I don't understand the hype surrounding Trader Joe's

Wow, I was just there last night to buy their eggnog. I heard it was supposed to "the best". I'll try it.

Their truffle scented vegan lube is bananas!

They have a lot of unique and tasty items.

OP is a deranged Whole Foods employee.

You have buy particular things there. Nuts, dried fruits, wine, dairy, cereal, spices, pasta, olive oil are of comparable quality and much cheaper than other grocery stores' offerings. The spices are at least $2 less than McCormick. A half gallon of milk is 70 less. Some of the frozen items are really good. They also have some name brands at cheaper prices.

I wouldn't shop there for everything but they have select items that are well worth it and a unique selection. Definitely a nice place to go if you want to diversify your pallet a little.

Trust me OP, you'll learn to appreciate it. Like R5 said, there are particular items that much better quality there and a better price than you will find anywhere else. And a lot of their frozen entrees are fantastic also. There is a reason why Trader Joes has been voted most popular grocery store three years in a row.

Don't buy crappy frozen food, get organic pasta at a decent price, decent herbs and spices, stuff like that.

I go there for the produce, which is of much higher quality than what's in my local grocery stores as well as being cheaper. I think most of their prepared foods are terrible, but I try never to buy prepared food.

Most baked goods seemed subpar, and even those that were acceptable would mold before there exp date.

Their chicken tikka masala and garlic naan are really great, really surprised me. I'm not much for frozen food, but I've been by myself for weeks and feeling lazy.

I'm the opposite of OP. I tried a Costco membership for a year and decided it just wasn't for me. I don't need that much of anything. Why would I want a 4 pack of the same frozen pizza or a gigantic tub of yogurt? I never bought veg there because I knew I couldn't use the mass quantity before it went bad. They had a few good cheeses I liked and multipacks of Carrs crackers that I use but that was about it. And Costco is madhouse of a shopping experience. Between TJs and the regular supermarket I get just about everything I need.

Trader Joe's caters to the gourmet/organic/world traveler palate. You can't find a lot of what they carry in Costco.

[quote] I actually had to throw away the pizza because it was so bad.

You shouldn't have done that!!!! There is a frugal DL poster who would have gladly taken that pizza off your hands.

Their prices on liquor and wine can be very good, as well. Hopefully the one that opened near you has a section for beverages of the adult type. You have to check out what you like and there can be some fine price drops on items like kahlua, brandy, etc.

R14 John, who let you off your leash?

They have a great wine selection in the 7-10$ range. I will not drink the 2 buck.

Their Cafe Pajaro is my favorite coffee. And not that expensive @ $7.99 for 13 oz. ($7.37/lb.) Cheapest coffee filters, too. I get 100 single-cup filters for $1.99. I also buy their English Breakfast for iced tea, and their Irish Breakfast for hot.

I like their French Vanilla ice cream, too, and some of their cookies. And I don't really eat cookies much. They have a great price on seltzer water, and they also carry cherry juice. I love to mix the two, and add a squeeze of lime.

I remember they used to sell a Jarlsberg clone called Madrigal cheese.

Their brie was quite rubbery, though, even after warmed.

Are their chile lime chicken burgers any good? I see lots of good reviews online.

[quote]Most baked goods seemed subpar, and even those that were acceptable would mold before there exp date.

That's true. They seem to be shipping their baked goods in, so they're never really fresh, and nothing all that special to begin with. It would be better if they just discontinued their "fresh" bread.

What drives me crazy is how they sell to-go foods and sandwiches, but they don't have any single serving drinks to go with them.

[quote]they don't have any single serving drinks

I wonder why, R21. That keeps me from going to TJ's sometimes.

TJs has some wonderful things along with other things I don't care for. Over time, TJs shoppers learn what they like and most of us have become fairly discriminating.

R11 is right about the tikka masala and garlic naan. I swear I'm addicted to that naan.

Their Bavarian chocolate pudding is chocolate nirvana. I always buy two of their Mediterranean hummus because one is never enough. Their tzatziki is excellent, as good as anything I can make, so why bother. They sell a hard to find organic whipping cream that is not ultra-pasteurized. I like their organic butter, and their free-range organic eggs. Their cheese selection is hard to beat, and I've never been unhappy with any cheese I've bought there.

Their nuts, dried fruits and trail mixes are the best. Some of their baking products are way superior to anything I can buy in regular stores, although I don't care for and don't buy their flour. Their condiments are amazingly good, and I highly recommend the organic catsup and organic mayonnaise. Their olive oil is great and so is the price. I've never been unhappy with any coffee I've bought there. They don't have room for a huge produce selection, but what they have is good, fresh and priced well.

