The Two German Brothers Behind Aldi and Trader Joe's
Aldi and Trader Joe's both trace back to two German brothers and one family shop in Essen. Here is how the Albrecht business split in two.
One store has quarter carts and shelves of cheap German chocolate. The other has Hawaiian shirts and a cult following for its frozen food. They could hardly feel more different, yet here is a fun bit of grocery trivia: Aldi and Trader Joe's share a family connection through two German brothers. Here is the story of how a small family shop in Germany grew into an international supermarket empire.
How Are Aldi and Trader Joe's Connected?
Aldi and Trader Joe's are connected by family history, but they are separate businesses. Brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht built Aldi and then divided it into two companies, Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord, reportedly after disagreeing over whether to sell cigarettes. Trader Joe's was already an established American chain, started by Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, California, in 1967, when Theo's side, Aldi Nord, bought it in 1979. Karl's side, Aldi Süd, runs the Aldi stores in the United States. So the Aldi near you and the Trader Joe's near you are more like distant cousins than siblings, because they trace back to different halves of the family business.
Trader Joe's draws the same line itself. As quoted by Mental Floss, the Trader Joe's website says the company is "owned by families that also own part of Aldi Nord" and that the two "operate separately." The same page says Trader Joe's has "no business or ownership relationship with Aldi Sud."
This family tree shows how the two stores connect, starting with one shop in Germany.
Who Were the Albrecht Brothers?
The Albrecht brothers grew up in a mining family in Essen, Germany. The Boston Globe reports that their father was a miner disabled by emphysema, so their mother, Anna, ran a food store in a brick row house to support the family. As teenagers, Karl and Theo sold fresh buns from a wooden wagon. Aldi's own company history dates Anna's shop to 1913.
World War II scattered the Albrecht brothers to opposite ends of the fighting. According to the Boston Globe, Karl was wounded and captured on the Russian front, while Theo served in the Afrika Korps and was taken by American troops in Tunisia. Back home, the family shop somehow survived more than 200 Allied bombings of Essen. It was still standing when the brothers returned, and Aldi says they took it over in 1948.
The Albrecht brothers' big idea was to strip a grocery store down to the basics. The Boston Globe describes stores with a limited range of mostly private-label goods, often displayed right in their shipping boxes, which kept spoilage and labor costs low. It worked. The brothers had more than 100 stores by 1955 and more than 300 by 1960. The name Aldi itself is short for Albrecht Discount, according to Supermarket News.
Why Did Aldi Split Into Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd?
Aldi split in two around 1960, when the Albrecht brothers divided Germany between them. Supermarket News dates the split to 1960, while the Boston Globe says 1961. Both agree on the result. Karl took the south, Aldi Süd, and Theo took the north, Aldi Nord. The Globe adds that as the business grew abroad, Karl took over operations in Britain, Australia, and the United States, which is why the Aldi stores in America come from his side.
The popular explanation for the Aldi split is an argument over cigarettes. The Takeout reports that Karl worried cigarettes would invite theft, while Theo thought they would sell well. The brothers were intensely private, so the cigarette story has never been fully confirmed, and Tharawat Magazine, which covers family businesses, says nobody is exactly certain what caused the break. The same article describes the division as amicable, and the two companies kept the Aldi name.
How Did Trader Joe's Join the Family?
Trader Joe's began as an American company with no German connection at all. CBS News reports that Joe Coulombe ran a small chain of convenience stores called Pronto in Southern California, then opened the first Trader Joe's in Pasadena in 1967 after 7-Eleven moved into the area. Coulombe bet that a newly educated class of shoppers would want more interesting food. A fascination with the South Seas gave him the rest of the idea, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which credits it for the "Trader" in the name and the nautical look of the stores.
Coulombe sold Trader Joe's to the Aldi side of the Albrecht family in 1979. Reuters, via NBC News, confirms the 1979 purchase, and Supermarket News identifies Aldi Nord as the side that owns the banner. According to CBS News, Coulombe stayed on as chief executive until 1988, so the store kept its quirky personality under new owners.
Do Aldi and Trader Joe's Work Together?
Aldi and Trader Joe's do not operate as one company in the United States. The Trader Joe's statement quoted by Mental Floss rules out any business or ownership tie with Aldi Süd, the company behind American Aldi stores. The real link runs through Europe. Chowhound reports that shoppers in Germany, Belgium, France, and Spain have occasionally spotted products using the Trader Joe's name in Aldi Nord stores.
Here is how the two American chains compare, using the histories from Aldi and CBS News.
Could Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd Get Back Together?
Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd have at least been reported to be talking about it. Supermarket News relayed a 2025 report from the German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche that the families behind the two companies were holding secret talks about a joint holding company, and it noted that Aldi declined to comment. Reported talks are not the same as a deal, so for shoppers the two chains remain as separate as ever.
Shop Each Store for What It Does Best
Aldi and Trader Joe's share a family story, not a shopping cart. The American Aldi comes from Karl Albrecht's side of the business, and Trader Joe's belongs to the side that grew from Theo's. Enjoy both for what they are, and read more about why Aldi is putting its name on its store brand labels, how Aldi is removing dyes and MSG, and why Mattel makes both Hot Wheels and Matchbox, another pair of famous names with a shared story.
Header photo of an Aldi store by F Delventhal (CC BY 2.0, cropped), Trader Joe's interior photo by Harrison Keely (CC BY 4.0), Rockridge Trader Joe's photo (CC0), and Aldi freezer aisle photo by Phillip Pessar (CC BY 2.0), all via Wikimedia Commons.