Aldi Special Buys: best and weirdest finds by Aldi customers

The local supermarket doesn’t seem like the kind of store you would camp out for as if a new iPhone is about to drop. But Aldi does things a little differently...

There may be only one store on earth where you can get a cornet, a toboggan and a smoke machine in the same aisle.

The Aldi centre aisle – the place where the so-called Special Buys live – has attracted a cult following over the years among thrifty shoppers looking for niche items at bargain prices.

For the uninitiated wondering why anyone would line up for a supermarket at 8am on a Saturday morning, the Special Buys have dropped every Wednesday and Saturday at Aldis across the nation since the store came to Australia 20 years ago.

Special Buys include – well, pretty much everything, from musical instruments to rocking chairs, from electronics to cookware.

Important question: what's the most centre aisle of Aldi item? What is the peak Aldi centre aisle item? Is it an off-brand hibachi grill, or an inflatable paddleboard? What is it? (I'm writing a yarn.)

— Eliza Barr (@ElizaJBarr) April 23, 2021

“Fan favourites have included our renowned snow gear, cast-iron cookware, televisions, camping range and even gardening tools,” an Aldi spokeswoman told the St George Shire Standard.

“So while our customers may be ducking in for bread and milk, there is no denying they might walk out with a 2.1 Channel Soundbar or a timber garden umbrella.”

Every week the hype begins anew when the catalogue drops ahead of the Wednesday and Saturday Special Buy launches.

I once saw unicycles next to camping toilets.

— Lucy Carne (@lucycarne) April 23, 2021

Aldi’s snow gear drop is famously one of the store’s most hectic days, with customers clamouring for a rare opportunity to snap up quality snow gear at totally unbeatable prices.

“Customers can look forward to our seasonal Special Buys for Halloween, Oktoberfest, and Christmas, in among the wide range of surprises we have in store for the remainder of the year,” the Aldi spokeswoman said.

“We are always on the lookout for the latest innovative products to keep our customers guessing.”

Ski-wear. Outdoor patio set. Gardening shears. I don't think there's such a thing as "the most centre aisle of Aldi item." The beauty of it is the absolute chaos & unpredictability.

— Joe McCarthy (@JoeMcCarthy24) April 23, 2021

However, the latest Special Buys working customers up into a frenzy are part of the upcoming ceramic cookware drop.

The griddle from the ceramic cookware drop.

Aldi’s ceramic non-stick casserole pot, saucepans, fry pans and griddle in an array of pastel shades – a convincing dupe for Le Creuset’s cult cast iron items – were due in stores on September 15 before Covid shipping delays disrupted the drop.

Customers are now expected to queue up this Saturday (September 25) to get their hands on the cookware – which retails for a tiny fraction of the asking price for legacy brands.

A few years ago, two of my adult children, unbeknownst to each other bought a single traffic cone, just for a joke.

— Andrew Cattermole (@zenandy62) April 23, 2021

“We like to think there are two types of ALDI shoppers,” the spokeswoman said.

“Those who set their alarm clocks and eagerly await the next range of Special Buys, and those who wander in store for their weekly grocery shop and stumble upon the middle aisle of treasures.”

A professor I worked with bought a toboggan. We live on the Gold Coast

— jennifer maffey (@jmaffey) April 23, 2021

Went for milk, came back with chainsaw. Forgot milk

— Mark Travers (@mark_travers) April 23, 2021

Another cult item is the wingback rocking chair, which drops with Aldi’s baby collection each year and – as always – is just a fraction of what you would pay for a similar rocker from any other furniture brand.

The cult wingback rocking chair.

In March 2020, uninformed onlookers might have mistaken an enormous, snaking queue of shoppers at Aldi Surry Hills for panic buyers gearing up for the first pandemic in their lifetime.

As it turns out, that was simply the day the premium espresso machine, linen sheets and cut-price enamel bakeware dropped in store.

Police have just arrived at Aldi on Oxford St to supervise shopping as the store prepares to open. People are queued all the way to the street. By contrast the nearby IGA is positively sleepy - just a handful of people inside and it looks quite well-stocked. pic.twitter.com/oCROZsXVbB

— Eliza Barr (@ElizaJBarr) March 18, 2020