Trader Joes

[floridacatlover]

Aldi was one German company owned by two brothers. In the late 60's or so, the brothers disagreed about whether to sell cigarettes, so they split the company in two and divided their stores throughout Europe between them based on geography.

Aldi Nord (north) and Aldi Sud (south). Two entirely different companies.

In the 70's, Aldi Sud opened stores in the US.

Also in the 70's, Aldi Nord bought the chain of California-based Trader Joe's, But Trader Joe's still operates independently from Aldi Nord.

HOWEVER, Aldi Sud then opened their own chain of Trader Joe's stores in Europe, LOL

These two brothers really hate each other, and in the early 70's one of them was kidnapped.

So there are two Aldi companies, and each owns a different Trader Joe's company. The Aldi's in the US does not own the US Trader Joe's

Very interesting to hear the whole history. Thank you!

[Quilter51]

Except that eventually everywhere aldis is a trader Joe's comes eventually and vice versa. The only reason I'm happy I have a TJ is I know Aldis is coming....

[BevMoore]

I love Trader Joes! I don't know about an Aldi's coming; I am in California and our local TJ's has been here almost 10 years. No sign of an Aldi's. But we have plenty of stores here to pick and choose from including a brand new Costco here in town that opened up almost two months ago.


Bev

[Shelsmiles]

Trader Joe’s has lots of gluten free and organic items and they are priced well. Aldis and TJ’s are somewhat similar but TJ’s also sells alcohol (3 Buck Chuck, formerly 2 Buck Chuck). TJ’s also has floral which I love.

[ohjodi]

Trader Joe’s has lots of gluten free and organic items and they are priced well. Aldis and TJ’s are somewhat similar but TJ’s also sells alcohol (3 Buck Chuck, formerly 2 Buck Chuck). TJ’s also has floral which I love.

Aldi's also sells liquor, depending on the state. They do in Illinois (where liquor is sold in grocery stores and gas stations) but not in Pennsylvania (where you can only buy beer in a beer store, or all other hard liquor and wine in state run liquor stores).

I'm very, very rarely drink alcohol (doesn't go well with depression, lol) but I've tried several Aldi's wines at my sister's and I liked them. They also win a lot of awards for their liquor.

I worked in a grocery store here in Illinois for a long time, and sometimes we'd get a customer from out of state scolding us for selling beer and liquor in a grocery store. THIS IS ILLEGAL, I'M GOING TO REPORT YOU!

On the other hand, sometimes we'd get someone who would open paper cartons of beer cans and try to buy one or two, or would mix and match single bottles in a six pack.....because their state allowed that.

[delighted99]

Trader Joe's has a lot of organic items but they are priced very affordably. The store floor space is not very large. They focus on the main staples and sell mostly their own brand items. I never managed to find cat litter there but I always enjoy the variety of international foods they have to offer.

My favorite items (not that you asked .. lol)
1. Tea Tree Shampoo & Conditioner (so good, so cheap.. leaves my scalp feeling tingly)
2. From the frozen foods.. The chicken tamales and the butter chicken (Indian food) entrees.
3. European chocolates but also a tub of peanut butter cups
4. Trader Joe O's cookies (their version of Oreos)