Aldi

Aldi (stylised as ALDI[6]) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries.[7][8] The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when they took over their mother's store in Essen. The business was split into two separate groups in 1960, that later became Aldi Nord, headquartered in Essen, and Aldi Süd, headquartered in neighbouring Mülheim.[9][10] In 1962, they introduced the name Aldi (a syllabic abbreviation for Albrecht Diskont),[11] which is pronounced [ˈaldiː] ⓘ. In Germany, Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd have been financially and legally separate since 1966, although both divisions' names may appear as if they were a single enterprise with certain store brands or when negotiating with contractor companies. The formal business name of Aldi Nord is Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Co., while the formal business name of Aldi Süd is ALDI SÜD Dienstleistungs-SE & Co. Each company is owned and operated independently, but they do have contractual business with one another.[12] Aldi's German operations consist of Aldi Nord's 35 individual regional companies with about 2,200 stores in western, northern, and eastern Germany, and Aldi Süd's 32 regional companies with 2,000 stores in western and southern Germany.[13] Internationally, Aldi Nord operates in Belgium, Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Spain, while Aldi Süd operates in Australia, Austria, China, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States. In Austria and Slovenia, Aldi operates stores under the Hofer brand. Aldi Nord also owns the Trader Joe's grocery chain in the United States which operates separately from the group. Aldi Süd owns the Winn-Dixie and Harveys supermarket chains in the southern United States. Aldi is the chief competitor of the similar German discount chain Lidl in several markets.