Hildesheim University for Science and Applied Arts

ALDI in the international market

Index

Picture Index 3

Abbreviation Index 4

1. Foundation & History 5

2. The Company 6

2.1. Structure 6
2.2. Strategy 8

3. Aldi North / South 9

3.1. Aldi National 9
3.2. Aldi International 10

4. Aldi in English-language countries 11

4.1. United States of America 11
4.2. Australia 12

5. The reason for Aldi´s worldwide success 13

Literature 14

1. Foundation & History

In 1920 and 1922 Karl and Theo Albrecht, the famous Aldi brothers, were born as sons of a miner which lives in Schonebeck a suburb of Essen. On account of the fathers unemployment the mother founded a grocery-store. Both brothers learned a commercial profession in a retail trade. In the beginning of the Second World War they had to serve for military service. After the war they took over their parents` grocery-store. Step by step they expanded to a chain of stores. In 1948 they founded the "ALbrecht DIscount" company, which was named ALDI later on. In the Ruhrgebiet, where the foundation stone of Aldi was laid, the Albrechts already had 13 grocery stores, which expanded more and more. In 1955 the enterprise already counted 101 subsidiaries, in the following five years the number of subsidiaries rose to 300. The expansion of the common enterprise hardly came to an end. In 1961 the common act came to an end because both brothers went on with separate companies. Karl Albrecht ran the chain of stores on the South side of the Ruhr and Theo Albrecht took over the business in the North. The simple arranged Aldi subsidiaries spread rapidly in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 300 towns the brothers ran 600 Aldi subsidiaries. In 1962 the first well-know "bona fide" Aldi supermarket opened in Dortmund.

In 1976 the company developed an international esteem due to expansion to overseas . Later on the chain of stores "Benner Tea of Lowa", which was founded in USA, have been taken over and got the new name "Aldi-Benner". After the change to the Aldi purchasing independent private limited (liability) company & Co. OHG additional expansions followed abroad in the Eighties till to the beginning of the Nineties, including France an Great Britain. In the end of the Nineties Aldi has been developed to one of the biggest commercial enterprise of Europe. In 1997 just in Germany Aldi pursued 3,000 subsidiaries. In 1993 Aldi North has been charged from Theo Albrecht to his son Berthold Junior. Aldi South has been charged from Karl Albrecht to his son Karl Junior. Both of the brothers of the Aldi companies are considered to be the richest men in Germany and are under the richest men of the world. Their fortune mount to 28 Billion EUR, whereas Theo Albrecht owns 15 Billion EUR and Karl Albrecht owns 13 Billion EUR.¹

2. The Company

2.1. Structure

The great success of the company is based on structure and strategy only. Today the company operates as two separate groups, called ALDI North and ALDI South. Aldi´s structure is based on a typical discounter with minimal stuff and minimal service. The groceries are left in there boxes on pallets they came in with.

The Aldi companies are lawful independent private limited (liability) company & Co. limited partnerships. They are leaded from a single representation entitled manager and act in a geographic clear defined region with approximately 50 subsidiaries. This decentralized structure makes it possible to have flat hierarchies, which leads to fast promotion prospects for the employee. Aldi only occupies positions of leadership out of there own ranks. ²

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1 http://www.gilthserano.de/tow/germany/top-german-richpeople.html

2 Konsequent einfach, Die ALDI-Erfolgsstory; Dieter Brandes; Wilhelm Heyne Verlag München