Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Aldi, Julia Roberts & Her BYOB Shopping Plan for Save Pennies



Every Wednesday, I try to catch celebrities in the act of being frugal. This week, I found Julia Roberts, who takes a frugal approach to shopping and the environment. She is a BYOB --Bring Your Own Bag -- shopper, according to one media report. For example, in this photo from Us Magazine, Julia Roberts is buying flowers and using her own plastic bags to carry away her merchandise. She's in the third photo on the left column in this link.

JULIA ROBERTS picked up stems in L.A. Feb. 15. The environmentalist activist always brings her plastic bags back: "You can get a nickel for every bag!" she has said. -- source: Us magazine.


Many discount stores, especially in Europe, give shoppers a BYOB discount. Others such as Aldi-- a German based chain of steep, steep discount grocery stores, actually charge shoppers money for bags, according to the book Treasure Hunt by Michael J. Silverstein.

"People often bring their own baskets or bags because Aldi charges fifty cents for a paper bag and ten cents for a plastic one." -source: Treasure Hunt



With its cheap, cheap prices Aldi is gradually expanding in the U.S. On the website for its U.S. Operations, the company explains its BYOB strategy:

"ALDI does not hide the cost of grocery bags in our retail prices. Instead, we encourage you to recycle your grocery bags by bringing them back to the store each time you shop." source: Aldifoods.com


Aldi--according to Treasure Hunt --has not quite caught on in America, but it is slowly winning fans in some parts of the U.S. The Star News in Minnesota reports that an Aldi store will be opening in another midwest city.

"Plans for an Aldi discount grocery store in Elk River have cleared the City Council in a 3-2 vote." source: Star News

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2 comments:

BO18 said...

Most supermarkets in Europe (the continent and not the UK) charge customers for bags. At least in Holland they do. I thought it was a law
Even upscale supermarkets tend to charge for plastic bags.

Amy said...

Great post! I love to hear these tidbits on celebrities.

I love Aldi and just started a blog using Aldi ingredients. I figure it will save some people money and gas (instead of going from store to store).

As always, I love your blog!