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Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Compagnie, oHG
Privately held company
Industry Retail
Founder Karl Albrecht
Theo Albrecht
Headquarters Essen, Germany (Aldi Nord)
Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany (Aldi Süd)
Number of locations
9,221
Area served
Global
Key people
Matthew Barnes (CEO, UK Operations)
Products Discount store, Supermarket
Revenue Increase 53 billion (2009)
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2015
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Aldi is a supermarket in Germany and in most parts of the European Union. Aldi shops are also in Australia 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
 Germany Aldi Nord 1946 2,400
Aldi Süd 1946 1,790
 Australia Aldi Süd 2001 311
 Austria Hofer Süd 1968 430
 Belgium Aldi Nord 1976 380
 Denmark Aldi Nord 1977 244
 France Aldi Nord 1988 680
 Hungary Aldi Süd 2008 75
 Ireland Aldi Süd 1998 105
 Luxembourg Aldi Nord 1990 12
 Netherlands Aldi Nord 1973 406
 Poland Aldi Nord 2008 100
 Portugal Aldi Nord 2006 36
 Slovenia Hofer Süd 2005 71
 Spain Aldi Nord 2002 250
 Switzerland Aldi Suisse Süd 2005 130
 United Kingdom Aldi Süd 1990 550
 United States Aldi Süd 1976 1,200
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.

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See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Aldi para niños

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