ALDI Pembroke Pines opens Thursday, December 9

Good news for the folks in southern Broward and Miami-Dade counties in Florida - ALDI in Pembroke Pines opens on Thursday, December 9! The address is 11330 Pines Blvd.

It joins its sister stores in Deerfield Beach and Lauderdale Lakes, which opened in November. Here's a list of ALDI stores opening in 2011.

For those of you who are new to ALDI shopping, here are some pointers:

• Bring a quarter - you have to rent your cart, as you would with an airport luggage carrier. 
• Bring cloth bags, too - you have to bag your own groceries.  Plastic and paper bags are available for a fee.  Bring more bags than you expect to use - sometimes you'll find an incredible bargain at ALDI, like when I got bread for 25¢.
• ALDI has the basic groceries, but not a lot of variety.  Expect basic versions and flavors of canned and boxed food.  
• ALDI carries their own house brands, so don't bring coupons.
• There is no butcher (but there is prepackaged meat) or bakery (but there is prepackaged breads and cakes).  There is produce, but the selection is limited.
• Most items are less than the regular grocery or discount store price, but not always.  Check my CVS vs. ALDI and Walmart vs. ALDI posts.
• Milk and eggs are the cheapest in South Florida - at the Deerfield Beach store, milk is $1.99 per gallon and eggs are 69¢ per dozen.  In my mind, it's definitely worth a weekly stop just for these two items.
• Come back to Frugal Follies often for more news about ALDI deals!