Who Owns ALDI

Who owns aldi stores in Australia?

The Albrecht family own ALDI (short for Albrecht discount). It was started by Karl Hans Albrecht and his brother Theo in Germany in 1946. Today, their network has over 10,000 stores and serves millions of people across three continents.

Karl Hans Albrecht, Germany’s richest man and second richest in the euro zone, founded the German discount super market chain Aldi with co founder and brother Theo. Karl took over his mother’s small grocery store with his brother and that is how it all started. Who would have thought a small grocery store would become a grocery giant around the world.

Who owns ALDI — An image dated 1930 of employees of Karl Albrecht Spiritousen and Lebensmittel shop in Essen, Germany.

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The key to growth was keeping the prices lower than competitors. This led to AlDI’s popularity in post-World War II Germany.

After expanding internationally across mainland Europe, the first Aldi store opened in the US, in Iowa, in 1976

ALDI has thousands of locations in North America and Europe. The chain opened its first location in Sydney, Australia, in 2001, and since then it has been competing with Australian supermarkets like Woolworths and Coles. In the past two decades, Aldi has opened over 500 locations in Australia alone.

As a budget shopper living in Australia, Aldi is one of the cheapest options for buying groceries in this country. Considering food prices are among the highest in the world in Australia, Aldi is a great place to shop if you’re on a budget.

Australians love shopping at ALDI stores thanks to its low prices. You can buy fresh produce and quality products at low prices.

Aldi is Two Companies

The first thing you need to know about “Aldi” is that, technically speaking, it refers to two different companies

Aldi Nord

Aldi Nord is known more formally as ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG.

The company was founded by younger brother Theodor “Theo” Albrecht, who ran the company until his death in 2010 at the age of 88, at which point company ownership passed on to his children and grandchildren. At the time of his death he was the 31st richest man in the world, with a net worth of over $16 billion.

The family’s tradition of secrecy continued after his death: when Theo’s sun Berthold died in 2012 at the age of 58, the public was not informed of Berthold’s passing until a full month after his burial.

Aldi Nord boasts more than 60,000 workers in nine countries, nearly all of them in Western Europe save Poland.

Aldi Süd

Aldi Süd is known more formally as ALDI SÜD GmbH & Co. oHG. The company is headquartered in Mülheim, Germany.

Aldi Süd was founded by older brother Karl Albrecht, who ran the company until his death in 2014 at the age of 94, at which time his two children took ownership of the company. At the time of his passing he was worth over $29 billion, and was in 2010 the 10th richest person in the world, 21 spots ahead of his brother. He was the richest man in Germany for much of his life, including his later years.

Karl also didn’t apepared much in public or in press, similar to his brother.

As the difference in net worth between Karl and Theo may suggest, Aldi Süd is the larger of the two Aldi companies. Aldi Süd currently has over 138,000 employees in eleven different countries. Aldi Süd’s logo is probably the more familiar of the two for most people reading this, as this is the Aldi that has established stores in the English-speaking world, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and, of course, the United States.

All of that growth, both of Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd, continues to be overseen by a very wealthy family in Germany that continues to stay out of the public eye.