The offshoot of Aldi Nord is successful in the USA.
(Photo: Frank Rothe / VISUM)
new York Cheerful employees in Hawaiian shirts asking customers how they are in the supermarket, hand-painted signs on the walls – and lower prices than in other supermarkets. What sounds like an unreal world is reality in many stores of the US supermarket chain Trader Joe’s.
In 1967, Joe Coulombe founded the noble discount store in Pasadena, California. Aldi Nord took it over in 1979 – three years after Aldi Süd opened its first US supermarket in Iowa. The Germans mostly leave the American chain free space. “Trader Joe’s and Aldi Nord operate independently,” a spokeswoman for Trader Joe’s explained when asked.
There are no exact figures because the chain, like the German owners Aldi Nord, is concerned about the utmost secrecy. According to estimates by supermarket specialist Progressive Grocer, Trader Joe’s has more than 500 stores in 42 states and now has sales of $15 billion a year.
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