Any Trader Joe employees or Fans?

I like Trader Joe. Never felt the need to rave about them on a web board. Never felt it odd to like them and cars.

More of a Harris Teeter fan myself.

Or the mom and pop store around the corner..

The place rocks, I'm waiting for them to go public, no stock offering yet

Adrian

I like several of their products. I like the prices. I like people watching there. It's like a lot of the people that shop there only shop there because they think it is a cool place to shop. It reminds me of Starbucks 10 years ago.

Now, I've moved and have no Joe's anywhere close by.

I like trader joe's, i often think it is what would happen if aldi and whole foods combined forces.

I like the place. Every few months I'll go buy a case of assorted Two Buck Chuck to refills the wine racks. We like to keep a bottle of wine around to match any meal (or group of friends). Their frozen food is great. But for daily groceries I live 2 miles from a farmer's market. Cheaper than almost everywhere and the food is hella cheaper whole foods for the same type stuff. My friends call Whole Foods near us "Whole Paycheck".

I wish they would expand into Maine. I was in there once a week in St Louis. I really miss the cheap chips and salsa, frozen veggies, garlic naan, and great deals on wine and beer. I could go down to Mass, but the Joes down there cant sell alcohol .

I just moved back up to Mass and love Joes. The selection is great and the prices are fair or even low.

There was a Trader Joe's beer in the fridge the other day so maybe they can sell it now?

We don't have any in the southeast as far as I know, but I have a thing for new grocery stores (too long in the grocery industry does that to you), so it's on my list of ones to check out.

Kind of an odd post but OK...

Trader Joe's sucks. You guys have nothing Vegan, so the hippie that is my g/f won't go there and the "normal" food isn't good enough to warrant me going there. I'll take New Seasons any day of the week.

You ask and you shall receive...

I like them, they have good prices on good beer.

I use TJ for two things: - parties. Lots of good cheap appetizers. - Soy "ice cream" - the vanilla mango swirl is GOOD! The chocolate is a bit fake tasting. Too bad there aren't more flavors available.

Adrian_Thompson wrote: The place rocks, I'm waiting for them to go public, no stock offering yet Adrian

Oh man! I hope not! Nothing kills a good company (for the consumers) than going public. Being a slave to the stock price really kills companies. If Trader Joe's does that, and it won't be long until it's just like all the others.

One of the great success stories in companies is In-n-Out burger, guess what, not public. I think it is a big reason why it is very successful, pays it's employees well, and most importantly, sells their product at a very reasonable price.

Just say no to going public!!!!

I do most of my grocery shopping there. Prices are good. The selection works well too.

I'm a fan of how they don't have 20 different brands of everything. If I want a a can of beans, I don't want a whole wall of them. I just want to choose between a regular and a large sized can.

I also like the fact that their cage-free eggs do not cost an exorbitant amount.

The only issue is that their produce selection is pretty poor, and they don't have a huge selection of fresh meats.

I'm actually fine with that though, because it's less stuff to have go bad and get thrown out. As a quasi-bachelor it's nice to not have to worry about buying things that are only going to go bad.

Adrian_Thompson wrote: The place rocks, I'm waiting for them to go public, no stock offering yet Adrian

You're going to be waiting a while for that IPO, TJ's is a wholly owned unit of ALDI.

I am a pretty big fan, although not a fan of how most produce is sold in wrapped-up packages. Frozen food aisle though...that's the happiest place on earth for a lazy man that loves to eat.

TJ is cool. Around here some are negative towards Aldi's.

Aldi's makes me think less. My local big box grocery store has 350 salad dressings to choose from. Aldi's? Five.

Bread? 200 choices at Jewel Food Store. Aldi? Three.

No Trader Joe's near me.

Aldi's is simply about getting food at the lowest posible price.

No Trader Joes near me, but I am happy with Wegman's. CR( i know, not a great soarce) rated us #1 grocery chain, TJ's was 2 or 3. And Wegman's is also currently Rated 5th best company to work for. We where knocked out of first place by Google.

