The Daily Valet. - 1/19/24, Friday
✔️ All Eyes on Aldi
Friday, January 19th Edition
By Cory Ohlendorf, Valet. Editor
Fun fact: I’ve never shopped at an Aldi’s. Not once in my whole life and it feels like I'm missing out.
Today’s Big Story
All Eyes on Aldi
What's fueling America's hidden grocery winner?
Move over Trader Joe's. There's a new beloved discount grocer in town. And I mean that literally ... probably. Aldi continues to expand around the United States. This fall, it announced acquisitions of several supermarket chains across the Southern U.S. It already had more than 2,300 stores across 38 states and opened another 120 last year alone.A powerful mix of high inflation, cheap wine, healthy-adjacent snacks and an “aisle of shame” have helped make the brand the fastest-growing grocery store chain in the country. For the uninitiated, Aldi Finds are specialty items only offered for a limited time to help customers discover new products. New items are released each week and often include unique foods, household items, clothing and pet accessories. Most of these impulse-purchase items are located in the aforementioned “aisle of shame”.Aldi stores are smaller than your average supermarket with less selection—and more than 90% of Aldi products are private label. But more and more shoppers are turning to the no-frills discount grocer known for its easy indulgences and the quirky ways it saves money. For instance, stores have much fewer employees, making you bag your groceries and even charging a quarter to “rent” a shopping cart.You may or may not know that Aldi is a German brand. Its origins date back to 1913, when Karl Albrecht, a former coal miner, started trading in baked goods. The next year, his wife, Anna, set up a small store in Essen, Western Germany, once a major industrial hub. By 1919, they expanded into a new property and became a full-fledged market. In 1962, the first store under the name of Aldi—short for Albrecht Diskont (Discount)—was opened, offering a small selection of goods being sold straight out of the pallets. It proved so successful the whole Aldi network was then switched to this store model. The first U.S. Aldi opened in 1976 in Iowa.Today, the discounter is experimenting with new store formats. In 2022, Aldi unveiled its first autonomous store in London, which allows shoppers to pick items up from the shelves and place them directly in their bags without needing to scan them or be served by a cashier. Some of its stores have self-checkouts, as well as zero-waste stations, which let customers refill their own jars with coffee beans and tubs with nuts.
FYI:
In 1961, the Albrecht brothers in charge of Aldi split the business into two divisions after a disagreement about whether to sell cigarettes.
Congress Passes Stopgap Bill (Again)
For the 4th time in a year, more House Democrats than Republicans voted to avert a fiscal disaster
The House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday evening that temporarily extends government funding—but way more Democrats than Republicans voted for it. If that sounds familiar, that's because it's the third time something like it has happened since September —even though Republicans technically control the chamber by a slim margin. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden's desk to become law before the funding expires Friday at midnight.The stopgap measure, called a continuing resolution, or CR, extends deadlines to the top of March and is intended to give lawmakers in both chambers time to draft and vote on a full slate of annual spending, or appropriations bills, for the rest of the 2024 fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30. According to the Washington Post, lawmakers will have to move fast. The House and Senate are only in session together six days between today and March 1, the first deadline of Thursday's bill, and 10 days between Friday and March 8, the second deadline. But the deal will likely exacerbate tensions between House Speaker Mike Johnson and the House Freedom Caucus, a group of far-right conservatives who have been a thorn in the side of GOP leadership for nearly a decade.
