Theo Albrecht the United States. Aldi and Trader Joe's, while owned by the brothers, have separate and distinct ownership and operations. Theo Albrecht and his brother Karl revolutionized the German grocery market with a low-cost business model. They had developed the supermarket as an outgrowth of their mother's small grocery store, which she had opened in 1913, in Essen, after Theo’s father had developed emphysema as a miner. Theodor learned the grocery business from his mother, in order to escape the fate of his father in the mines. He and his brother Karl developed Albrecht Diskont, one of Europe’s largest chains of
Continente (Supermarket) Continente (Supermarket) Continente is a retail chain that belongs to Sonae Distribuição, the largest retailer in Portugal. The hypermarket Continente chain is in spread all over continental Portugal as well on Madeira and in Azores. The supermarket chain Continente Modelo, formerly named just Modelo, has also a nationwide presence. Sonae Distribuição, SGPS, SA, is a subsidiary company of Sonae SGPS. Sonae Distribuição started in 1985 by the merger of two large retailers, Modelo and Continente. Modelo was owned by the Sonae holding, while Continente was the Portuguese and Spanish operation of the French retailer Promodès, known by the ensign Continent