Aldi supermarket: »Aldi has changed dramatically«
Photo: DPA
The man whose spirit is said to be here has been dead for almost twelve years. Early one morning in 2009,
Theo Albrecht
drove to his office for the last time, put his slightly worn briefcase behind the desk and began work.
As he left the room, he left a roll of sketch paper, used paperclips to straighten the magnet on the wooden panel, and neatly arranged his pencils in a black holder.
A year later he died.
The office remained untouched for years after his death, inaccessible to the public.
Until a few months ago it moved from the unadorned administration on Eckenbergstraße in Essen to a magnificent building just a few meters away: Aldi's new campus with a plaza, test kitchen, fitness studio and co-working areas.
2000 employees will move in there, 150 data analysts alone.
The building should stand for a new Aldi: more transparent, more radiant, more communicative - and at the same time efficient and disciplined.
Everything new and yet everything as always.
The founder's reconstructed office, including his typewriter collection on the ground floor, is intended to be more than a memorial, it is a daily reminder, a compass for where the journey should lead: "We have to go back to the basics," says Head of Communications
Florian Scholbeck
.
One of the people who should implement this is
Sascha Schikarski
(41), he is one of the new powerful men at the discounter.
Enlarge image
Reformer: Former Rewe manager Sascha Schikarski is to reform Aldi Nord
The former Rewe manager joined Aldi Nord in 2017 and has been responsible for international business as Chief Operating Officer for a good year.
The fact that he can talk about Aldi's development in the north is part of the new corporate culture.
The fact that he does not name any numbers and may not be quoted is part of the old one.
However, he also had bad news.
The inventor of the discount, who dominated the food retail trade like no other with good products at the lowest price, is still on an international growth course, but left behind in the important German market.
This applies equally to Aldi Nord and Süd.
While the competition from Edeka to Rewe to Lidl benefited from the corona pandemic and grew in double digits in some cases, Aldi's sales shrank in the previous year.
A positive result like 2021 suddenly counts as a success for the managers.
But for the first time, Lidl is earning more money per square meter of retail space.
Internationally, the arch competitor has long since rushed anyway.
Aldi, once the best retail company in the world, has become interchangeable.
The former leader descends when there is a problem.
Two developments are responsible for this: two founders who stuck to their principles until Aldi appeared yesterday;
and their successors, who were all the more eager to put everything back on track and thus robbed the discounter of its footing and clear positioning.
The example of Aldi can serve as a warning signal for all corporations that dare to change and lose themselves in the process.
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