Aldi Locations in California

[arizonaguy]

Aldi stores are in cities without a Trader Joe's presence.

As was pointed out earlier, this is untrue. And now, for even more proof, Aldi is coming to Monrovia. Trader Joe's has a store in Monrovia, and its national HQ is located there as well -- just a few blocks from the new Aldi.

By the way, All Aldi US stores are owned and operated by Aldi SUD. Aldi NORD, which owns and operates Trader Joe's, does not have the rights to open Aldi stores in the US.

This location used to house a Kmart that closed and was heavily remodeled into a Lucky/Sav-On, which then became an Albertson's, and has now been vacant for several years.

I know that one, it actually closed about a month before they announced they would acquire Safeway (tinfoil hat theory is that they closed early to avoid divesting, but who really knows).

I believe your tinfoil hat theory. They closed an Albertsons store in Phoenix at the same time. The store sat empty for 2 years (except for a temporary Halloween store) and now they're renovating it into a Safeway as the lease for the Safeway across the street is about to expire.

[rwsandiego]

As was pointed out earlier, this is untrue. And now, for even more proof, Aldi is coming to Monrovia. Trader Joe's has a store in Monrovia, and its national HQ is located there as well -- just a few blocks from the new Aldi.

By the way, All Aldi US stores are owned and operated by Aldi SUD. Aldi NORD, which owns and operates Trader Joe's, does not have the rights to open Aldi stores in the US.

This location used to house a Kmart that closed and was heavily remodeled into a Lucky/Sav-On, which then became an Albertson's, and has now been vacant for several years.

I know that one, it actually closed about a month before they announced they would acquire Safeway (tinfoil hat theory is that they closed early to avoid divesting, but who really knows).

I believe your tinfoil hat theory. They closed an Albertsons store in Phoenix at the same time. The store sat empty for 2 years (except for a temporary Halloween store) and now they're renovating it into a Safeway as the lease for the Safeway across the street is about to expire.

Trader Joe's is owned by a German family trust established by Theo Albrecht, the founder and owner of Aldi Nord. It is not owned by Aldi Nord.

[J-Man]

Trader Joe's is owned by a German family trust established by Theo Albrecht, the founder and owner of Aldi Nord. It is not owned by Aldi Nord.

I'm not sure what distinction you're trying to make here. Aldi Nord itself is controlled by the two Theo Albrecht family trusts. And Aldi Nord runs Trader Joe's. I don't see anything indicating that the ownership or management of Trader Joe's differs from the rest of the Aldi Nord empire.

[storewanderer]

Similar to Ikea (or maybe not similar completely since Ikea is set up much differently from a legal standpoint), it is somewhat difficult to understand who controls what with Aldi and Trader Joe's.

What I am curious is how does Aldi seem to be doing in California at this point, now that we have lapped Thanksgiving, grand openings, etc.?

[pseudo3d]

Similar to Ikea (or maybe not similar completely since Ikea is set up much differently from a legal standpoint), it is somewhat difficult to understand who controls what with Aldi and Trader Joe's.

What I am curious is how does Aldi seem to be doing in California at this point, now that we have lapped Thanksgiving, grand openings, etc.?

As far as I know, Aldi as we know it is divided into two companies after a disagreement with the original brothers, Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd, sharing the rights to the name but otherwise legally and financially separate. Aldi Nord owns Trader Joe's and operates the Aldi stores in most of Europe, but Aldi Süd is the one that operates stores in the U.K., Australia, and the U.S.

I think a more accurate comparison would be "who owns Safeway", with the name in the U.S. being owned and operated by Albertsons, but owned and operated by Sobeys in Canada.

[veteran+]

Similar to Ikea (or maybe not similar completely since Ikea is set up much differently from a legal standpoint), it is somewhat difficult to understand who controls what with Aldi and Trader Joe's.

What I am curious is how does Aldi seem to be doing in California at this point, now that we have lapped Thanksgiving, grand openings, etc.?

As far as I know, Aldi as we know it is divided into two companies after a disagreement with the original brothers, Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd, sharing the rights to the name but otherwise legally and financially separate. Aldi Nord owns Trader Joe's and operates the Aldi stores in most of Europe, but Aldi Süd is the one that operates stores in the U.K., Australia, and the U.S.

I think a more accurate comparison would be "who owns Safeway", with the name in the U.S. being owned and operated by Albertsons, but owned and operated by Sobeys in Canada.

Exactly!

Same family (brothers) running 2 different companies. Nothing is shared (money, management, systems, strategy, etc.).

This was explained to me by top executives from Tesco.

[J-Man]

What I am curious is how does Aldi seem to be doing in California at this point, now that we have lapped Thanksgiving, grand openings, etc.?

I'd be interested in knowing about this as well. As I posted upthread, they're planning on opening more stores (at least one), but they never seem terribly busy. I noticed that they had a LOT of leftover Halloween candy and that it was still on the shelves more than two weeks after Halloween. And their inventory controls seem to be less than efficient-- I went in one day last week they were out of non-organic bananas, which is pretty much a staple item for most supermarkets. And I also saw a woman buying over 30 loaves of bread that had been marked down to 25 cents.

[BillyGr]

I'd be interested in knowing about this as well. As I posted upthread, they're planning on opening more stores (at least one), but they never seem terribly busy. I noticed that they had a LOT of leftover Halloween candy and that it was still on the shelves more than two weeks after Halloween. And their inventory controls seem to be less than efficient-- I went in one day last week they were out of non-organic bananas, which is pretty much a staple item for most supermarkets. And I also saw a woman buying over 30 loaves of bread that had been marked down to 25 cents.

I wouldn't take the bread thing as anything, as at least one of our regular supermarkets had a bunch the week after Thanksgiving with short dates (like 2 days) as well - I think they either intentionally overstock to be sure they don't run out of a main item for that day, or people decided to eat less stuffing this year.
I can also think of another reason (besides a big family) for buying that many at a cheap price - animal feeding. Many of the bread stores (those run by the bakery chains, like Wonder or similar) sell dated bread for feeding farm animals or wild birds, and it is similar to that in price when you figure it out.

[storewanderer]

I have not heard much about Aldi in SoCal so I was curious how they are doing. Almost feels like nobody is even paying attention to them...

Excess seasonal products do not surprise me since this is their first year they are better off overstocking and not understocking (don't want to disappoint anyone with short supply of goods) since they do not have any prior year forecasts to go off of.

[CalItalian]

At the Inglewood location today, they had a bunch of boneless skinless chicken breasts with 2 $4 off stickers on them ($8 off package which I've never seen at any store, not even Fresh & Easy). Brought them down to less than $1. I bought a few for a bbq. They're dated tomorrow so I froze them immediately.

Aldi is only good for one thing as far as I am concerned, products that are about to spoil and they need to get rid of fast. This chain is a complete joke in Southern California.

The store had 4 other customers at 3 pm. None in line.