Gothamist: Enter the Trader Joe's Era of Grocery Shopping

Heather

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:56:43 -0500

I work at Trader Joes in Sourthern California and let me tell you, it's so much better then the major grocery chains,(Raplhs,Albertsons, etc.) I used to work for Ralphs and we had to pour spoiled milk over our bread that we threw out and don't get me started about their service deli! At TJ's we donate all of our bread the next day to local chairities and organizations as well as our salads and premade meals, we donate groceries, and supplies to schools in our area, and we play great music. Trader Joes is great because we constantly evolve our products and stores based upon what our customers desire. They treat their employees well, which makes for happy customers, which makes for an all around great experience....and the food is amazing. Do you know any other store where you can get a coffee, sample of N.Y. Cheesecake, balloons for your kids, and 99cent eggs, all while listening to Smoke on the Water by Cream on the overhead? Yeah I didn't think so. GO TJ's we've got the best customer service... ASK ANYONE!

Jeanne Conte

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 17:54:01 -0500

Is Trader Joe's wet food involved in the deadly pet food scare?

Lee

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 16:17:31 -0500

TJ will do fine in NY and is looking for more locations which of course they will find in time. They don't like paying high rent and people are finally realizing that if you give them cheaper rent you will get higher foot traffic therefore making all the properties around it worth more. Lastly as a private Co. they bigger they get, the better they will get. The exact opposite is true with public companies.

searingsensation

Sun, 09 Apr 2006 04:38:25 -0500

searing? please. The peanuts are mild at best (unless you munch a whole chili pepper perhaps, but you wouldn't miss one of those).

Scott Mercer

Sun, 19 Mar 2006 17:41:45 -0500

You lucky, lucky Manhattanites. Your food shopping will never be the same. Now all you need is a 99 Cent Only Store and I might consider actually moving to New York...I know, I know, you'd rather I didn't. I'll respect that.

smitty

Sat, 18 Mar 2006 13:33:28 -0500

the best thing about TJs isnt the prices, its the TJ brand stuff like their frozen chocolate covered bananas, the chai tea mix, and the trader giottos pizza. yum!!

kidloco

Sat, 18 Mar 2006 06:02:59 -0500

I wonder if business will slow down when NYers are confronted with the cognitive dissonance that their precious next big thing was not invented in Manhattan. Or Brooklyn.

Andrew J. Lederer

Sat, 18 Mar 2006 01:25:15 -0500

Trader Joe's has great prices. The new store is laid out similarly to the West Hollywood location on Santa Monica and Formosa, so I felt a satisfying sense of deja vu. They have three different canned marinara sauces at basically the same price as crushed tomatoes from a regular supermarket, so let the lazy pasta dinners begin.

notchy

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 22:44:11 -0500

so trader's joe's cheaper than whole foods, then? btw, how does it compare to pricey normal supermarkets around manhattan, like say the ones in the upper west side?

susan

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 15:18:00 -0500

I lived in LA and didn't become a fan of TJ's until the grocery strike a few years ago. Supporting my union brothers and sisters, I shopped only TJ's and Whole Foods and grew to love TJ's. I can't wait to stock up on all my fave prepared foods. I do cook, but since nobody else here does, they stand to do a phenomenal trade.

b

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 14:23:42 -0500

TJ's, a convenient place for people who can't or don't cook

JESUS CHRIST

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 13:36:31 -0500

Yes, No more evil 30 minute snaking Whole Foods LInes. Fuck you whole foods and your evil fresh food ways. That's until TJ's starts to get popular and we also get super lines. Hopefully this competition will spur Whole foods to finally open that Houston street place.

may Young

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 13:35:12 -0500

Yippee! Don't have to mail TJ's goodies to my daughter, in Manhattan, anymore! Have shopped TJ's throughout California. Just went there this morning in San Francisco. The staff is anxious to see what the Manhattan TJ's look like. It's good for NYC. Worth the wait, for good food and good service....

rad

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 13:28:26 -0500

walked over at about 1pm. there were 2 lines at the front of the store. one that took about 3 mins just to get in the door. the other was the end of the checkout line that wrapped all the way to the back, and around to the registers in front. thankfully, there wasnt a line to get the hell outta there.

hashashin

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 12:50:03 -0500

I see the Guinness, but I can get that anywhere--do they have Sheaf Stout? I used to love that when I was in California.

Sim

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 12:46:06 -0500

No more trips to bloody Long Island for TJ groceries. Oh hell yeah. Grocerie shppers in NYC are having the best week ever!

ryan

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 12:45:20 -0500

i'm from so-cal so i was stoked when i heard we were getting a TJs, but i'm totally bummed to see something that was a total staple in my childhood getting the whole nyc mob the next best thing treatment.

rev pays

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 12:04:10 -0500

0.19 PER banana?????? Is that how they are pricing it or .49 per lb? Guess they really are catering to the Prepared food/take home meal niche and not bulk food customers.

ann

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 12:01:37 -0500

i survived the line at 10:30am. it was crazy but not worse than union square whole foods during peak hours. the staff was great and they have lots of free samples too. the wait was about 10 minutes even though the line wrapped all the way around the store.

tien

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 11:43:54 -0500

there's a gwen stefani joke in that last picture somewhere.

Sarah

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 11:41:32 -0500

The shirts are the standard Trader Joe's Hawaiian style worn by all Trader Joe's employees.

Samantha T

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 11:39:28 -0500

Probably says something about me that I'd rather eat shitty produce than deal with the crowd.

LIRC

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 11:38:18 -0500

I am so excited. I plan on getting up early tomorrow for when the doors open, in hopes that everyone else will be too hungover to care.

random guy

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 11:36:58 -0500

Once the initial thrill dies down, I will definitely go there over Whole Foods or Fresh Direct; T.J. has fresh food at much better prices - I predict this will hit Fresh Direct and Whole Foods harder than they suspect.

MissPinkKate

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 11:30:22 -0500

I cannot deal with those crazy organic stores- any store that needs a Line Manager is not the sort of place I can shop and not kill someone. Way too crazy for my taste.

tien

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 11:20:34 -0500

and there was a good article in the times last week about how they go about choosing what to put in the stores. it's behind the select wall now though.

tien

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 11:18:44 -0500

everybody in the trader joe's organization wears those shirts. yes, hawaiian.