Reads like culture shock to me.

I am not dismissing your concerns, but I've had the opposite issues going to the US where everyone is super chatty, seemingly needy, and slow.

You go into a store and they yell at you "DO YOU NEED SOMETHING" uhh, no, I'm sorry I came in to look around, is that a crime? The waiting staff return to your table every 30 seconds, and the cashiers are more interested in your life story than how you want your bags packed.

Aldi and Lidl are hyper-efficient. Sure, there's no bells and whistles, but all that stuff does is distract you from the goods on display that seem to rotate much more frequently than typical supermarkets (so you cannot just shop mindlessly).

I dislike both extremes. I agree with your parent post about Aldi being depressing in character, but it's not just the bareness and speed, it's the herding. I've been in an Aldi recently only once, and had gone in just to look around and see if I wanted to shop there in the future. Once inside, I realized that there was no path back outside except through a cashier. Look around and leave? Oh, no, you will buy something in order to be allowed to leave, the design seemed to say.

After I realized that Aldi didn't want to let me leave without buying something, I was determined to buy nothing, and finally waited by the entrance until someone coming in opened the door so that I could leave to the entrance side of the airlock/lobby, and then again for the outer door. I expected this procedure to look very odd and for people to stare, but it must be common enough, since no one seemed to notice.

You can just pass the cashier without buying anything. The cashier won't even notice you. Nearly every bigger supermarket in Germany has only exits at the cashier.

They might not have noticed, but I would have noticed waiting in line. There wasn't room to scoot by the people and their carts, and, as I said, every other route was blocked.

I thought this was to deter theft. It's normal, though not universal, in Irish supermarkets.

Hehehe I think you assume I am American. I don't really like the American experience either for many of the reasons you state. I come from Norway, so we have a all together different system. Like Germany we can't afford to have bag packers and such. However we solve the problem different from Lidl and Aldi. Usually there is a collector behind the conveyer belt, which has two different areas where it can send your stuff. Thus two shoppers can collect their items at the same time. That means you don't have to hurry to pack you stuff before it falls off the conveyor belt like Lidl.

Another common way in Norway is to simply let people scan all the goods themselves while they are shopping. Then you don't need a conveyor belt and cashier at all.

Norwegian grocery stores are also usually quite plain, but not as insanely cheap looking as Lidl and Aldi.

This made me laugh, you'll get used to it and start to enjoy it eventually. It seems like things are more relaxed wherever you are in the us compared to wherever you were previously.

When it comes to the "Do you need something," it's part of their job, if you're looking for something specific it's good to know that there are people available to help you. They're not asking you if you have a reason to be in the store, hah. Just tell them "I'm just looking around, thanks." And they'll tell you "If you need anything, [specific] let me know."

Sure, it's their job but some people simply appreciate being left alone and unsolicited offers just come off as pushy.

Your parent comment is right: it's culture shock. As a German I can't stand the idea of having to shop in American supermarkets. And it's likely no accident that WalMart failed to get a foot into the German market -- not just because of their blatant disregard for German labour laws (which are more worker-friendly than in the US).

I posted this as a response to another comment, but it probably bears repeating. If the person seems genuinely friendly, try taking them up on that offer, and see what happens. If you tell them what you're looking for they may give you recommendations, and you might end up finding something better. This is what typically happens to me.

For a lot of us northern europeans, it just doesn't fit with our culture. We value honesty and straightforwardness above superficial friendliness. Often I find American customer relationships just provocative. So often they act like robots. You can tell that all their smiles and friendly words are all fake. That makes it all feel like I am being lied to and that employees are forced to act in an unnatural way no matter how they feel that day.

I rather have people act friendly towards me because they want to. If they don't feel that great that day, they don't need to smile and put on a show, as long as they don't give me shit.

And also we like our privacy. When people follow you around the store and keep asking if you need help, or comment on something you are looking at, it just feels invasive and disrespectful.

Mind you I do actually frequently enjoy the more chatty nature of things in the US. And many are genuine about it. But the problem is that for every genuine person there seems to be one that does the whole robot routine because the manager has instructed everybody to have crazy smiles and sell as much shit as possible.

I totally understand, dealing with fake friendliness can be unnerving. Just remember, not all of those smiles/friendliness is fake, some of it definitely is, but some of it is genuine, just not at the same intensity as they'd show for close friends/family.

> If they don't feel that great that day, they don't need to smile and put on a show, as long as they don't give me shit.

I'd be fine with this personally.

> And also we like our privacy. When people follow you around the store and keep asking if you need help, or comment on something you are looking at, it just feels invasive and disrespectful.

If the person seems genuinely friendly, try taking them up on that offer, and see what happens. If you tell them what you're looking for they may give you recommendations, and you might end up finding something better.

> ... 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.

While they're the biggest players, there are more traditional supermarkets like REWE, Edeka and Kaisers.

> 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.).

> It all looks so cheap and barebones that I get depressed just being there.

Can I ask which part of Germany you've been to – or rather which Aldi (Nord or Süd)? There's a surprising amount of difference between the two and I've always found one of them far nicer than the other.

Aldi "Süd" is the more modern one.

I was in Berlin

That makes it Aldi North. I don't actually like that one, South is much better.

I'm not in Germany, but the same pattern repeats across Europe. I wouldn't choose the budget stores, except there's one on the ground floor of my building. I still don't like it -- it's obviously extremely convenient for me, but the goods are arranged badly, and the whole shop stinks of stale beer from the bottle return.

If I want food to do proper cooking, I walk two-three minutes to a nicer supermarket :-)

> It is like you are subject to some German Blitzkrieg or something

Given it's in Germany, a British firebombing would have been the more-likely cause...

> the whole shop stinks of stale beer from the bottle return

Which is probably why Lidl moved the bottle return to a separate entry which is not connected to the aisles. Yes, it stinks of stale beer in there sometimes, but you only have to be in there for a few seconds to return your bottles.

There are other more "western" grocery stores in Germany, like Edeka and Rewe. These are also self-pack, but there's room at the end to do it comfortably.

And they are much pricier.

I agree they are sometimes too fast for you, but when you're a student the savings are well worth it, often half the price of a normal supermarket

I felt this exact same way through my whole childhood, but then as soon as i had to start paying for my own groceries, it was like a revelation. Now I adore the harsh fluorescent lights of value