Aldi may appear as if they were a single enterprise with certain store brands or when negotiating with contractor companies. The individual groups were originally owned and managed jointly by the brothers. Karl Albrecht, who died in 2014, retained ownership of Aldi Süd with a personal wealth of €17.2 billion that made him the richest man in Germany. The co-owners of Aldi Nord, Berthold and Theo Albrecht Jr. came close behind at €16 billion. Dieter Schwarz, owner of Lidl and Kaufland came in third, with a fortune of €11.5 billion. Aldi started to expand internationally in 1967, when Aldi Süd acquired
Countdown (supermarket) Countdown (supermarket) Countdown is a New Zealand full-service supermarket chain and subsidiary of Woolworths NZ, itself a subsidiary of Australia's Woolworths Limited. Countdown stores are normally larger than the average New Zealand supermarket. The first Countdown store opened in 1981 and the chain has expanded to 180 stores . It is the largest single supermarket chain in New Zealand in terms of number of stores, although the rival Four Square chain has a larger number of premises including smaller retail stores in rural areas. In May 1981, the first Countdown market opened at Northlands Mall in Papanui, Christchurch. This business