Aldi since 2009. Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common brand of two German family owned discount supermarket chains with over 10,000 stores in 20 countries, and an estimated combined turnover of more than €50 billion. Based in Germany, the chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946 when they took over their mother's store in Essen, which had been in operation since 1913. The business was split into two separate groups in 1960, that later became Aldi Nord, headquartered in Essen, and Aldi Süd, headquartered in Mülheim. In 1962, they introduced the name Aldi (a syllabic
Theo Albrecht Theodor was conscripted into the Wehrmacht where Theodor served with Rommel’s Afrika Korps in an army division. During World War II (1943?) Theodor was captured by the Americans in Tunisia as a prisoner of war, but in 1946 he returned to Germany. It was said that his humble and harsh childhood formed Theodor’s early appreciation for the value of money. Theodor’s kidnapping in 1971 partially explains his and the family’s hermit-like manner of existence. The kidnapping caused him to drive to work using a different route every day in an armored automobile. Little is known about Theodor Albrecht and the