So much fake news in this thread.
Aldi has plenty of real food. They also have a lot of snacks. You think Kroger doesn't have a lot of snacks? The difference is that Aldi often has only one or 2 versions of a particular food, not several versions.
I've been to Aldi Nord in France. Occasionally they sell TJ's branded items.
The jumbled organization is because Aldi doesn't have a separate aisle for each category. They have a niche for each category. That niche will be adacent to another niche containing another category. Not difficult at all.
The Aldis here have the instructions for the quarter cart locks printed on the carts themselves.
Aldi is very new in my market - less than 6 months. I'm not sure they're doing real well. There are three, all in upscale neighborhoods. People are snobs here. The stores are nice, but these snobs have run out other small-format chains before, like Fresh & Squeezy. The stores do sell a lot of upscale lifestyle foods like kombucha and keto wraps and take-and-bake gluten-free pizzas, but I don't see people buying a lot of it.
I hadn't been in a couple months, but went last Thursday morning. It's true that stocking is unreliable. You can't trust that they'll have what you expect, or need. They are inscrutable about product availability. You can't call or email about it, and if you ask an employee, the answer is "We stock what comes in on the truck, and we don't usually know what will be on the truck until it's here."
I think they're not doing well here because there are rarely lines for check out. The selection of certain things is poor - there is almost no fish, and even the beef selection is peculiar. They never have chuck roast for some reason. Also, the Aldi Finds shit is not selling - they have gobs of old merchandise that they're trying to clear out at discount.
Produce is weak. Often seems less than fresh. I wanted cabbage for slaw on Thurs, but Aldi's was flabby and had mold on the bottom stems. I bought tomatoes there a couple months ago that spoiled within 3 days.
Like all retailers these days, Aldi is expert at moving its margins around like a shell game. They don't have sales; they just shuffle those margins around. Several things at Aldi cost more than most groceries in my area, especially their mediocre produce.