The grocery game winners

Westlake High School senior Henry Levenberg is to be commended for having enough interest in our Westlake community to write his "Reader's Opinion" article about Aldi published in the Jan. 21 Observer.

However, from the perspective of a Westlake resident almost 60 years his senior I do wish to dispute some of his claims. True, when Aldi first appeared in our area people were skeptical of the quality of its offerings and low prices. Take a look now: One cannot stereotype the Aldi shopper as a "lower-class, cigarette-smoking consumer," as Henry wrote that the store's founders had a disagreement over. Aldi draws consumers of all categories: old, young, richer, poorer, immigrants, native-born, etc., precisely because of its lower prices and variety of offerings.

I find it a welcome addition and feel that those who choose to ignore the value of Marc's and Aldi in our community are missing out on excellent shopping alternatives.

By the way, there is an Aldi in Pompano Beach, Florida. In fact there are about 2,000 stores in the United States, many of which are in affluent areas. Aldi long has been a major shopping destination in Germany and Austria.

Elizabeth Catana

Having lived in Westlake for 37 years, I'm especially drawn to reading about our community .to say nothing about writing about it!

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Volume 12, Issue 3, Posted 9:52 AM, 02.04.2020