MINNEAPOLIS — While many Aldi shoppers hit the discount grocer for cheap chickpeas and chocolate bars, some have been known to scour stores across the metro area in search of decorative metal animals.
“I went to Elk River, Ostego, Monticello, Plymouth, Hopkins — I was going everywhere trying to find those darn little reindeer,” recalled Albertville’s Kim Schlachtenhaufen of her failed quest to purchase last year’s hottest holiday item.
Every Wednesday, Aldi restocks its “Aisle of Shame,” as it’s known to insiders, with a fresh crop of random merchandise you weren’t exactly looking for, but can’t help but buy.
One week it’s pet sweaters and holiday gnomes. The next, it’s record players and bathrobes.
It’s the place where shoppers can reward themselves for completing a chore — and sometimes blow the money they saved on food by buying inessential baubles.
Since Aldi arrived in Minnesota in 2003, the chain has added nearly 80 stores statewide, roughly on par with the number of Targets and Cubs.