They have excellent organic frozen vegetables. Their caramel swirl ice cream is total addiction. They only sell frozen puff pastry during the holiday season, so I stock up enough to last through the next year. Their frozen pie crust is the best ever. I rarely bother to make Belgian waffles because their frozen waffles are that good. I don't buy many frozen entrees, but they sell an Alsatian flatbread pizza that's excellent.

Their jarred caramel and dulce de leche are wonderful.

Things I stay away from? Baked goods in general, although I bought some excellent bread there one time that was underbaked and had to be finished at home.

Wow! I wish we had TJ's in Canada. Costco is for large families or people who buy large quantity items and the remaining options are 'super stores' with very limited selection. It's awful.

They are not on the same level as Costco, they are the cheapish version (and lesser quality version) of Whole Foods.

I recall being astounded how bad everything tasted and how expensive it was. Go to Whole Foods if you want expensive food, at least it's good there. This is the "Whole Foods" version of Aldi.

I've had too much produce and too many baked goods spoil the day after I bought them, it's annoying. I don't buy them there anymore. Lots of their other products are fine. It's not my primary grocery store but I go there once a month.

Good salsas, great prices on excellent canned goods and spices.

Most of the frozen food is pretty good as well, but there definitely are some exceptions — the vegetarian pad thai is inedible. And I've never bought coffee there that wasn't stale and mealy.

Lol, r14. True.

[quote]diversify your pallet a little

Oh, dear.

....their low sodium chipolte salsa is wonderful.

Are the dark chocolate peanut butter cups good? How about the pound chocolate bars?

R31, I don't eat peanut butter so I can't answer about them. The pound chocolate bars are very good, and I always have a stock of them.

TJs is nothing like either Whole Foods or Costco so the comparisons make little sense. I have a Costco membership and use it to stock up on nonperhishables and I buy their gas. I despise everything about Whole Foods and refuse to give them money. I used to shop at Whole Foods, and I prefer TJs.

TJ's is owned by discount grocer Aldi Nord of Germany.

Aldi's markets in the US are run by Aldi Sud of Germany, a different company from the same family.

They are so conservative they dropped health insurance in the wake of ACA.

Trader Joe's is awesome. They have a nice selection of wines, cheeses, juices, staples like pasta and rice, as well as some specialty items that are really quite good. I try to only buy the fresh vegetables when I'm going to eat them within a day because they don't spray everything with preservatives, which means they'll go bad quickly. Their bananas are only 19 cents! They also sell some pretty good single-serving salads, which I like for lunch.

And the manager of my local store hires hot guys. He seems to like beefy butts, thick thighs and beards, which is fine with me.

Now, as to R35, an internal memo from TJs says:

[quote]Stated quite simply, the law is centered on providing low cost options to people who do not make a lot of money. Somewhat by definition, the law provides those people a pretty good deal for insurance … a deal that can’t be matched by us — or any company. However, an individual employee (we call them Crew Member) is only able to receive the tax credit from the exchanges under the act if we do not offer them insurance under our company plan.

And an analysis of the move, which came with a one-time payment of $500 to any part-time employee who buys their insurance on the ACA exchanges, according to the Washington Post:

[quote]The email offers the example of a single mom making $18 an hour working 25 hours a week who currently pays $166.50 per month for her Trader Joe’s coverage. With the tax credits under the ACA, the message says, she can get nearly identical insurance for roughly half that under an Obamacare health insurance exchange. Add to that the $500 she’ll get in January and the bleak picture of lost benefits starts to change rather dramatically.

[quote]The message acknowledges that for some part timers—namely those who, for whatever reason, report real income above the threshold for receiving subsidies to buy insurance (400% of the poverty line)—the benefits change will mean higher insurance costs. And, the message says, [bold]for 77% of Trader Joe’s employees — presumably those working more than 30 hours per week — there will be no change in insurance coverage options[/bold].

Doesn't sound so conservative to me.

Or they could just take some tax break money they get and lower their insurance cost to their employees and stop using the government, tax payers and others to subsidize a business plan that can't meet their employees needs.

This is no different from Walmart saying, "Let the government food stamps make up the difference from us not paying our employees enough."

I worked at TJ's in college in the mid 2000s. It's great for juice, cheese, baking goods, spreads, party items, or grab-and-go lunches (if you buy the day before or day of). Some of their facial cleansers are pretty nice, too.

Produce can be VERY hit-or-miss. You have no idea how many packages of figs and strawberries I threw away that had made it to the floor that had mold or flies in them.

My current favorites are that wassail drink (it's a mulled cranberry juice type-thing and a holiday item, so it might disappear in a week), bacon-flavored popcorn, and the frozen Indian items.

the chocolate covered almonds are great, good quality chocolate.

Is their frozen tilapia good?

Most boring thread. EVER.

Surprised no one has mentioned their red pepper spread (ajvar) !

