Aldi

Aldi is the common brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains, Aldi Nord and Aldi Sud, operating over 13,600 stores across 18 countries. The business was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946 when they took over their mother's store in Essen, Germany, and split into two separately owned and operated divisions in 1960, Aldi Nord headquartered in Essen and Aldi Sud in Mulheim. The name Aldi, adopted in 1962, is a syllabic abbreviation of Albrecht Diskont. In the United States both divisions operate, Aldi Sud under its own name and Aldi Nord through its ownership of Trader Joe's.