The Aldi Group is based in
Essen,
Germany.
Karl and
Theodor (or "Theo") Albrecht
opened the first Aldi store together in
1960.
Aldi = Albrecht Discount
In 1961 (just one year after the company formed), Aldi split into Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord.
Theo ran Aldi Nord, Karl took Aldi Süd. This North/South divide initially just involved dividing
Germany pretty much equally in half. Gradually, Aldi Nord grew across much of northern Europe.
Great Britain and Ireland both went to Aldi Süd, which has also opened stores in the USA
(in 1976) and Australia (in 2001). Today the two companies are run totally independently. They no longer even
share stock.
ALDI Nord
Total = 3630 stores
ALDI Süd
Total = 2417 stores
(Number of stores in each country (in 2001) according to manager-magazin.de [1])
Aldi concepts
Aldi is a
discount retailer. The "ALDI promise", a phrase you'll see on their corporate websites as a kind of
mission statement, is
Top quality at incredibly low prices - guaranteed.
To be able to offer the cheapest possible goods they rely on
simplicity and
efficiency. Here are some
of the common features of an Aldi store.
- Limited assortment.
Aldi stocks a very limited range of product lines. Aldi Nord stores stock around 700 different products, while Aldi Süd stores sell more like 600.
Compares this to Tesco, which stocks around 50,000 different product lines [2].
- "There’s no such thing as a free carrier bag"
Rather than include the cost of carrier bags in the
goods sold, Aldi gives you the option to buy them if you need them. This is actually a sound concept. For one thing
it encourages re-use.
- Don't try the phone book
Aldi stores do not have listed telephone numbers. All inquiries and complaints must be made in person to
the duty manager in-store. This, of course, saves having to employ anyone to answer the telephone. Nor do they
employ bag-packers.
- Deposits for shopping carts
Shopping carts are securely locked. They are freed by a deposit, which is later refunded
when the cart is returned. (The American Aldi site incorrectly calls this a 'rental' system. I understand that
deposits for shopping carts is currently very rare in the USA, though it is common (even in non-discount stores) across Europe).
A system of refunded deposits on trolleys does reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment, and the store spends no money
on employing herders.
- Few shelves.
Goods are stacked on the floor instead. Stock is wheeled in, still on its shipping pallets, and sold in
opened cartons. This saves the laborious process of shelf-stacking. Also, most of the stock is already in-store.
- Not open 24/7
Most stores are closed Sundays, and are open roughly between 9am and 7pm other days.
The two brothers, Karl and Theo Albrecht, have made a lot of money by selling things for very little money.
They are said to be the richest men in Europe.
Forbes, in 2001, put their combined worth
at $27 billion
[3]. This fame has caused them problems though. In 1971, Theo Albrecht was kidnapped. His family successfully
arranged his release for a ransom of $2,100,000
[4]
General info:
ALDI - http://www.aldi.com/ (the international corporate website)
Shopping Centers Today - http://www.icsc.org/srch/sct/current/sct0800/11.html (good background. Detail on competitors)
Professional Assignments Group http://www.pag.com.au/articles/aldi.htm (great detail about most aspects of the store)
References:
[1] - manager-magazin.de - http://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/artikel/0,2828,bild-146046-167944,00.html
[2] - Frontier Economics - http://www.frontier-economics.com/news%20and%20publications/frontier%20publications/competition%20bulletins/competition%20bulletin%20november%202000.pdf
[3] - Forbes - http://www.forbes.com/2001/06/21/billionairesindex_print.html
[4] - Encyclopædia Britannica (Intermediate) - http://search.ebi.eb.com/ebi/article/0,6101,34988,00.html