Trump’s Political and Legal Campaigns Collide
The former president’s campaign and his courtroom strategy are now one and the same
Not long ago, the idea that a former president—or major-party presidential nominee—would face serious legal jeopardy was nearly unthinkable. But as The Atlantic points out, “merely keeping track of the many cases against Donald Trump requires a law degree, a great deal of attention, or both.” In all, the former president faces 91 felony counts across two state courts and two different federal districts, any of which could potentially produce a prison sentence.But for now, Trump's presidential campaign and his courtroom strategy are one and the same. Throughout the week, the former president moved back and forth between the courthouse and the campaign trail. Less than 12 hours after he celebrated a decisive victory in the Iowa caucuses, he was back in New York City for his second civil defamation trial brought by E Jean Carroll, where things got heated and then he went straight from court to a campaign rally in New Hampshire on Thursday night.Trump is not required to be in the courtroom for the defamation trial, and his choice to be there was his alone. Last week, he attended oral arguments in the Washington, D.C. appeals court about his claim of presidential immunity, and then made a surprise appearance at the closing arguments in another New York trial centering on his company's alleged business fraud. You might think such legal woes would cloud a presidential primary campaign, but his voters don't seem fazed. According to the New York Times, portraying himself as a “target of political persecution has brought him millions of dollars in political donations and rallied Republican voters to his side.”
Dig Deeper:
Here's why experts say Trump is likely to have more leeway for outbursts in criminal trials.
A Weekend Pairing
‘The Kitchen’ + a Gimlet Cocktail
Kibwe Tavares and Academy Award winner Daniel Kaluuya are making their directorial debut with a dystopian sci-fi drama that follows ex-convict Izi (Kane Robinson). He's trying to protect a teenage orphan named Benji (Jedaiah Bannerman) from the authoritative forces who want to destroy their home known as The Kitchen, now streaming on Netflix. With shades of Blade Runner and Black Mirror, the film tackles real-world issues such as classism and wealth disparity, with a sci-fi coating.Set in a not-too-distant future where social housing has been all but eliminated, the filmmakers told Time Out they wanted to make a movie that explored their relationship with a fast-evolving London. Inside this vibrant warren of market stalls and cell-like living spaces within this tight-knit urban community, the air hums with the punchy energy of people pulling together against a common enemy. Reviews have been positive with one critic saying the film “ends with a question mark rather than an exclamation point, having said all that it wants and not a word more than it needs.”
Pair It With
I dug into classic British cocktails for this pairing. The Gimlet is a legendary English cocktail with roots in the 19th-century Royal Navy. Citrus juice was prescribed to sailors, and they spiked it with a touch of gin. The drink took off, and the Gimlet was born. It's particularly refreshing and bright on a cold winter's night.
Also Worth a Watch:
‘The Real World’, season 16 on Netflix; ‘Train to Busan’ on Peacock
In Other News
Why are they playing tennis matches until nearly 4 a.m. at the Australian Open?
Netanyahu Says He Has Told the United States That He Opposes Palestinian State in Any Postwar Scenario
Have you heard about ...
Customize Your Own Cologne
Blending a bespoke fragrance isn’t has hard as you might think
Style is an innately personal thing. But scent is even more intimate. And what constitutes a “good” or “bad” aroma differs wildly, depending on the person. Perhaps that's why there are so many options these days. Not only has the number of colognes available for men exploded in recent years, but a new generation of indie boutique brands has entered the fray—offering everything from marijuana-infused scents to fragrances inspired by tennis balls or the night markets of Mumbai.But if you want an authentic signature scent, you can't rely on the popular bottles being sold at the cologne counter. You'll have to blend your own custom fragrance. Think about it. A genuine bespoke scent that's full of all the scent notes that you love (and none of the ones you don't). Not only will it result in a one-of-a-kind scent, but the process of developing your new personal fragrance will be an experience of self-discovery. And it's not as difficult as you might think. There are options out there. It all depends on how involved you want to get and how deep down the olfactory rabbit hole you want to go.
Read:
Shopping
What We’re Buying
A new gym kit
Here’s the thing about fitness gear: you may not feel like shelling out top dollar for clothes that you're just going to sweat in, but science has actually proven that what you wear influences how you feel about yourself. And when you show up to the gym in some badass performance gear, you have more confidence. So, in that way, building out a nice workout wardrobe is an investment in your health. Right now, we're all about comfortable and adaptable layers—items that are easily pulled on and off, depending on the environment. We'll see you at the gym.
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Morning Motto
Find some joy this weekend.
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