Finally got to the Aldi closest to me in NC the other day. The 'arrival aisle' (the one stacked with boxes of mostly 'snack items' was fine. The rest of the store was in some disarray. I think instead of being checkout people, the few staff may have to spend much of their time putting things back in order (the non-food items in the middle in particular) since customers don't seem to give a darn about what they pull down and play with as they pass. Nearly tripped over several 'patio' tables that were mid-aisle with a bunch of large 'outside toys' that several children were happily playing with to the beat of a VERY tired toddler whose mother didn't even seem to notice his cacophony (which is not really the store can control but the noise was deafening for the full 20 minutes I was there).
The produce and meat areas were almost bare and definitely didn't invite me to go over and survey their contents so I steered clear except to pass by to see if they were 'clean' - nope. Anyway, I poked around (without a cart) and picked up a few small items (mostly from the snack aisle). I take a while to browse because I always have to try to read the tiny ingredients labels - getting harder and harder to see these days. 
Check out was ok except that I picked up what I thought was ONE bag to put my purchases in and it turned out there were 2 stuck together. I didn't need 2 so I tried to return one quickly but as I had been charged for it, the checker gave me a really dirty look so I decided to 'donate' the bag to the guy behind me who I heard saying something about how it would be difficult to carry all he had without them but he didn't have enough money ($.11 with tax per) to buy any.
The line wasn't long and moved quickly but there was only 1 cashier there too. There were 2 other people in the store that I noticed - and both were doing the cleanup of garden items on aisle 2 all the time I was there (and neither was moving particularly swiftly at that task). In their defense though, there was a strange little old lady who stopped every shopper (me included), and especially engaged the staff, to talk and talk and talk - mostly about the storm the night before and how scared she was that trees would fall on her trailer - and blocked each aisle with her cart set a-kilter as she slowly moved around the store adding up every penny on her calculator and (when not engaging others) mumbling to herself.
At any rate, unless I am in the mood for a few small 'snack items' like chocolate, I will not be returning to Aldi often. I won't chase all over town for butter (don't use much here anyway) to save a few cents and I can't use commercially prepared mayo because most is made with soy oil these days. This particular Aldi IS better than the one on the other side of town but it is also newer. I would not go back to the other one at all - it was so bad last time I was there I was put off entirely. Aldi is just not MY favorite place. Happy though if it works for others! 