ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany. The chain is made up of two separate groups, ALDI Nord (North - operating as ALDI MARKT), headquartered in Essen, andALDI Süd (South - operating as Aldi Süd), headquartered in Mülheim an der Ruhr, which operate independently from each other within specific market boundaries. The individual groups were originally owned and managed by brothers Karl Albrecht and Theo Albrecht; Karl has since retired and is Germany's richest man. Theo was Germany's second richest man until his death in July 2010.Aldi's German operations currently consist of Aldi Nord's 35 individual regional companies with about 2,500 stores in western, northern, and eastern Germany, and Aldi Süd's 31 regional companies with 1,600 stores in western and southern Germany. Internationally, Aldi Nord operates in Denmark, France, the Benelux countries, the Iberian peninsula and Poland, while Aldi Süd operates in countries including Ireland, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Greece,Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia (operating as Hofer in Austria and Slovenia) and Australia. In the United States, Aldi Nord is the parent company of the Trader Joe's niche food stores, while Aldi Süd operates the regular Aldi stores in the country.According to a survey conducted in 2002 by the German market research institute Forsa, 95% of blue-collar workers, 88% of white-collar workers, 84% of public servants and 80% of self-employed Germans shop at Aldi.One of Aldi's direct competitors, both nationally and internationally, is Lidl.
Revenue € 53 billion (2009)