I have three products very close to my heart. One is the laundry products like DiSan. Two is the eye fillet. Three is their clothing. Think cashmere scarves, Merino tops & more Merino tops.
Today I had my first Special Buys sale where I was there for doors open.
It was a day with no furniture, no white goods, no electricals & no electronic gadgets. So I figured it couldn't be all that hard. The goods on offer today included outdoor hiking (shoes, Merino thermals, Merino outers, socks, walkie talkies, first aid kit etc). There were also tracksuit-y pieces and puffa jackets & puffa vests.
My target was the navy short sleeve Merino tee.
WARNING: I was very familiar with media & social media saying these sales are a nightmare. "Feral people" was how one reader described the customers this morning on the Aldi Facebook page. I was familiar with the queues and the lack of social distancing. And no, it's not all the store's fault. I was familiar with no restrictions on quantities purchased. Why should there be, it's not war time? I was familiar that when someone brings a child or an elderly person with them, they may not be acting in that person's best interests. I was familiar that some of the Special Buys act as loss leaders to bring people into the store to buy other stuff. There is no law against this. I was aware that supply doesn't meet demand especially in furniture, white goods, electricals & electronic gadgets. Think long queues & leaving empty handed. It is what it is & that's the Aldi business model & if you don't like it, go to Coles or Woolies.
I think all these issues are just excuses for people including people who didn't get what they came for. Given these issues, I decided to brave the sale anyway & hence not complain when all these things eventuated.
I arrived at 7.45am for an 8.30 start. There were two people there on their phones, sitting on a near by bench. I went & stood at the doors, dead centre. They did not ask me to stand down. So when someone says I was there 20 minutes early & I didn't get my air fryer, I have no tears for them.
The queue was civilised, people were more or less social distancing. By 8am there were about 20 people. Close to 8.30, there were about 50 people. When the doors opened, no one slipped under the gates, no one ran. But they were walking very fast.
I noticed two things. The Asian looking population assaulted the puffa area and the Anglo looking population assaulted the hiking clothing & shoes area. Apart from that, it turned into a shambles.
Within seconds, there were people edge to edge, surrounding the whole Special Buys table perimeter. That's not all. It was 2 people deep. Everywhere. Minimum.
Product was flying in all directions as people were scrambling for their sizes. Lots of people loading up their trolleys but leaving these trolleys along the table edge, so you had to ask them to move it so you could gain access to the hiking widget or whatever. That's rude.
I had no sense that anyone was buying "bulk" to resell. What I noticed was family buying & the mentality of putting heaps in your trolley, then culling/ sorting through it in the grocery section. Then going back to Special Buys to see if you missed anything. This is a round robin of "gather" & "review".
Listen peeps:
Golden rule 1: The first 3 minutes is your opportunity to grab what you need in a reasonably organised manner. Have a helper & a trolley if the items are physically large. Know what you are interested in.
You can also flag an SA down before they open (yes, through the glass) & ask them where approx on the table, the hiking widgets are on the table. If the SA says they don't know, ask them to ask someone who does know. Someone on the other side of the glass will know.
If you are in the gathering phase & you are not sure whether something is suitable, gather it anyway and you can discard it later - if you don't, when you decide you want it, it won't be there. Guaranteed.
Golden rule 2: The next 27 minutes is take no prisoners BEDLAM. You spend more time trying to access stock & work through the crowds than actually looking at the stock.
If you bother arriving after 8.30, dont bother. Go for coffee or go home & return later in the day. It's not just the crowds; it's the fact that the people who got off their butts & queued EARLY would have been in & gotten what you wanted, ahead of you.
Most sane people will gather, review, pay & exit.
The crazy shopping people will gather, review, gather, review, review, review, review, pay & exit. And they will love it.
Golen rule 3: If in doubt about the quality of life during a sale, go back & read Golden rule 1 and Golden rule 2. It is what it is and complaining about the Aldi business model won't change anything. Go hard or go home.
My haul: The black Merino thermal top & the Merino navy short sleeved tee. If I could find my size, I would have bought a back up in the tee. Maybe from another store tomorrow....or maybe there will be some returns at my local.
The photos following are just random snaps taken just after the half hour mark. It had started to quieten down but the stock was a mess.
PS: The following photo shows the lining on the ladies' puffas.
Which I thought was seriously giving me doubt as to whether I would turn up to one of these sales ever again. If anyone has bought these - it's just as well we have different tastes because that's what makes the world go round.
Next week:
On Wednesday there is white furniture on offer and I am sure some people will blame Aldi if they can't furnish their whole home with the stuff. Expect bedlam.
On Saturday there is more white furniture, some electricals and a washer & a dryer. Expect more bedlam.
See you at the next Special Buys opening.
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