German Discount Supermarket Chain 'Aldi'
Founder Albrecht Known as a Tough Miser
Created Coin Slot and Negotiated Ransom with Hostage Taker
Shopping carts provided at large supermarkets have coin slots. Although less common recently due to the decreased use of cash, several years ago, one had to insert a 100-won coin into the slot to use the cart. At the time, this was considered an efficient idea to prevent shopping cart theft within the store.
So, who invented this coin-operated cart? It was none other than the German multinational corporation 'Aldi,' famous today as the world's largest "supermarket for the common people." This company, a pioneer of ultra-low-cost supermarkets, was notable from its founders' "frugal spirit."
The American business media outlet Business Insider published a special feature on Aldi's history earlier this year. Aldi was founded in 1947 in Germany as a grocery store that distributed daily necessities at low prices for the German common people suffering from post-war shortages of civilian goods. As West Germany's economy flourished throughout the Cold War, Aldi rapidly expanded and, within about 30 years, spread to other parts of Europe, quickly becoming a multinational corporation.
Even after developing into a multinational corporation, Aldi maintained its identity as a "supermarket for the common people." Behind this business strategy was the personality of co-founder and billionaire Theo Albrecht. The UK’s Guardian, which published an obituary for Albrecht who passed away at age 88 in 2010, reported that he was involved in a kidnapping incident in 1971.
The kidnappers took Albrecht hostage and demanded ransom. However, upon seeing him dressed in a cheap suit, they were reportedly shocked by his shabby appearance. The kidnappers only believed he was one of Germany's wealthiest men after seeing his ID, and then kept him locked in a wardrobe for 17 days.
Moreover, during this period, Albrecht reportedly negotiated with the kidnappers over his ransom. After lengthy discussions, he decided on a ransom amount of 7 million Deutsche Marks (2.7 million USD, approximately 3.6 billion KRW) for himself.
Albrecht's personality was clearly reflected in his business strategy. Since Aldi competed on price, it was obsessed with cost reduction. To save on shopping cart loss costs, it developed the world's first coin slot for carts, which became so popular that it was adopted in other countries including Korea. Overseas, shopping carts equipped with coin slots are actually called "Aldi carts."
Thanks to this, Aldi was able to maintain solid performance even while competing on price. For example, according to the Guardian, after Aldi entered the UK market, local supermarket profit margins dropped from around 7% to about 4%, nearly halving. Despite this, Aldi UK has continued to operate with healthy profits. As of the last fiscal year, Aldi holds a 10% market share in the UK, with operating profits reaching 400 million pounds (approximately 702 billion KRW).
Recently, Aldi has even been attracting wealthy customers. In affluent neighborhoods in the northeastern United States, high-end grocery stores like Amazon Whole Foods, which insist on organic ingredients, were popular in the past. However, since last year’s surge in living costs, Aldi has begun to penetrate this market. While Amazon Whole Foods’ organic eggs cost 2 dollars (2,684 KRW) each, Aldi sells a carton of 12 eggs for only 1.5 dollars (2,013 KRW).
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