When did Aldi buy Trader Joe's?
In 1976, Aldi Süd opened its first store in the United States in Iowa, and, in 1979, Aldi Nord acquired Trader Joe's.
In 1979, meanwhile, Aldi Nord purchased the U.S. operations of Trader Joe's, which had been founded in California in 1958. Trader Joe's operates as a separate division of the parent. The bottom line: there is not, and never has been, joint ownership of Aldi and Trader Joe's in the U.S. market.
Trader Joe's, although it may be based in Southern California, is actually owned by Albrecht Discounts. The company was purchased back in 1979, long before it hit the cultural mainstream.
Trader Joe's is owned by a German private company called Aldi Nord, which is a part of the Aldi Group. Aldi Nord and its sister company, Aldi Süd, were founded in 1946 by brothers Theo and Karl Albrecht. In 1979, Aldi Nord acquired the Trader Joe's chain, which operated in southern California at the time.
Aldi said that the acquisition supports its long-term growth strategy in the U.S. The Winn-Dixie and Harveys supermarkets are located in the Southeast – in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. There are several good reasons why this Aldi acquisition makes sense for both parties.
After decades of running Trader Joe's, the owner of Aldi Nord, Theo Albrecht, purchased Trader Joe's from Joe Coulombe in 1979. Despite the ownership change, Coulombe stayed on as CEO until 1987. The Albrecht estate continues to own Trader Joe's today.
Trader Joe's is named after its founder, Joe Coulombe. The company began in 1958 as a Greater Los Angeles area chain known as Pronto Market convenience stores.
In 1962, they introduced the name Aldi—short for Albrecht-Diskont, which translates into English as "Albrecht Discount". Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd have been financially and legally separate since 1966. The individual groups were originally owned and managed jointly by the brothers.
For those who are stunned to learn Trader Joe's isn't just an Aldi subsidiary but that there are two Aldis, let's take a step back. CNBC explains Aldi was originally founded as a suburban German corner store which brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht inherited after World War II.
Why did Aldi and Trader Joe's split?
Trader Joes is owned by the owner of Aldi Nord. But the Aldi stores you see in the US are owned by Aldi Süd. The two are completely separate companies, that split off from each other in the 1960's, when the founding brothers couldn't agree on whether or not to sell cigarettes.
Owned by the German retail company, Aldi Nord, Trader Joe's is one of the most popular grocery chains in the United States, and it is often viewed with fondness, like a light-hearted, quirky neighborhood farmer that brings you interesting things to eat.
The Albrecht family, who own Aldi and Trader Joe's, has been historically secretive, and there is a lot that's unknown about their personal lives.
Aldi shocked the grocery store marketplace a couple weeks ago when it announced it had acquired 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets stores. In a separate deal, the pharmacies at the Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets were handed over to Walgreens and CVS.
Since Aldi is split into two, per Forbes, Trader Joe's was officially bought by the Aldi Nord branch. According to Fortune, the family was initially drawn to the Trader Joe's brand because it seemed like a good investment opportunity, with its fanbase already growing immensely back in the 70s.
Within the United States, Aldi sources its products both domestically and from abroad. Aldi's products are made in China, the United Kingdom, and Germany, among others. However, it should be fairly easy to determine which products are made in the United States and which are imported internationally.
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Aldi's purchase of Winn-Dixie sets up a powerful force in grocery, report says. The German grocer's move to absorb the chain could resonate far beyond the Sunshine State, according to research released Tuesday by Dunnhumby.
The original store had a typical convenience shop assortment of groceries, along with discounted magazines, books, socks and hosiery, records and photo finishing. The big draw, however, was the alcohol selection. The original Trader Joe's in Pasadena, California. It opened in 1967.
The bell is rung one, two, or three times to ask for help and draw the attention of the captain and crew that are spread out across the store. (TJ's employees are called crew and managers are called captains. Both the names and the bells are a nod to the store's nautical theme.)
Who is Aldi's brother?
Theodor Paul Albrecht (German: [ˈalbʁɛçt]; 28 March 1922 – 24 July 2010) was a German entrepreneur. He established the discount supermarket chain Aldi with his brother Karl Albrecht. In 2010, Theo was ranked by Forbes as the 31st richest person in the world, with a net worth of $16.7 billion.
Does Trader Joe's offer franchising opportunities? No. Trader Joe's is a privately held company.
Instead of calling their workers employees, Trader Joe's has nautical titles for positions. crew members are entry-level workers. Merchants are crew members who've received recognition for stellar customer service.
So, the common myth runs that ALDI is the same as Trader Joe's, just operating under a different name. What is this? Nope! ALDI and Trader Joe's do not share the same parent company, have no joint ownership, and are independently operated.
But, you can find the Trader Joe's name on products at Aldi…in Germany. The difference is, if you're in the northern part of the country, the stores are Aldi Nord (North), the company that owns Trader Joe's. The company that operates Aldi stores in the U.S. is Aldi Sud (South).
