> ... I can't help hating those stores. It all looks so cheap and barebones that I get depressed just being there.
Then why go there? Normally, you enter most stores by choice, so after a couple of (negative) experiences, just stop visiting them.
Can't speak for all Aldi and Lidl stores (not even in all of The Netherlands), but in my hometown a new Lidl store is actually better than just looking cheap and barebones. Wide aisles (sp?), less garbage of empty boxes and packaging material, friendly staff, great parking space. And still you're not paying for additional services and special/luxury items (which aren't there).
Sure, and I don't go there. But why can't I still hate them? Does me having a choice mean that I should like them. I hate opera too, and I don't go watching opera either. But am I required to like it because I am not forced to go there?
Anyway in Germany there is not much of a choice whether to enter Lidl or Aldi as they are everywhere and there seems to be little else.
I've lived several years in the Netherlands btw and I really like Albert Heijn. That is more like my kind of store. The Aldi I went to in the Netherlands wasn't actually that bad.
In fact it sort of bothered me that Germany wasn't more like the Netherlands in shopping experience. Germany seems so ultra focused on cheap, plain and efficient.
You're free to hate them, although I personally choose not to hate anything in my life. Life's just too short for that. My "Then why go there?" was a response to your "I get depressed just being there", not to your hate.
Indeed, Albert Heijn has great shops. The have a much greater variety in their products across the board, stock more luxury/expensive items (that Aldi/Lidl simply don't sell) and likely have a higher margin on these to cover for the additional costs of a more luxurious shopping experience and additional services (their free magazines, online shopping platform, apps with recipes, parcel pickup service from bol.com).
BTW, Albert Heijn is still the largest chain of supermarkets in NL, but Jumbo is catching up quickly. You should try them, once you visit NL again.
> Anyway in Germany there is not much of a choice whether to enter Lidl or Aldi as they are everywhere and there seems to be little else.
There is a lot else. Germany's supermarket market (heh) is divided between five corporations for the largest part: Aldi, Schwarz (Lidl/Kaufland), Edeka (Netto/Edeka/Marktkauf/Tengelmann), Metro (Real), Rewe (Penny/Rewe/Nahkauf).
I would like to have more competition on the market, but it's far from just Aldi and Lidl. Most corporations have at least one discounter brand (Aldi, Lidl, Netto, Penny) and one regular supermarket brand (Kaufland, Edeka, Real, Rewe etc.).
Then why go there? Normally, you enter most stores by choice, so after a couple of (negative) experiences, just stop visiting them.
Can't speak for all Aldi and Lidl stores (not even in all of The Netherlands), but in my hometown a new Lidl store is actually better than just looking cheap and barebones. Wide aisles (sp?), less garbage of empty boxes and packaging material, friendly staff, great parking space. And still you're not paying for additional services and special/luxury items (which aren't there).