Aldi 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 abbreviation for
Archduke Karl Albrecht of Austria Archduke Karl Albrecht of Austria Archduke Karl Albrecht of Austria-Teschen ("Karl Albrecht Nikolaus Leo Gratianus von Österreich", later "Karl Albrecht Habsburg-Lothringen", since 1919 – "Karol Olbracht Habsburg-Lotaryński"; (Pula, 18 December 1888 – Östervik, near Stockholm, 17 March 1951). He was an Austrian archduke, the oldest son of Archduke Charles Stephen and Archduchess Maria Theresia, Princess of Tuscany. He was a landowner in Żywiec, a colonel of artillery in both the Imperial Austro-Hungarian Army (cavalry) and the Polish Army, and the 1,175th knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1910, etc. In 1918 and again in 1939 he became