Gardenline Stacking Chair

Last Updated on July 9, 2023

EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated June 2020 with a progress report.

When spring hits, you can bet that Aldi will start trotting out outdoor furniture. Whether it’s the Gardenline Double Glider, the Gardenline Two Person Swing, or any other number of offerings, Aldi will be trying to tempt you with nice-looking stuff at Aldi prices.

Like these chairs.

The Gardenline Stacking Chair, which retails for $12.99, is pretty much what you see. Measuring 37″ x 21.3″ x 29.9″, it’s a mesh-backed chair that is stackable with other Gardenline Stacking Chairs. It comes in the store pre-assembled, so the only real hassle is making sure you have a vehicle large enough to pack them in and bring them home.

On the plus side, these chairs are comfortable. They conform pretty well to one’s back while providing nice support both behind and below. For that reason, they have always been the most popular seats in our backyard. They’re also easy to stack, and they’re lightweight enough that most adults should be able to lift them without trouble.

That lightweight design is also the chair’s biggest drawback. These chairs aren’t the most heavy-duty, and in the years we had ours, we saw their limits. For example, they’ve got some weight limitations. The chairs currently in stores have a 225-pound weight limit. If you put heavy bodies in those chairs, there’s a good chance the mesh will stretch and be less comfortable for it. (Trust us.) Eventually, the stitching that holds the mesh seat to the metal frame started to come undone. Be sure to carefully check the chairs’ weight capacity before you buy them.

Also, we strongly suspect that a moderate hailstorm may have bent one of our chair’s frames off-kilter a little, so it might be wise to bring these out of the elements if you think things are going to take a turn for the worse.

UPDATE (June 2020): We bought two of these somewhere between 2012 and 2014; we don’t know the exact date, as it was long before Aldi Reviewer was founded. Both of them were doing fine until a gathering in 2016 where both were sat in by people who exceeded the weight limit. One of the chairs subsequently tore, and the remaining one is starting to cave in the center. We still have that one, though — it’s 6-8 years old — and it still gets occasional use. The key to long life with these chairs is to keep them out of rain and snow, especially in the off-season winter months, and to make sure they’re used by people under 225 pounds.

The Verdict:

The price is good and these chairs are certainly comfortable, but they have a 225-pound weight limit, and they don’t hold up well with more weight, so keep that in mind if you expect the chairs to be occupied by larger folks. Otherwise, they’re worth a look if you’re hunting for lightweight, stackable outdoor chairs.