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Actually they don't share the same parent company, they just both happen[1] to have the exact same name "Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Compagnie, oHG". To differentiate t
by germanier 11y ago
Actually they don't share the same parent company, they just both happen[1] to have the exact same name "Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Compagnie, oHG". To differentiate they are usually called Aldi Nord (owner of Trader Joe's) and Aldi Süd (owner of US Aldi). Although they cooperate closely (and therefore seen as one entity by the antitrust authorities) they are legally, financially, and organizationally completely seperate.
[1]: They split up in 1960 for unknown reasons (it's speculated that it was a dispute about selling cigarettes). They only have stores in the north and south of Germany respectively, hence the geographic names. They also divided the rest of the world between them with the US being the only other country in which both operate.
- cwyers 11y agoI did say sort of for that reason. What I was told, and I have no idea if this is true, is that Aldi split in half so each of the owner's sons could have a company -- Theo Albrecht does run Aldi Nord and Trader Joe's and his brother Karl owns Aldi Sud and the US Aldi's chain.
- germanier 11y agoThey took over the company from their mother n 1945 and split it in 1961, a year after their parents gave them the remaining shares. The exact reason for the split is unknown and there has been much speculation about that. Both brothers died a few years ago but the companies are still run by their families.