Aldi’s co-founder Theo Albrecht dies
THEO Albrecht – one of the founding brothers of the Aldi grocery chain – has died at the age of 88.
Albrecht had a personal fortune of more than £10bn.
He died in his home city of Essen, on Saturday. Together with his brother Karl, two years his senior, he built up Europe’s biggest budget grocery chain Aldi, and in doing so was a regular on the Forbes richest list.
“The best quality at the lowest price” was the business motto. Annually, the group turns over around £22bn. Aldi has invested £1.5bn in Britain and has more than 300 outlets,
The reclusive brothers spent their time playing golf, and other hobbies including collecting typewriters and growing orchids. Theo was once asked to inspect the plans for a new store in the Netherlands.
Having studied them closely, he offered the advice: “This layout is very good. But there’s just one thing – this paper you’re using is too thick. Use thinner paper to save money.”
Rather than waste money on fountain pens, Theo would also take notes at meetings with senior staff using pencils which also could not be too expensive.