Trader Joe's Trader Joe's Trader Joe's is an American chain of grocery stores based in Monrovia, California. By 2015, it was a competitor in "fresh format" grocery stores in the United States. As of October 12, 2017, Trader Joe's had 474 stores nationwide in 43 states and in Washington, D.C. The first Trader Joe's store was opened by founder Joe Coulombe in 1967 in Pasadena, California. Starting in 1979, it was owned by German entrepreneur Theo Albrecht, until his death in 2010, when ownership passed to his heirs. Trader Joe's is a subsidiary of German supermarket chain ALDI Nord. The company has
Theo Albrecht Albrecht family’s personal life. The Albrecht family are known to be very reclusive and described by Forbes as ‘more reclusive than the yeti’. Theodor was rarely pictured by photographers and he never made a public statement. He was also claimed to be a devout Roman Catholic. The last published photo of Theo Albrecht dates to 1971, one day after his kidnapping. Another photo of the two Albrecht brothers together was taken in 1987 by journalist Franz Ruch. Theodor and his brother Karl were once said to own an island located in the North Sea where they would indulge in their