Aldi History
ALDI was founded in Essen, Germany in the early 1900s by a woman named Anna Albrecht. Anna and her husband, Karl Sr., had two sons, Karl Albrecht and Theo Albrecht. After World War II, the two sons took over their mother’s grocery company, and by the 1950s they had expanded it into a chain of a dozen supermarkets under the name Albrecht KG.
Karl and Theo had a big fight.Theo wanted to sell tobacco products, like cigarettes, while Karl believed selling them would attract shoplifters. How crazy is that?. So in the early 1960s they decided to split up the company over that disagreement. They each ranan Aldi’s territory: north and south.
A lot of shoppers have a vague idea that Aldi and Trader Joe’s are related. Theo took notice of a small but growing chain of stores in California founded by a man named Joe Coulombe. Coulombe started a chain of convenience stores called Pronto Market, modeled on 7-Eleven. Then he moved into the grocery business. Here’s the amazing part of this story. Inspired by a vacation in the Caribbean, where he saw American travelers happy at Tiki Bars, he decided to create a Tiki Bar grocery store: Trader Joe’s.
Theo Albrecht, owner of Aldi Nord, decided Trader Joe’s could be foothold into the United States. He offered to buy Trader Joe’s from Coulombe. Coulombe agreed, selling the company in 1979, although he stayed on as the chief executive of Trader Joe’s until 1988.
So Aldi does own Trader Joe’s … but not the Aldi that Americans are familiar with. Aldi Nord owns Trader Joe’s and Aldi Sud owns Aldi US. Different Aldis.
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