Truth or myth?

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 14 Aug 2007, 20:41

I was chatting today to a friend who is a Business Management teacher. She told me that Lidl and Aldi are owned by two brothers who are sworn enemies and that whenever one opens up a shop the other brother will open a rival store nearby- hence the close proximity of the two shops in Musselburgh.

This strikes me as a) bad business acumen and b) a bit of an urban myth, but she insists she is telling the truth. I've had a bit of a Google, but can't seem to find out anything for sure.

Is it a wind up?

ecm · Post by **ecm** » 14 Aug 2007, 20:59

Here's a link to a wiki article which mentions brothers as being behind the Aldi company originally.

aldis

Poppy · Post by **Poppy** » 14 Aug 2007, 21:08

To follow on from ecm's post:

"The Albrecht brothers, Karl and Theo, opened their first store in 1948. By the 1960s they had approximately 350 stores and divided the business into two, Aldi Nord, run by Theo, and Aldi Sud, run by Karl.

Lidl, despite the myth, is not run by one of these brothers.

It was also founded in Germany in the 1930s by a member of the Schwarz family, then called Schwarz Lebensmittel-Sortimentsgroßhandlung." (PCAdvisor website)

I think this is where the brothers-at-war comes from:

"There are 285 Aldi stores (www.aldi.co.uk) in the UK. The German discount chain started as a single small food shop in 1946, run by the brothers Karl and Theo Paul Albrecht. It now comprises 7,000 stores across Europe, the US and Australia with estimated sales of €38 billion last year. The brand name "Aldi" is an acronym derived from "Albrecht" and "discount". In 1961 the chain split into two companies (each belonging to one of the brothers) over a dispute whether to sell tobacco products at the checkout. Aldi now consists of Aldi Nord (where tobacco sales were deemed to be acceptable) and Aldi Süd (where they were not). The two firms never operate in the same countries."
(The Times)

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 14 Aug 2007, 21:19

Thanks guys. I'm going to tackle her tomorrow!

Poppy · Post by **Poppy** » 14 Aug 2007, 21:33

I was told this a while ago and never remembered to look into it, so thanks, M, for this thread! According to the person who told the person who told me, the "clincher" is that some of the letters in Aldi are also in Lidl (or all the letters in Lidl are in Aldi)

Porty · Post by **Porty** » 14 Aug 2007, 22:14

Marya wrote:Thanks guys. I'm going to tackle her tomorrow!

Marya, I think the german brotherly dispute is between the owners or once owners of Puma and Adidas. I could be wrong. Honest, I could be.

Porty · Post by **Porty** » 14 Aug 2007, 22:17

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/08/ ... /SHOES.php

googled

Poppy · Post by **Poppy** » 14 Aug 2007, 22:26

Seems a habit with German brothers then!

Puerto bella · Post by **Puerto bella** » 16 Aug 2007, 23:51

I love to here an urban myth, anyone go any good ones?

Last one I heard (they are usually from my sis) was about a lady in Princes Street who saw a man drop his wallet, she ran after him and handed it back. He was very grateful for her honesty especially as the wallet was bulging with cash. They got chatting, about the city, her family etc etc. He told her he was an arab, staying here and that he would advise her not to come into the town the following saturday as something big would be happening....you can imagine the assumptions. He told her to tell all her friends and family. Eventually word got to the police who were on high alert that saturday but nothing happened.............................

Stray NO.666 · Post by **Stray NO.666** » 17 Aug 2007, 17:08

Yeh i heard bout 3 or 4 versions of that one from people at my work! on 3 or 4 different weeks lol and nothing happened what so ever!

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 17 Aug 2007, 17:15

Puerto bella wrote:I love to here an urban myth, anyone go any good ones?

Yeah, did you hear the one about the Chinese restaurant serving seagull?

SoupDragon · Post by **SoupDragon** » 17 Aug 2007, 17:22

The rumour about warning to stay away from cities has been around a while
see snopes.com for debunking of most myths

LINK

Heard the one about the old guy that gave his home help a handful of Brazil nuts everytime she visited, she qite liked them
She wondered about this as they were never on his shopping list
"Aye its my grandson , he always brings them"
"Why give them to me"
" Well I do like the chocolate si i sook it off and it seems a shame to waste the nuts"