WALKING into the apartment Brooke Warren is met with delighted cries of ‘surprise!’
The living-room is decorated with balloons and streamers and at the centre is a table laden with party snacks and a birthday cake standing almost half-a-metre high.
But what made HR manager Brooke’s milestone 30th so special was that her friends had dedicated it to her favourite supermarket – Aldi
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous, Brooke says: “My mates chose Aldi’s colour scheme to decorate my surprise birthday party.
“They made an Aldi themed birthday cake complete with the store logo and shopping trolley on top.
“All the snacks and food were from Aldi, even the wine!
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“They even did Aldi themed invites. They know I am obsessed with the supermarket!” Brooke tells Fabulous in this exclusive interview.
“I am Aldi’s number one fan and I am not afraid to admit I am addicted to the supermarket.”
Brooke says that she’s such a huge fan of the German supermarket chain that she sees it as a day out rather than a shop.
“I’m an ‘Aldi-holic,” she admits.
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“I get palpitations when I find out what their Special Deals are, their middle aisle is my heaven.
“I even take my friends there for girls' days out rather than go to a spa. It’s bonkers, I know but I am in love with Aldi.
“I sweep Aldi shelves when I find a deal I cannot resist. I live for their special deals and some of my favourite clothes come from the supermarket chain.
“My friends complain about how much I talk about Aldi.”
Brooke, who lives in a one bedroom apartment, in Cincinnati, Ohio, says that her passion has saved her thousands.
“I have saved so much shopping at Aldi and my friends are dead jealous,” she says.
Brooke grew up in, Lima, a small town in regional Ohio, where there was a small Aldi but she admits as teen she wasn’t interested in bargains and considered shopping with her mum a boring chore.
When Brooke graduated university with a Degree in Anthropology and moved to Cincinnati her entry level job in human resources meant her budget didn't stretch to shopping at expensive grocery and department stores.
“I became an Aldi convert when I had a gee-whiz moment thanks to a college friend who told me to give Aldi a second chance,” she says.
“That is when my Aldi love affair began.
“In August 2016 I met up with an old college friend who was working for Aldi. I was moaning about the cost of living and he told me I should check the store out.
“I screwed up my nose.
“All I remembered was the old Aldi I’d shopped at as a teen with a lack of products and boring merchandise. I honestly considered myself too good to shop there.”
Brooke admits despite her ‘Aldi snobbery’ her pals' nagging made her take a second look.
“I found a nearby Aldi and was dumbfounded at the quality of produce, the bargain prices and the range of products,” she recalls.
“It was like I had died and gone to Aldi heaven. That was what I call my Aldi Epiphany.
“I walked out, and vowed Aldi was going to be my go-to place for all my shopping.”
Since then Brooke admits she feels like she is ‘cheating on a boyfriend’ if she shops at any other supermarket.
“Shopping at Aldi is like going on a date for me and I can't get enough of it,” she admits
“If I buy something from another store, I feel like I am having a ‘supermarket affair’ and cheating on my boyfriend.”
Brooke reveals her now six-year-Aldi-obsession has managed to slash her fortnightly grocery shop from £140 to £80, a saving of almost 50 percent,
“I love that I can go in and spend almost half what I had been spending and get the same quality product,” she says.
“When I first took the products home and made dinner my pals couldn't taste the difference between Aldi and other stores and I knew I was on to a winner.”
But what really turned Brooke into an Aldi Addict was the store's special deals and eclectic range of items ‘you didn't know you needed but had to buy.’
“I have quite literally fallen in love with what I call Aldi’s aisle of ‘no shame’”, she says.
“I call it that because you cannot walk down it without buying something and I have no shame in buying everything they have on offer whether I need it or not.”
Brooke has gone into Aldi for tomatoes and eggs and come out with a power drill for £20 or car cleaning products she never knew I needed.
“My mates often think I have lost it when I rave about unpacking the groceries and find a screwdriver set or a bike repair kit amongst the spuds and carrots,” she admits.
Included in Brookes unusual Aldi purchases a footless adult onesie, a dehumidifier for twenty pounds, and Aldi fitness watch costing £4.99.
“I was planning on buying a posh one for one hundred and fifty quid but for less than a fiver Aldi provided me with a bargain alternative to get fit.
“I even have Aldi bedsheets and pillow cases, Aldi towels and cushion covers.
Brooke realised she wasn't alone in her obsession with the ‘aisle of no shame’ when she joined Aldi deals facebook groups
She explains: “The group’s members love sharing their aisle of no shame buys and alerting everyone else to their ‘didn't know they needed it’ purchase.
“I buy things from that aisle and race home to post them on Facebook and see how many likes or responses I get.”
Brooke is also an avid Aldi clothes fan.
“My favourite work cardigan was a gift from one of my friends and she got it from Aldi in my honour and it cost just £15,” she says.
“I always get so many compliments when I wear it and people are convinced it’s a designer brand, they’re gobsmacked when I reveal it’s a supermarket cheapie.
“Who needs designers when you can go to Aldi and buy turnips and tops, carrots and cardigans and not break your weekly budget.”
If I buy something from another store, I feel like I am having a ‘supermarket affair’ and cheating on my boyfriend
Aldi’s superfan also has an impressive collection of the supermarket's own branded memorabilia.
“You’re not a real Aldi superfan unless you have a collection like mine,” she says.
“I love my Aldi colouring book and Aldi branded colouring pencils.
“Don’t laugh, it's an awesome set. I am convinced it will be a collector’s item.”
Brooke also has an Aldi logo ice box or cooler, Aldi souvenirs including tea towels and serviettes in Aldi colours.
Brooke’s passion for Aldi also means she takes her pals to the supermarket for a ‘girls day out.
“I know some people like to treat themselves to a spa day, or a posh lunch,” she says.
“I take my girlfriends to Aldi for a shop. They always think I am crazy but at the end of the day they have become Aldi converts like me.
“I keep the Aldi treat day a secret and when I pull up in the parking lot there are usually screams of dismay but I know they will enjoy it.”
However Brooke admits not everyone is impressed with her Aldi Fandom.
“Whenever I meet people at parties I always end up talking about the great deals I got at Aldi or how I became one of the supermarkets biggest fans,” she says.
“Some people are fascinated but others stick up their noses and say they won't switch and many think Aldi only offers cheap low quality products.
“That’s supermarket snobbery.
“Initially I was shocked people could be so stuck up about grocery stores. I have managed to convince some to come with me to Aldi and they are always won over.
“For the others who think I have lost the plot shopping at Aldi I actually feel sorry for. They’re missing out on huge savings.”
Brooke has not only managed to cut her grocery bill by shopping at Aldi but uses the supermarket to buy cut price gifts for birthdays and christmas and says it saves her thousands.
“I have seen the same gifts I buy in Aldi for a fiver costing fifteen quid or more at other stores,” she says.
“My family have embraced my love of Aldi and when my sister treated me to an Aldi themed birthday cake, complete with the shop's logo I was stunned.
“It is the best birthday cake I have ever had.”
Brooke says her Aldi addiction is growing and she is looking for a bigger home so she can furnish it with Aldi products.
She explains: “I live in a one-bedroom apartment and I am gutted every time I find furniture or household items at bargain prices I want to buy because I don't have enough room.
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“I looking for a new home and when we find it I’m turning it into an Aldi furnished paradise. It will be my Aldi palace. I may even decorate one of the rooms in Aldi’s well-known colours.”
“And as for those people who troll me because of my Aldi addiction I don’t care. They’re simply jealous. I am a proud Aldi aficionado.”
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