The Unexpected Connection Between Trader Joe's And Aldi

If you're reading a discussion of Aldi and Trader Joe's on the internet, chances are good someone will pipe up and say, "They're the same thing." While that's not true at all, they do have an unexpected connection from far back in what is, indeed, their shared histories. Once upon a time, at the start of the 20th century, there were two brothers, Karl and Theo Albrecht, whose mother ran a grocery store in the town of Essen, Germany.

After World War II, as Germany was reconstructing, the two brothers assumed ownership of the store. Success meant expansion, and they gradually opened up more and more locations, until 1960, when they had 300 stores in operation. But that was the year the two brothers quarreled over the direction of the company and ended up parting ways, cutting the business in half and becoming Aldi Nord (north) and Aldi Süd (south).

Aldi Süd turned into what we know in the U.S. as Aldi, with its no-frills shopping experience and incredibly cheap groceries. However, Aldi Nord entered the American market through the eclectic grocery chain Trader Joe's.

When the brothers Albrecht had their falling out in 1960 — over whether or not to sell cigarettes — and broke into two separate grocery entities, that was the end of their totally shared operations. Since 1966, the two brothers' businesses have been managed as completely separate entities, with different logos (the Aldi Nord logo is on a white background, while the Aldi Süd logo is on a navy background, for starters) and different points of entry into international expansion.

For example, Aldi Süd was the first to open locations outside of Germany in 1967; Aldi Nord followed not too long after, in 1973. Aldi Süd was also the first to come to America, in 1976. It has since established itself as Aldi Inc., the fastest-growing grocery chain in the U.S., with rapid expansion expected in 2025. As mentioned, Aldi Nord purchased Trader Joe's from its founder in the late 1970s, and it has been operating that chain ever since, becoming royalty in the frozen food market. But even though the two companies are no longer connected, they do share market space — as well as the space in all of our hearts.