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It's not uncommon to hear New Yorkers complaining about how overwhelmed they are by the lines at the Union Square Trader Joe's that most hours of the day tend to snake through the store—often leading to a journey just to find where the end of it is. So passers-by on 14th Street must be feeling relieved now that they've spotted a "Trader John's" moving in just down the street in the space that a regular old Gristedes had been, right? Not so fast.
It turns out that the Trader John's scheduled to open next week is not a cheeky extension dedicated to Trader Joe's household cleaning products, but is actually an attempt by Gristedes to open their own discount grocery store with a quirky, nautical decor. Shockingly, Trader Joe's already has issued a cease and desist letter to the store and now is filing a lawsuit in a Manhattan court. The complaint says that Trader John's is a “blatant attempt to confuse consumers and capitalize on Trader Joe’s hard-earned goodwill.”
Since Trader Joe's always tries to maintain its image as a grocery store of the people, where else would you expect them to turn for testimonials to include in their case other than the blogosphere? Included are quotes from the blogs referring to the Trader John's location as "one of the filthiest of all the filthy, overpriced Gristedes" and another saying, "LOL . . . Reminds me of the Simpsons episode when their [sic] TV breaks and they are looking to replace it with a cheap knock off brand, such as Sorny or Panaphonics or Magnetbox." Case dismissed!
Gristedes owner (and potential mayoral candidate) John Catsimatidis seems to have a strong defense prepared for the case. He told Bloomberg News, “My name is John and I am a trader so I don’t know what their problem is.”
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trader joe's needs to open like ten more stores and quick. I don't need to go in there and wait 45 minutes on a line that stretches half the store just to get groceries. I've learned that the best time to shop is when it rains. that's the only time it's not busy.
Old Yogiism, "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded".
Since the L trains are fucked for the next 5 weekends I started going to the Trader Joes at Court St. It's so much better and more spacious. The lines are short as well.
Don't tell EVERYONE! You'll ruin it!
haha. it's kind of out of the way for most people so I'm not worried.
That was the thing that shocked me when I went there the first time - not having to wait on line forever!
hahahah! and the deluge begins. I remember when houston street whole foods was empty and then BOOM! crowded hipster city.
Thats really funny, I remember when it was a crack house.
But that was during the Reagan/North administration!
He's greek you son of a bitch.
It is obviously a blatant rip off. The red color, the typeface, and the name are dead giveaways.
Gristedes has some awful markets.
Trader Joe's could probably open a dozen more stores in the city and they would all be self sustaining. Now what would be really brilliant would be if NYC could get some Wegmans!
YES, Wegmans!
word. wegman's was the shit when i went to cornell.
Wegmans are amazing, but their business model doesn't work for opening in NYC. Namely, they want to own the land they build on.
Unless they open a super store in way the hell out Queens or Brooklyn, it'd never work. :(
Which makes me sad.
The Trader Joe's in Union Square has more registers than food products, and yet every time I try to shop there the line is all the way back to the produce section.
When the hell are they going to get the hint and either open more stores or move to a bigger location??!!
Murdered by it's own success?
Gristede's stink , they just closed
one of their stores that was indeed filthy
on the 14th street & first avenue block.
Maybe it takes a filthy (stock trader?) to be
a mayor?
Most Gristede' stores are old, small and dirty. The Korean Grocers gave them a run for their money for a while, but now their stores are also deteriorating. During this economic downturn, we may see more out-of-town stores coming to Manhattan and the public may benefit. One chain I'd like to see here is Bristol Farms, a California company that can compete with Whole Foods.
If threatened, Whole Foods will just buy them out like they did Wild Oats. God I hate Whole Foods. I'd rather have a Walmart, at least they don't price gouge.
I can count on one hand the times I have been to a Wegmans and one of those times I was about twelve and was impressed at that age as I had never seen a food court in a supermarket before.
What impressed me was the low prices and good selection something that the majority, if not all, supermarkets in NYC do not have. Plus, I have heard people who are actually from places where Wegmans is say good things about it. That says a lot.
Interestingly, the prices at Trader Joe's seem to be the same at all the other stores on the east coast I have been to. I can't say that about Pathmark, where I have seen a wide range of prices for the same items.
The amount of supermarkets in the city is going down. I was suggesting that a high quality supermarket, and one that is actually headquartered in the state, would bring some benefit to the city and would bring in more revenue to the state, too. Sure in some locations they would have to adapt to the urban landscape, as did Trader Joe's and the overpriced Whole Foods.
Which would you rather have another lousy Gristedes, Met Foods, Food Emporium (ex-A&P, but more expensive), or something better?
Imagine what putting in a supermarket like Wegmans would do in the Bronx, say somewhere near Grand Concourse and Fordham Road. How about replacing the awful Pathmark in the Atlantic Center.
If a big store like Wegmans can come in, adapt to the city and have the same low prices it has elsewhere, how would this be a bad thing?
It isn't like it is some evil outfit like Wal Mart here.
Forgive me for thinking of a New York state based company with a good reputation and quality product at low prices might actually be good for the city. I forgot that most people in hard economic times, especially people like senior citizens on fixed income, love paying more money for things.
To quote John Amos in 'Coming To America':
'they've got the golden arches, we got the golden arc. they've got the big mac, we've got the big mick...'
Trader Joes is overhyped flavoless crap and when you shop there, you're giving your money to the Germans. If Wegmans opened here it'd be mobbed like nobody's business: all the quality of a Whole Paycheck with lower prices and cigarettes.
the line's not so bad if you can sneak in at say, 10am on a tuesday...
I believe the reason we don't have normally priced food is because of the very high rents that supermarkets outside the city such as Wegmans don't have to pay. Though why they couldn't make it good in the Bronx is an excellent question, maybe it's not glamorous enough. The excrutiating rents is why everything downtown is a bar or restaurant, the only retailers that can earn enough to pay the rents. DAGostino supermarkets are very attractive, clean and fresh, but sliced ham is $12/pound and apples are $2 each. Trader Joe's gets a preferential rent from NYU and they pay LESS per square foot than every other supermarket in the area, thanks to their landlord, NYU. Also, I read somewhere that this particular Trader Joes has the single most sales per square foot of any retailer in New York. C-Town and Key Food are still mostly reasonable for canned and packaged food, but the produce, meat and fish are inconsistent at best. Instead of reasonably priced fresh food we have frozen yogurt and lots of bars to drown your sorrows in. We do, however, have those guys selling fruit on 14th Street, with great prices, though not much variety and often the quality is middling.
John Catsimatidis must be a complete moron, thinking he'd get away with this blatant rip-off of goodwill.
Gristedes on 14th street, wow!
They just closed a store there in any event
I guess the only difference from that dirttrap
they had on 1st. avenue is now they will have more
mustard and pickles and the same dirt.
NY food prices are high because you have to ship everything in and there are costs to that (palms to grease) and rent is high. As if these are new things? So don't live in NY.
California (the TJ mothership) has Trader Joes everywhere and the prices are better ...and the food is better. You chose to live on a tiny concrete island. Deal with it.
New York used to actually have stores where you bought things you needed. Now you have boutiques. It's your own fault. Move. I did.
how exactly is it my fault? I can't afford to live in the place I grew up in. I lived in san francisco for a bit and agree the tjs are better but frankly i am greatfull for the couple we have here. and trader johns can go lose itself.