If You Thought Trader Joe's Was Cheap, Check Out Aldi and Lidl

The competition among grocery stores for your pocketbook is continuing to heat up as German discounters move into the U.S.

Author:: Edward Hardy
Publish date:: Feb 9, 2017 11:01 AM EST

Move over Kroger (KR) - Get Report and Whole Foods (WFM) . Two German grocery store chains, Aldi and Lidl, are taking the market by storm and making food shopping even cheaper. They are already having an impact on the U.K. grocery industry. Sales at Walmart's (WMT) - Get Report U.K. unit, Asda, have fallen 1.9%, as competitors such as Aldi and Lidl eat into its market share.

What is the story with these two companies?

Both Aldi and Lidl are based in Germany and are among the world's largest privately owned companies. Founded in 1913 by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht, Aldi was later was split into two parts, Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd. Aldi Nord is the owner of Trader Joe's.

Lidl, founded in 1930 by Dieter Schwarz, has nearly 20,000 stores in over 25 countries. While the company has not yet cracked America, Lidl is expected to open stores in 2018, focusing on the East Coast between Pennsylvania and Georgia.