Theo Albrecht, co-founder of the Aldi discount supermarket chain passed away last Saturday…

“Aldi’s reclusive founder dies, age 88″.

I’ve mentioned before my admiration for the Aldi business model and their marketing, if not always for their products.

What I find particularly interesting about the Aldi story is…

1) How Theo and his brother Karl managed to be so successful at the discount end of the market in what is a fairly basic business (groceries)

2) How they innovated with what was a radically new business model at the time

3) How the brothers became amongst the richest people in the world, starting with pretty much nothing

To elaborate on that last point, Theo and Karl were ranked ninth and sixth respectively on the Forbes 2009 list, with fortunes of around US$25 billion each.  They started in 1946 in the ruins of post war Germany with one small grocery store they took over from their mother.

Amazing and inspiring story.