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You’ve probably heard of the “walk of shame”. The popular term is used to describe a blushing, watery-eyed, early morning drive home after an evening of unbridled revelry or romance or both.
Nowadays, there is a grocery store equivalent to this one. It’s called “the aisle of shame” and can be found exclusively at Aldi.
The label applies specifically to the center aisle of the Germany-based discount grocery chain. This is where you’ll find lots of seemingly random and non-traditional grocery items: toys, candles, clothes, tech gadgets, home furnishings, seasonal decorations. Right now, that area of your local Aldi is probably full of green, shamrock-shaped things for your next St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
None of this would ever show up on a normal grocery list. These are all impulse buys, which is probably where the shame comes in.
“On today’s episode of ‘why didn’t you come to Aldi’…” one shopper wrote this week in a Facebook post that perfectly illustrates the idea. The attached photo shows a basket filled with an air fryer, toaster and coffee maker.
“AOS got me,” wrote another, using a common abbreviation for “alley of shame.” Her own basket included two packets of women’s leggings and an “Aldi Super Fan” coloring book, in addition to packets of tofu and mixed fruit cups. “I work in an activities department, think I can claim the leggings as a business expense?”
Much has been written about this unusual realm of the supermarket. Parade called him the “Magical and fun central aisle full of great deals, special buys and limited edition items you just can’t pass up!” A recent title in The daily meal postulated, “If you’ve never been to Aldi’s ‘alley of shame,’ have you really been to Aldi?”
An enthusiast is ecstatic Dark Atlas, “I hate shopping, but I love going to Aldi and shopping because I know I’ll at least find something I can use besides food and that’s always exciting for me.”
Somehow, it seems Aldi has taken Costco’s sprawling warehouse model – come for the cheap rotisserie chicken, leave with hundreds of dollars of other stuff you find along the way – and l condensed into a streamlined and attractive retail trap, right in the middle of the store.
Ironically, no one seems particularly ashamed of what they find in this supposedly shameful place. Far from there. If they did, they wouldn’t shamelessly talk about it on social media.
Yet, in fact, there’s an entire Facebook community of over 1.5 million members devoted to this cultural phenomenon, as well as a separate Aldi Aisle of Shame blog, which keeps tabs on everything you can find in the world. central aisle. Instagrammers, meanwhile, regularly caption their quirky finds with whimsical hashtags like #aisleofshamegotme.
Publicly admit that you have succumbed to the lure of this retailer temptation island is apparently part of being an Aldi fan.
One thing is clear: if you’re looking to stick to your grocery list, avoid Aldi’s alluring mid-aisle at all costs.
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chris shott
Chris Shott is the Associate Grocery Editor for Eat This, Not That! Learn more about Chris
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