Aldi

Aldi traces back to 1913, when Anna Albrecht opened a small grocery store in Essen, Germany. Her sons, Karl and Theo, took over after World War II and turned it into a no-frills discount store, eventually adopting the name "Aldi" — short for Albrecht-Diskont — in 1962. A dispute between the brothers led to a 1960 split into two separate companies, Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd. Aldi opened its first U.S. store in Iowa in 1976, and has since grown to more than 2,400 stores across 38 states, with U.S. headquarters in Batavia, Illinois. The chain is known for its no-frills model — 90% private-label products, no bakery, meat counter, or pharmacy, and a quarter deposit for shopping carts — all aimed at keeping prices low.