[Torwald]

Maybe, but it's not the "biggest natural predator" the one so big it already started to squeeze you out of your habitat by sheer quasi-monopoly power.

Lidl is easier to keep in check. For at least WalMart (it's happening in Europe) and Aldi a fighting them on their home turf.

[zaarn]

Last time Walmart tried to get a position in germany they just failed outright, nobody accepted the Walmart shopping culture here, not even the employees.

[collyw]

What's Wallmart shopping culture?

I seem to remember them from spending time in Mexico 20 years ago. It was just a large supermarket from what I remember. Nothing especially unusual that I can remember.

[eru]

Fish and water I guess?

Look up any of scores of articles that come up when you search for 'How to shop at Aldi?' (like eg https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/aldi-101-how-to-shop-at-aldi/) to see how German shopping culture works.

Oh, and Germans don't like greeters nor people to bag their groceries for them. When they see them, they suspect they could have saved 10 cents going to shop that doesn't have them instead.

(And baggers also violate the German sense of social equality, I guess?)

[collyw]

I am still confused. We have Aldi and Lidl here, they have an unusual selection, but good value for money. I am still missing from what happens at Wallmart that is unusual. I don't remember greeters in the ones I went to in Mexico.

[eru]

I meant, to Germans Aldi and Lidl are the norm. Whatever you found normal at Walmart is unusual in Germany.

[brnt]

I'm also interested. Apart from not unboxing on shelves, Lidl/Aldi are pretty typical European grocers. I wonder what is different in the US. Clumsy paper bags and greeters, what else?

[zaarn]

Shopping carts require 50 cents or 1 euro to be used, customers return them themselves so nobody has to push those around.

Also, Aldi makes great efforts to not change store layout. I think in the past 5 years I shopped at Aldi, the core part of their layout (ie, minus the seasonal offerings and the special offerings) it has only changed once and they changed back to what they had before within a week.

If you need a specific thing from Aldi, you can go in and straight to where you need to go, grab it and checkout.

[collyw]

> Also, Aldi makes great efforts to not change store layout.

Actually I really appreciated that with Lidl moving from Austria to the UK, I knew where things were. (Supermakets shifting their stock around does my head in). The stock seems to be more regionalized over the years so not sure how similar it will be these days.

[brnt]

Well yeah, I am European and I asked what Walmart is like. Your description covers pretty much all European supers I know.

Are you saying Walmart might move the meat section with some frequency? Why wouldnthay be useful?