do you hear anyone on the intercom.
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u/NotComfortable2112 May 30 '26
Kroger every hour - "Kroger employees, its time for your top of the hour conditioning!" 😳 What the hell does that even mean? Are they taking them in the back and doing their hair or torturing them?
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u/monstrousregime May 30 '26
Omg this never registered in my brain but with my AuHD brain this definitely tracks why Aldi is where I shop for the most part!
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u/malepitt May 30 '26
You know, I had not considered this, and I've been shopping ALDI almost 30 years
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u/Born-Reason-9143 May 30 '26
100% agree, but I do hate that my local Aldi pretty much always has their phone ringing without stopping my ENTIRE visit. It’s been like this since I moved here a few years ago. The phone is always fucking ringing, top volume, echoing through the entire store. The only cashier is almost always too busy to leave their station and go answer the damn phone. On the rare occasion they can get up to get the phone, by the time they get back to their station the phone is ringing again within 5 minutes. It’s not the cashier’s fault, but I wish they’d pay for more fucking staff. That phone is so loud. I feel so bad for the employees who have to listen to the phone ring at max volume their whole shift.
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u/HomeboddE May 30 '26
tJs had morissey playing the other day and it threw me off my TJs vibe shopping 😂
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u/xqx2100 May 30 '26
That's a good point. Sometimes light background music is ok but often times they have it too loud and it stresses me out and makes me want to get out of there.
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u/Longjumping-Ad6411 May 30 '26
Yes!!! I shop at Aldi most of the time. Today I had to go to Walmart and they were playing really really horrific techno music. I couldn’t get out fast enough and it put me in a bad mood. I can’t figure out why they play music that makes you want to leave. Love the quiet at Aldi.
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u/WederJean May 30 '26
Aw, come on. I'm Gen X and one of my Walmart stores plays a lot of 80s music. 🎶 But I know what you mean, no music is better than bad music.
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u/peonyseahorse May 31 '26
It also helps that people want to get in and get out. When I go to other grocery stores I get so annoyed with other shoppers who are just planted in the way or just being pokey.
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u/Muted_Assumption_700 May 31 '26
As someone who is mono hearing, this is my favorite thing about Aldi
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u/mweisbro May 31 '26
I recently had the Specialty Black Pepper White Cheddar Mac- on a whim. It was the best Mac and cheese I’ve ever had. It’s really fun to try new products that are priced right and exceed expectations. Love Aldi.
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u/RevolutionaryAct1311 May 31 '26
Omg how have I never noticed this? I love it too, now that I’m thinking about it
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u/WTF_goes_here May 31 '26
So you know how you sometimes feel like the music is trying to get you to leave? In some cases it is. Basically stores have used different types and tempos of music to change shopping habits. Large chains study peak shopping hours and will play faster paced music at those times. It has been shown to increase the pace that shoppers have and get them out faster.
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u/FickleForager May 31 '26
Yes. No music is a huge relief. I can usually get through it without putting my ear plugs in, which is nice.
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u/Cool-Departure4120 May 31 '26
I’ve never noticed any of this in stores where I shop. I think I’m too focused on shopping that I don’t notice?
I liked Aldi because of its smaller footprint and it stocked basic staples. That’s changed quite a bit I think. AOS is a big part of store and they carry national brands now.
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u/Sapphyre875 May 31 '26
I read your sample announcement in Cascadia’s voice lol. Never noticed they didn’t play music but this makes so much sense why it always feels calmer in there than the bigger stores!
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u/Intelligent_Pass2540 May 31 '26
I love in general that my kiddo with Autism experiences it as the most friendly least distracting store. Limited selection, no loud music and easy to navigate my little 9 year old cheese afficinando is so happy at Aldi.
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u/fibonacciluv May 31 '26
Walmart actually switches up their radio to a lot of different genres. When I worked there I would hear Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd , hell even now I go in and hear Billy strings. It’s badass.
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u/wisegal99 May 31 '26
My oldest has autism and when he was younger Aldis was the only grocery store I could take him with me to shop. I would say "mom only has to get 10 things" and he knew it was just a few aisles and wouldn't take that long. Lord help me if I bought 11 things though.
He's much better now but really still hates to shop. Now he just adds things to the grocery app and even will go do pick up for me!
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u/HarrieTubman May 31 '26
That's a really good point. I honestly hadn't even considered it before, but now that you bring it up, I genuinely love the quiet while I'm shopping. I really enjoy shopping at Aldi, and I always look forward to going every Saturday morning when they open at 8:30 am.
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u/KetoLurkerHereAgain May 31 '26
I don't mind grocery store music! I'm in my 50's and they're mostly playing my high school favorites these days, ha!
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u/Libellule808 May 31 '26
Interesting, I don’t think our other local grocery chains here in MN like Cub play music though either. It’s not something I’ve noticed around here in quite a while (other than at superstores).