You add so much to it, R41.

You can get their French Onion Soup (in the frozen section) cheaper at Costco. It's under a different brand name, but it's the exact same thing. The box is exactly the same only with a different name.

TJ's frozen chocolate croissants and almond croissants are amazingly good. You let them rise overnight and bake. Wish I could find out about the wine sold at Trader Joe's. Here in Pennsylvania, home of 'the state stores', it's been determined that some douche in a Harrisburg office with no palate knows best about which wines we should be able to buy.

r40 The frozen tilapia is good. The barramundi is even better.

Do you find the garlic Naan in the frozen section or the bread section?

OP has an irrational fear of Hawaiian shirts.

Both, R47.

At one point they were selling "mystery" beer cheap - sealed paper bags, where you learned the brand after you paid for it. field paper bags, will you learn the brand after you paid for it. Their store brand booze can be ... interesting.

[quote]Or they could just take some tax break money they get

What tax break money? You mean that they write off their portion of the employee's insurance? Or did you miss the part about how these employees have to purchase their insurance from TJ's, or from the exchanges? Or that their example states that a part-time cashier is making $18 an hour?

[quote]and lower their insurance cost to their employees

Which is exactly what they did by telling part-time employees -- 23% of their staff -- and then handing them $500 IN ADVANCE to go and buy insurance on the exchanges, which offered lower costs, more choice, and better options than a single umbrella policy that TJ's corporate could offer.

[quote]and stop using the government, tax payers and others to subsidize a business plan that can't meet their employees needs.

So, sending the 23% of their employees that were paying more for coverage from TJ's directly to the exchanges to buy insurance from insurance companies, with the only government involvement being creating the marketplace, was somehow worse for the employees? Why don't you ask a TJ's part-time employee who saved substantially on their insurance costs and got better coverage how it was worse? And you ignorance of how the ACA works shows through in the "tax payers and others to subsidize..." blather. TJ's is not Walmart. 77% of their employees, according to the WaPo, are full time, and receive health insurance like any other full time employee. Further, they pay their employees well, including part timers, which means that they probably don't qualify for a subsidy.

Bashing the ACA is an obsession for some people, and it confounds me. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the ACA isn't perfect, but it was a good first step in fixing healthcare in the US. The uninsured rate is way down, and we're seeing the slowest rate of premium increases in 50 years. In my case, I saved more than a third in 2014 and about a third in 2015 compared to the premiums I was paying in 2013... and we all know that the premiums we paid in 2013 would have increased in 20114 and again in 2015. I just got my renewal for 2016 settled, and I'm still paying 29% less than I did in 2013, and I have upgraded my coverage to the platinum level and reduced my out-of-pocket by half.

Thank God for Obamacare. It's literally a life saver.

R51 is correct on every point he about TJ's and Obamacare. Some people have Obamacare Derangement Syndrome, a sub-syndrome of Obama Derangement Syndrome, which itself was a sub-set of Clinton Derangement Syndrome.

The facts are meaningless to them. They prefer lies and paranoid fantasies.

*point he MADE about...

r50 I think that depends on the store. What happens is sometimes there are enough individual bottles hanging around (after people play mix-and-match with a six-pack, or they get broken on the store) that managers decide to put them in a closed-up mystery bag. Other times there will be TJ's-branded six-pack holders that you can mix-and-match yourself.

[quote]I will not drink the 2 buck.

Makes a delightful wine spritzer mixed with a sparkling juice like Martinelli's, otherwise not worth the trip these days (it was better in the past).

The naan is usually next to to the Indian entrees in the frozen section, R47. The entrees are surprisingly good.

...wines, reds Trentare 5.99 Italy, Revelation cab-merlot 5.99 France, outstanding wines for the price.

I think we should ask TJ's employees if they saved money by doing this. I'm thinking the answer will be they did not.

What's your presumed evidence, R57? Cough it up and do not be a tantalizing bitch Linky, otherwise you will be presumed stinky as so many other cunts who come here.

There are some specialty foods that are good. Not enough produce, in my opinion. I still cannot find one, good ripe cucumber for a summer salad there. However, in late fall through the holidays, the bottled Spiced Apple Cider is the best. It blows away the Williams-Sonoma mulling spices I bought to simmer in apple cider, and at a fraction of the cost. Oh, and the Old Amsterdam cheese was a hit during appetizers at a gathering I was at.

I've been suckered five or six times into going to Trader Bloes when I've gotten their monthly fliers in the mail.

And every single time I've gone, they've been out of stock on at least three of their advertised items that I was interested in trying.

That's every. Single. Fucking. Time.

And then, when you ask a staff member why that is, and how that can possibly be, you get the Stepford smile and a reply along the lines of, "Oh, but those are SEASONAL items!" Translation: items they produce in VERY limited quantities. And once they're gone, they're gone.

