Aldi
Who says consumers always demand more and more choices? Aldi, the discount grocer owned by the same German company that operates Trader Joe’s, has stores that are less than half the size of the average U.S. supermarket. Shoppers encounter a mere 1,400 items in the store aisles, the vast majority of them private label—i.e., not national brands you’d recognize. In exchange for picking among a tiny fraction of the goods stocked at larger supermarkets, Aldi shoppers save as much as 50% off on groceries. Apparently, the business model is quite successful: There are well over 1,100 Aldi locations now in the U.S., and about 100 new stores will have opened by year’s end.
