Aldi World News Roundup: The Week of March 11, 2019
Each week, we round up the biggest stories in the international world of Aldi. Here’s what we’ve been reading:
United Kingdom: Aldi Attempts to Get Kids to Quit Video Games, Eat Dinner with Family
In an effort to get kids away from their video games and back to the family dinner table, Aldi is launching a campaign pitting professional gamers against young gamers, with the hope that the kids will quit their games and go join their families.
You can view the trailer for the campaign here.
Aldi claims that “38% of British children refuse to sit down at the family dinner table, with more than a quarter of UK parents blaming online gaming for this phenomenon.”
Aldi’s Marketing director David Hills says they are “committed to helping parents on their journey to reclaiming that all important family time.”
The “professional gamers” are from Veloce eSports, whose website states they are “a multidisciplinary esports consultancy team providing full services to individuals and brands looking to be a part of the esports revolution.”
Aldi’s campaign, called Teatime Takedown, raises some questions as to how the pro gamers will find their targets (the kids) in video games. Some people on social media also questioned how losing a game would prompt a child to go join their family at the table, and others asked why gaming was being vilified when many other hobbies, such as rugby, could also pull kids away from family dinner time.
Source: Dexerto
United Kingdom: Lidl Customer Gets Parking Fine and Pledges to Shop at Aldi Instead
A man and his wife parked at Lidl and carried some books to a nearby Salvation Army charity shop before returning to Lidl to do their shopping, only to discovered they had received a £100 parking fine at Lidl. The man, Simon Chubb, says he plans to start shopping at Aldi now, even though he has shopped at the New Castle Lidl location for several years.
The 48-year-old man said, “My wife and I carried some old books into the town to take them to the Salvation Army charity shop. We didn’t think it would be a problem.
“We’d popped off for two minutes and when we returned to the car a parking attendant approached us and told us that we were not allowed to leave the premises.
“The car park was half-full at this point around 11am and we were just about to go into Lidl to do our shopping when he stopped us. After I explained the situation, he walked away and I thought nothing more of it.”
He complained to Lidl and was told to contact the firm that operates the car park. He also lodged an appeal against the fine.
He said: “The fine said we had been parked for eight minutes before leaving the premises. We were unaware that we couldn’t do this and can’t believe that it would have been unacceptable.
“I paid the fine – but I am not happy about it because we’ve shopped there for years. I am upset at how customers are being treated. In the future we will shop at Aldi because it does not seem to be petty about its parking.”
Source: Staffordshire Live
United States: Police Search for Suspect Accused of Robbing Aldi
Police are looking for a suspect accused of robbing an Aldi store at gunpoint on the morning of March 9.
The Union County Sheriff’s Office said the suspect entered Aldi in Indian Trail, N.C., through a delivery door at the back of the store around 7:20 a.m. Officials said three employees were there at the time, and Aldi does not open until 8 a.m. on Saturdays. Detectives say the suspect took employees to a safe and then robbed the store of more than $4,000.
“While in there, he ordered them to open the safe and empty the contents,” Tony Underwood from the Union County Sheriff’s Office said
The suspect wore a reflective vest, dark clothing, gloves, and a Halloween mask.
“Very little skin was exposed, his size was very difficult to determine. He had a lot of heavy clothing. He was also somewhat hunched over. So, it was even difficult to determine the height of this individual,” Underwood said.
The robbery may be related to three similar robberies in the state.
“So, we have to look whether or not it’s the same person and what, if any, connection they have to that food store,” Underwood said.
No one was injured, and detectives are looking for additional surveillance camera footage and any witnesses who may have been in the area at the time.
Source: wsoctv.com