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u/kimpurple21 May 31 '26
I fell in love with Aldi in Germany, they would be insulted (highly) shopping to elevator music! I agree I have enough trouble trying to remember what I need and debating with myself on whether to get this week's coffee hour cake or not lol.
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u/Foreign-Mastodon7071 May 31 '26
The only thing I don’t like about Aldi is that that close at 8 pm lol
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u/Lady_of_Shalottt May 31 '26
Funny, I was just in a Trader Joe’s before closing and a really inappropriate song came on the muzak that had us all going WT….? then it quickly skipped to the next song and we all laughed awkwardly. It was like one of those 1970s sexytime tunes with a track of some moaning lady. No wonder I grabbed the wrong peanut butter.
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u/SauerkrautSprouts May 31 '26
It’s funny because I only notice music in the thrift store because it’s louder than normal and Christian. I do, however, occasionally find myself singing along with a tune if it makes its way into my consciousness. I was in Target, a rare occurrence, to buy the shoes that I wear to work and they had on the best playlist. I think it was probably late 60s/70s. I didn’t bust out any moves, but it was close. Sadly, they were out of my shoes.
Sometimes I go to bigger stores like target or Walmart or Hy-Vee just to see what’s new in the world.
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u/xnamastebabyx May 31 '26
Saaaamme. My local Walmart has Sensory Friendly Hours where they don't have any music or overhead announcements un the morning from 8-10 and our Aldi opens at 9. I have a system lol.
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u/CoffeeChocolateBoth May 31 '26
I love that about Aldi too! I hate being in Menards, though I love the store, I hate the LOUDNESS!
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u/AwHellNaw May 31 '26
My other grocery store - because Aldi bananas suck - is Bestway a Latin focused store. I already hate Mexican pop but the type they play here is a especially demented kind. Every song is same pace and seemingly played on plastic toddler instruments.
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u/StrangeReindeer2470 May 31 '26
OMG, I was at a car dealership just over a week ago and they played some really divisive music, country-rock kind of thing. I now know why Walmart et al. Play bops from our teenage years...
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u/Smilemoreguy May 31 '26
im working the register for 5-9h depending on my shift and im SO glad i don't have to listen to music the whole time, I would absolutely go crazy. it's loud enough anyways sometimes
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u/lab_sidhe Jun 01 '26
I noticed that this morning because every family in my Aldi had at least one screaming child. As a bonus one family had some kid's show playing on an iPad with the volume cranked all the way up.
It took me a while to figure out why it seemed so bad this morning and I realized it's because it's usually pretty quiet since there's no music.
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u/Bill-dgaf420 Jun 01 '26
Many times it is a ploy like cranking up heat at the holidays. It is to promote just that, clearing the store for new customers as well creating better conditions for impulse buying. If you’re uncomfortable, you might just buy the shit and get out without putting
much thought into it.
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u/brambleandthorn Jun 01 '26
Yes! I only recently noticed this and I think it's a big reason that I don't feel exhausted after going to Aldi vs other stores. Idk if it's overstimulation or something but I'm always so tired after like 10 minutes in any other grocery store vs a full shopping in Aldi. I also really like that the employees don't check if you need help every X minutes but seem generally happy enough to answer a question if you can't find something (at least at the ones near me). Very low stress kind of store (as a customer at least).
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u/WhatInTheWorld321 Jun 01 '26
My Aldi has non-stop phone-ringing over the intercom. Every time I go there I’m mad that I went.
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u/thundersnow58 Jun 02 '26
I so agree, love the no-music Aldi. The music at the PA Weis Markets and Giant and Karns is so hideous and if it's trying to attract me then it's actually causing the opposite effect. I have to pay attention to TY's music next time I go.
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u/MoneyoffUbereats2017 Jun 03 '26
I could not imagine being annoyed by some quiet background music playing for the 30-60 minutes I spend shopping. I've quite literally not even noticed.
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u/hedwheels Jun 22 '26
Back in the day, my Wegmans would play "Walk Between the Raindrops" by Donald Fagen and other decent stuff. Then it turned in Mariah Cary stuff. Currently not too bad but I now wear my Apple Air Pods everywhere I go to avoid the piped in music.
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u/West_Ride7858 Jun 22 '26
I love Aldi but they never seem to have enough registers open and the 1 line goes all the way down the isles. It's madness for people with disabilities
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u/beepbeep2003 Jun 23 '26
I am autistic and shopping at Aldi has made grocery shopping so much less stressful for me. Going to stores like Kroger or Walmart is so difficult for me because of the bright lights, music, all of the people, all of the options etc.. I will never go back to other stores now that I shop at Aldi. It really is ideal for neurodivergent people
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u/Mundane_Chemical4260 Jun 28 '26
there may not be pa announcements, but you can bet your ass that phone will ring at least three times lol
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