Cheapo German supermarket chain thinks we're ripe for the picking
By adamg - Wed, 05/06/2009 - 1:21pm.
Jon Chesto reports that Aldi has opened its first Massachusetts store, in Raynham.
Ed. conflicted note: I have a friend, who grew up in Germany, who swears by Aldi. But I gotta tell you, one of the things I least like to do on our annual Christmastime trips to Illinois is shopping at the local Aldi. Imagine if Building 19 were taken over by Scrooge and they got rid of all the wacky circulars and signs and stuff and then they went into the supermarket business. Welcome to hell Aldi.
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Isn't Aldi the parent
Isn't Aldi the parent company of Trader Joe's?
Trader joes?
You do realize that Trader Joes and Aldi are run by the same people. So, they do own stores in MA, but under a different name.
AO
Perhaps, but ...
Having actually been in both a Trader Joe's and an Aldi (an American Aldi, that is), saying they're both owned by the same company is kind of like saying a Saab and an Aveo are the same because they're both sold by GM.
Yeah, but no.
Aldi refers to two seperate supermarket groups. Trader Joe's is owned by Aldi Nord and Aldi in the US is owned and operated by Aldi Süd. Aldi Nord operates in Northern Germany and Aldi Sud operates in Southern Germany.
What they seem to have in common
is almost exclusive dependence on private-label branding. Beyond that, though, they sound very different from each other.
Aldi has had stores in Boston for a while
They're called Trader Joe's. Yup, Aldi owns Trader Joes.
Which is exactly why
they need to open a Lidl or an Edeka, two other German discount supermarkets to make it worthwhile to compete. Really though, the markets are nothing special without their German food products (chocolate, Westfalen ham, European style yogurt, etc). My friend in Berlin lives directly across from a Lidl -it's a bit like the description above, a little messy with cheap and products of decent quality that you have to pick out of boxes. The two largest sections in Lidl, if I recall correctly, were the chocolate and alcohol sections..
Follow link; read article; find full Trader Joe's story
If you follow the link to the story (which Adam provided above), you'll find this helpful information about the Aldi/Trader Joe's connection:
"...The Trader Joe's chain, by the way, is a distant relative, with a connection to the Aldi Nord group, while the U.S. Aldi brand is part of the Aldi Sud group...."
Boston will be a second-class city until...
...until they open a Shuckli or at least a couple of Gespatzen outlets.
Promising
I saw a report about the chain on the national news a few months ago. I was hoping it would spread this way.
Makes complete sense that
Makes complete sense that Trader Joe's and ALDI are somehow related. I love ALDI, lived off of one while attending university in Germany, but it's the ultimate in no frills...but, lots of great deals available if you keep up with their circulars. I still have and use a tent I bought at one 10 years ago for ~20 bucks.