[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

There are at least 3 Aldi's near The Villages. Similar business model. Trader Joes was a spin off of the original Aldi's in Germany, when 2 brothers disagreed about selling cigarettes in their stores.

Trader Joes is bit more eclectic than Aldi's, but similar experiences.

Better than Trader Joe is Lidl which unfortunately has no stores in Florida at this time

[buster21]

We go to TJ’s every month and come home with a full cooler of stuff. I always
buy my favorite wine there so come home with a case if I’m lucky. If anyone wants to trade off going there please PM me! We go to Orlando and the trip is always intense with heavy traffic.

[RedFoxRick]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

There are at least 3 Aldi's near The Villages. Similar business model. Trader Joes was a spin off of the original Aldi's in Germany, when 2 brothers disagreed about selling cigarettes in their stores.

Trader Joes is bit more eclectic than Aldi's, but similar experiences.

I believe Aldi is also associated with Lidl because of the brothers relatiopnship

[Garywt]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

There are at least 3 Aldi's near The Villages. Similar business model. Trader Joes was a spin off of the original Aldi's in Germany, when 2 brothers disagreed about selling cigarettes in their stores.

Trader Joes is bit more eclectic than Aldi's, but similar experiences.

I find Trader Joe’s the place to go if you want blue chips and the like so I don’t go. Aldi has some decent none food items but 90% of the food they sell if off, off, off main line food. Names I have never heard of so we stay away.

[Sheri]

I recently moved to TV and miss TJ terribly so this post was very helpful! Looks like I’ll be driving to Gainesville once a month 😞

[Rwirish]

Yes, Walmart.

[rvalukonis]

Originally Posted by Innserelli

Does anyone know if there is a store similar to Trader Joe's in our area?

Trader Joe's is a subsidiary of ALDI's. Each has a different target market with TJ focused more on a younger demographic.

[Dusty_Star]

Originally Posted by Sheri

I recently moved to TV and miss TJ terribly so this post was very helpful! Looks like I’ll be driving to Gainesville once a month ������

Me too!

[waterflower]

Earth Origins Market 1917 E Silver Springs Blvd, Ocala, FL 34470

[Happytails057@gmail.com]

Aldi’s is the brother of Trader Joe’s.

[MidWestIA]

Fresh Market is great and my favorites in north Dallas were Sprouts, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's

[Jimmay]

Fresh market on 466

[mikeycereal]

I used to like Trader Joes back when I lived in Vegas and was into juicing. They had some neat items but nothing that I've really missed since I stopped juicing and shopping there. Would love a place that sells fresh cold pressed juices because it got pretty messy doing my own and I'm just lazy to continue doing all that myself after a few years of it.

Recently discovered Fresh Market and after months of asking and searching found my nut butter fix! And at a very reasonable price. Okay so they have those in the Brownwood farmer's market on Saturdays but at $15 a jar much too expensive. And flavors they add to it while tasty just make the texture too goopy. At Fresh Market I bought almond and cashew butter freshly ground. The other brands sitting around in jars in other stores was just nasty. I always like to grind my own or have them already freshly ground and waiting a few days to be purchased.

As for Whole Foods I walked in there once a few years ago, looked at the prices and walked out. I will visit the Sprouts here once it's finished though.

Like another here said, everyone likes what they like. But I'll gladly check out some of the stores I haven't been to yet that were mentioned in the thread.

[xlhig]

Originally Posted by photo1902

I've been in Trader Joe's a handful of times. I never saw why people love them. To me, Fresh Market is far and above TJ's. Its like comparing Wegman's to Winn Dixie.

Wegmans is far superior to Winn Dixie and Publix. And their prices, for the most part, are lower that Publix. Just visited Rochester and went to Wegmans. They need to expand to Florida.

[NotGolfer]

Where we moved here "from"....there was a T.J., Aldi (NO "s" at the end) and I at that time didn't see the attraction. I tried TJ's but just didn't care for it. As others said---we ALL like what we like. In the midwest we had Woodman's---a very large store but well stocked. I've never lamented on not having one here!! Coming to a new area, one has to figure out where they want to get their provisions. Another OP mentioned Kroger Delivery. I prefer that lately due to the "high season" traffic and crowds. Otherwise do shop at Publix for some items and Aldi for others. Kroger Delivery is great---google them and decide for yourself. You can pick your time of day and they're fairly prompt. Will carry in the bags and even place them on your kitchen counter. I'm not familiar with Wegman's or Lidl. There is another store not mentioned here but used to be raved about quite often. One came to Milwaukee a few years ago and I checked it out when we were up there visiting. Wasn't impressed. So no loss that I can't recall it's name.