Trader Joe's Trader Joe's Trader Joe's is an American chain of grocery stores based in Monrovia, California. By 2015, it was a competitor in "fresh format" grocery stores in the United States. As of October 12, 2017, Trader Joe's had 474 stores nationwide in 43 states and in Washington, D.C. The first Trader Joe's store was opened by founder Joe Coulombe in 1967 in Pasadena, California. Starting in 1979, it was owned by German entrepreneur Theo Albrecht, until his death in 2010, when ownership passed to his heirs. Trader Joe's is a subsidiary of German supermarket chain ALDI Nord. The company has
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