Aldi’s Big Bags, an aquarium-sized shopping bag with more than five square feet of storage space, sold out in less than 15 minutes, the grocery store says.
The supermarket chain launched a giveaway for 1,000 Big Bags on Sept. 16, and all of the bags were snatched up in a mere 13 minutes, an Aldi representative tells TODAY.com in a statement.
“We know ALDI shoppers love our limited-time drops, but the viral demand for the ALDI Big Bag blew us away,” the rep says. “This was our largest giveaway to date and we know the demand was high for these bags — all 1,000 bags were claimed in just 13 minutes.”
The rep adds that the company knows how much its customers loved the Big Bag, and didn’t rule out the idea of producing more of them.
“We are very aware how many fans wanted to get their hands on a big bag and are taking this into consideration for future promotions,” the rep says. “On the topic of a restock, we’ll never say never.”
Aldi announced the debut of the Big Bag on Sept. 9, which maxes out at 5.5 square feet, or bigger than a carry-on suitcase. The bag measures 36 inches long by 22 inches wide and 16 inches deep, making it about the size of an aquarium.
“Each bag is a metaphor for massive savings… because bigger savings mean bigger hauls, and bigger hauls mean you need a bigger bag. Those viral mini totes? Cute, but they could never,” Aldi said in a news release on Sept. 9.
The supermarket appeared to be throwing shade at the craze for mini canvas and insulated shopping bags sold at stores like Trader Joe’s.
The miniature versions of the classic canvas Trader Joe’s totes, which the retailer said could hold about a dozen apples or a small book with some other items, went viral in March 2024.
The bags, originally sold in four colorways, went for $2.99 in stores, but buyers quickly posted the mini bags on resale websites for upwards of hundreds of dollars.
A spokesperson for Trader Joe’s said in a statement at the time that the mini totes sold out faster than anticipated and before the store had a chance to “promote them in any way.” The spokesperson added that the Trader Joe’s team “do not endorse the re-sale of any of our products, anywhere.”
Trader Joe’s restocked the bags in September 2024, and launched them in stores in four new pastel colors in April 2025. The store also created mini versions of its insulated cooler bags in June, which sell for $3.99, before restocking them in July.
