Aldi is a German-based international discount supermarket chain founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946. With almost 10,000 stores in over 20 countries, Aldi is one of the world’s largest privately owned companies.
Aldi’s German operations consist of Aldi Nord, headquartered in Essen, and Aldi Süd, headquartered in Mülheim. Both operate independently and have been known to avoid joint ventures with each other.
The company has its roots in a small grocery store opened by Karl Albrecht in 1913 in a suburb of Essen, Germany. Theo Albrecht took over the store after World War II. By 1950, the Albrecht brothers owned 13 stores in the Ruhr Valley area of Germany.
In 1960, they introduced the name Aldi (a syllabic abbreviation of Albrecht-Diskont), which is pronounced [ˈaldiː] ( listen) in Germany and [ˈældiː] or /ˈɑːldi/ ( listen) in most English-speaking countries. In 1962, they expanded their business to the United States with the opening of an Aldi store in Iowa. The first UK Aldi store opened in 1991.
Aldi Nord owns Trader Joe’s in the United States; both are controlled by the Albrecht family.
Aldi has two separate groups that operate independently: Aldi Nord, based in Essen, and Aldi Süd, based in Mülheim an der Ruhr. Both are controlled by the Albrecht family.
Aldi Nord owns the US company Trader Joe’s; both are controlled by the Albrecht family.
The brothers who own Aldi – Karl and Theo Albrecht – are two of the richest men in Germany with a net worth of $17.2 billion each as of March 2018, according to Forbes magazine.
