The German-based Aldi supermarket chain celebrated the debut of its first Brooklyn franchise inside Nostrand Avenue’s old Pathmark building on Thursday, where a line of early bird shoppers stretched around the block to get the scoop on Sheepshead Bay’s newest grocery store —and maybe some generic-brand ice cream.
“It was a mad house yesterday,” said Sheepshead Bay resident Tammy Hynes. “But I don’t have any complaints.”
Once the doors opened at 9 am, shoppers were greeted with a clean — if crowded — grocery store. Aldi occupies about half the floor space of the Pathmark it replaces.
Be that as it may, the selection wasn’t bad, according to Hynes.
“It didn’t seem to be lacking anything,” she said. “I found everything I needed.”
And Sheepshead Bay shopping experts agreed that the new store has some awfully nice prices.
“I’ll be going back,” said Laura Schwartz. “Their prices are very reasonable and their stuff is good.”
For some shoppers, Aldi’s stock — mostly generic-brand products — may take some getting used to despite the low prices.
“Key Food’s much more expensive,” said shopper Ann Frubell. “But I’m not used to the non-brand names.”
Shoppers say these Germans have pretty much everything figured out, including how to cut down on shoppers fleeing with ill-gotten carts.
“You have to pay a quarter to get the cart, and you get a quarter back when you return it, but that’s a good thing,” said Schwartz. “People will think twice about taking them.”
Either way, most shoppers said they’ll be back — one of them’s already come back for more.
“I love it,” said Hynes on the phone, a day after she attended the grocery store’s grand opening. “In fact, I’m there now. I came back already.”
Reach reporter Colin Mixson at cmixson@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4514.
