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
Dia (supermarket chain) Dia (supermarket chain) Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación, S.A. (DIA) is a Spanish international hard-discount supermarket chain founded in 1979 which as of 2012 operates 6,914 stores internationally, making it Europe's third largest food sector franchiser. It has also owned Schlecker in Spain and Portugal since 2013. The company is headed by the Venezuelan-born Ana María Llopis. Dia is a discount supermarket chain which follows a policy of reduction of prices by means of minimizing operational costs. The furniture and decoration of the store are minimal. Costs are also reduced by limiting the choice of products to a narrow selection of