Aldi

Aldi is a supermarket in Germany and in most parts of the European Union. Aldi shops are also in Australia, the UK and the United States. Most German towns and villages have at least one Aldi shop. There are about 4,100 stores in Germany, and 7,600 worldwide. The name of the shop stands for ALbrecht-DIscount.

The company is a food retailer, but it also sells non-food at times. In the 1990s, Aldi often sold computers that were sought after. Aldi has a reputation for being cheap. It forces its suppliers to sell to them at low prices.

 History 
The company was started in 1913 as a family grocery business in Essen. In 1946, brothers Karl Albrecht (1920-2014) and Theo Albrecht (1922-2010) took over the business from their mother. Theo had been held by the US in a prisoner of war camp. They started the idea of discount shops in Germany. They decided to have a limited range of goods and sell them at a discount price. In 1960, the company was split into Aldi Nord (Aldi North) under the control of Theo, and Aldi Süd (Aldi South) under the control of Karl. The brothers became billionaires. In 2009 Karl's wealth was estimated to be €25 billion. Theo was kidnapped in 1971 and held prisoner for 17 days until a seven million mark ransom was paid. The family have avoided publicity and there are few known photographs of them.

 Geographic distribution 
 Country  Name  Aldi group  Since  Outlets   Aldi  Nord  1946  2,400 Aldi Süd  1946  1,790   Aldi  Süd  2001  311   Hofer  Süd  1968  430   Aldi  Nord 1976 380   Aldi  Nord  1977  244   Aldi  Nord  1988  680   Aldi  Süd  2008  75   Aldi  Süd  1998  105   Aldi  Nord  1990  12   Aldi  Nord 1973 406   Aldi  Nord  2008 100   Aldi  Nord  2006  36   Hofer  Süd  2005  71   Aldi  Nord  2002  250   Aldi Suisse  Süd  2005  130   Aldi  Süd  1990  550   Aldi  Süd  1976  1,200"Discount grocer opens North Bergen store" . The Hudson Reporter. 26 March 2013. Trader Joe's  Nord  1979  399 total number of Aldi Nord stores  4,805 total number of Aldi Süd stores  4,430 combined total of Aldi stores  9,235

Australia
Aldi started in Australia in 2001. At the end of 2010 there were 210 Aldi stores in eastern Australia and the company were planning to open 20-30 stores each year. In 2009 the Australian stores made a profit of AU$91.94 million, up 27% on 2008. In January 2024 Aldi was operating 591 stores in Australia.

 United Kingdom 
Aldi opened its 1000th store in the UK in September 2023 - in the affluent town of Woking.  It is the UK’s fourth-biggest grocer by market share and plans to open 500 more.  Sales had increased by 21% in August from a year earlier. It has lower operational costs than other supermarkets and sells mostly own-label products. 

 References 

 Other websites 

 Aldi International (with links to all of Aldi's international websites)
 ALDI Near Me  (ALDI store locator Australia)
Category:1913 establishments in Europe
Category:1910s establishments in Germany
Category:Supermarkets of Germany