I like Trader Joe's, but it's not a one-stop shop for anything. They have good Carne Asada and other pre-marinated meats, but the rest of the stuff (any produce) you have to buy at another store. Produce section is probably the weakest.

I do like the build-your-own sixpack my local store has, though lately it's been a lot of TJ's re-branded beer.

neon4891 wrote: No Trader Joe's near me. Aldi's is simply about getting food at the lowest posible price. No Trader Joes near me, but I am happy with Wegman's. CR( i know, not a great soarce) rated us #1 grocery chain, TJ's was 2 or 3. And Wegman's is also currently Rated 5th best company to work for. We where knocked out of first place by Google.

Mmmmm.... Wegman's.

All you people who think Trader Joe's is amazing, need to go to Wegmans. If you're the type that likes to keep it simple and don't want to choose between 30 of the same thing, i wouldn't suggest going. But it IS a sight to see. And the produce and meat and dairy sections are RIDICULOUS.

From a corporate design perspective I would like to know how they hire. I have been in 10-15 Trader Joe's in 4-5 states and they manage to find and hire from the same flock of cool hipster/outdoorsy/slightly granola friendly and efficient people in places where you would not think there were any. Like the Scottsdale crew was as (seemingly) cool as the Santa Cruz crew, and conversely the Santa Cruz crew got things done, which is not normal in Santa Cruz.

I make it a point to stop at Trader Joe's when I'm in a town with one.

Their maple syrup is silly cheap for good stuff.

I like thier 1/2 salted cashews. Three or Four buck Chuck (Charles Shaw wine) is just downright trendy. It's like a delicacy here 2 hours away from a TJ's.

If I'm traveling on business in a town with a TJ's (Columbus/Dublin, OH, Indy, etc) I'll usually turn in an expense report with a couple meals assembled from Trader Joe's. Their sushi is alright for prepackaged stuff...certainly better than airport food.

I always said it was like the Aldi of good food...until I found out it was owned by Aldi...and then it all made sense. I shop at Aldi sometimes...I'm very ingredient conscious. Some of Aldi food is good. A lot of it is utter crap. Trader Joe's has mostly "good" food (like whole ingredients and not a lot of artificial stuff) but it blows away the prices of Whole Foods and the like.

Clem

TJ's has a decent selection of oddball things, at least compared to Kroger and Meijer. However, it sucks compared to the best grocery in the world; Jungle Jim's in Fairfield (Cincy) Ohio.

If you ever visit Cincinnati, go to Jungle's. The prices are a little higher than most, but the selection is the best. I've lived in three states, and I've never seen anything that compares to Jungle Jim's.

93celicaGT2 wrote:

neon4891 wrote: No Trader Joe's near me. Aldi's is simply about getting food at the lowest posible price. No Trader Joes near me, but I am happy with Wegman's. CR( i know, not a great soarce) rated us #1 grocery chain, TJ's was 2 or 3. And Wegman's is also currently Rated 5th best company to work for. We where knocked out of first place by Google.

Mmmmm.... Wegman's. All you people who think Trader Joe's is amazing, need to go to Wegmans. If you're the type that likes to keep it simple and don't want to choose between 30 of the same thing, i wouldn't suggest going. But it IS a sight to see. And the produce and meat and dairy sections are RIDICULOUS.

Wegmans is OK if there's NOBODY in the store with you. Any high traffic times (weekends, holidays, etc.) and it's infuriating to get anywhere in the store. Their super cool/trendy looking deli/meat/bakery sections were not made for the average person to navigate with a cart - there seems to be just enough space that you can't turn a cart around.

The nearest ones are in Atlanta, not exactly convenient but I shop when I'm there. I have liked everything I have tried so far, and the prices are good. We have a place in town called fresh market that makes whole paycheck look cheap.