California Has 99 of the Cheapest Grocery Store. WA and OR have Zero

California seems so greedy. They have all of the best amusement parks with Knott's Berry Farm, Six Flags, Sea World, and, of course, Disneyland. They have Hollywood and great beaches and all kinds of cool stuff.

We, in the Pacific Northwest, are a bit more humble and keep it a bit more simple than our friends in SoCal.

However, there is one pretty cool thing that California has that we're lacking and that's one of the best grocery stores you may have never experienced.

Aldi.

Aldi stores are found in 39 states across the US. Washington, Oregon, and even Idaho are lacking in those, though I wish we had them. I wish we had even one to visit. Maybe sometime in the future.

Our friends in California have 99 Aldi locations including a store in Anaheim, Long Beach, Fresno, two in San Diego and, to add insult to injury, they even have one in Palm Springs.

If Palm Springs has an Aldi, it only makes sense that the Palm Springs of Washington has one as well.

What makes Aldi stores so unique is how they're presented. They're a little like Trader Joe's in the unique-factor, but still have their own twist. They feature local items depending on the location, items of their own brand name, they leave most in boxes for easier to stack on shelves and, very European-style, the cashiers sit in chairs as all stores should (that whole 'if you're not standing, you're not working' mantra should have died in the '70s) and if you're going to use a shopping cart, it'll cost you a 25-cent deposit that you'll get back when you return it so people are much more apt to return their carts instead of leaving them in the parking lot.

I think they're neat stores and would love to see one here. It's not the type of store I'd shop for a month's worth of groceries but one I'd visit every so often just to see what they have.

Here's hoping Yakima or even anywhere in Washington gets an Aldi sometime. More and more seem to keep popping up.