@stephenfarrow In my experience, it started showing up in poor rural communities and was outcompeting the other large grocery chains and Walmart on prices. I don't know if the EU/UK Aldi is very comparable to the USA Aldi, though.

(also I usually see it called "Aldis". Just feels weird to say the name singular.)

Elderly citizens with limited budgets *loved* Aldi in the USA. My grandparents almost exclusively shopped there after they retired from the farm in the 1980s, and I am quite certain they didn't know it was a German grocery chain that showed up in our farming community. It's not like they fly German flags or anything.

Things are changing over the last 10 years though. Aldi is leaving lower income neighborhoods. I think they're getting pushed out by all the Mexican/Latino grocery stores which can be even cheaper.

And absolutely nobody in the USA knows what Lidl is unless they've traveled to Europe.