I always - and deliberately - have left empty-handed. What a brain-dead way to run a business, with all of that contempt for the consumer!

Trader Bloes is Aldi with an attitude. I'll NEVER go back.

R57 - Not sure about that. Clearly there were employees who were not better off - but those were employees who had other jobs besides working at TJ's - that income severely reduced if not eliminating their ACA subsidies.

I did read a quote from one TJ's employee who left because of the change. She admitted the only reason why she continued to work for TJ's was their health insurance. Once she got coverage under the ACA she was able to pursue other opportunities more to her liking.

So here's the deal OP: The first time I went into a TJ's, I was like you-- I could not understand why this small supermarket with limited selection of produce was so popular.

Then one opened around the corner from me. And now I pretty much buy everything there.

It is so much cheaper than regular supermarkets and high quality. Off the top of my head, I love their -- Cheerios, oatmeal, sliced turkey, lobster ravioli, gouda, bananas, strawberries, frozen vegetables, almond milk, coconut water, almonds, peanut butter, jam, cashews, potato chips, eggs, egg whites-in-a-carton, chocolate pudding, Joes O's cookies, ice cream, salsa, spaghetti sauce, pasta, olive oil, balsamic, sauces, indian frozen entrees, frozen vegetable lasagna.

I almost never go to Whole Foods as a result.

One other HUGE bonus: TJ's pays their people a living wage, so their cashiers are all well-spoken (and, I would guess, well educated) and helpful-- they always pack the bags for you. Other supermarkets have surly employees who clearly don't want to be there. WHile at TJ's it's not uncommon for the cashier to look at your bag of apples and say "that one's bruised, let me have them get you another"

Yes, I could be an ad, but I really do love that store.

They make a great lemon curd and the dark chocolate/vanilla caramels are addictive.

I've never been aware of "hype" surrounding Trader Joe's, OP. Were they calling your house and advertising on tv and radio, like during elections?

I miss their chipotle chicken skewers. They were low fat/calorie. On their own they were a little bland, but they were good with a little salsa added.

I don't drink wine, but I buy the two-buck Chuck to cook with. I guess it's finally up to $2.49 now, after having been $1.99 (at least here in CA) for years.

it is one of those stores you go buy a few select things they do very well. It's not you go get everything there.

I've shopped there for many a year, have always found it hit-and-miss. No small measure of the stuff strikes me as mediocre, not good value, too full of fat, salt and chemicals, but there are a few things I like. And as people noted, some name-brand products are priced lower than they are in other stores.

Oh; feels like some prices there have been going up a lot. Something that was 1.99 for 8 ounces quite quickly becomes 2.49 for 6 ounces; tea that was 99 cents for a quart -- shazam -- goes to 1.49.

A couple things keep me coming back: the stores have always been convenient and they do pay well so the service is good. (I get sick of being in stores and dealing with workers who act like they'd rather jam knitting needles in their eyes than do their jobs.)

their mac and cheese is awesome.

My major beef with TJ's is that they ceased carrying food that is not labeled under their store brand, pretty much. Many of the things that made the store great simply aren't sold there anymore, having been replaced with generic store label versions. Meh.

The Sublime Ice Cream Sandwiches are literally incredible. They also have really good pineapple juice that comes in a carton and not a can (ah, the little things), burrata cheese, and the frozen jasmine rice is great and so easy to make, perfect portion too. A lot of the frozen foods are really tasty but as with all frozen foods, the sodium is off the charts. Whenever I buy fruit there it sucks though so I've stopped. You just gotta find your fave items and get those. I couldn't only shop at TJ, I only go as a supplement to the regular supermarket.

The checkout people irritate me when they do that Jedi mind trick where they pick one item out of your cart and start telling you how clever you were for buying it, and how much you're going to love it, and how they practically live on it themselves. It's cute the first few times, but it gets old.

That said, if you've never tried their brownie mix do so immediately. It's the crack cocaine of baked goods.

The only think I don't like about TJ's (and I've been shopping there for years; I actually live about two miles from their HQ) is that they so often discontinue items (presumably because they were not big sellers or they couldn't find suppliers.) I used to love their Spa Salad (chicken breast, vermicelli noodles, grapes, walnuts, lettuce and a really good dressing) that was low fat and low calorie, but it just disappeared one day.

R72 I agree, I shop there occasionally and always find good foods or ingredients to stock up on but I hate the cashiers. After a long day at work sometimes I just want to get my food in peace without one of the clerks talking my fucking ear off and being fake peppy.

Chocolate tamales are insane! Also, the soft corn tamales were really good. LOVE and am addicted to their Belgian Chocolate Pudding. Recommend their frozen or refrigerated Thai items, like curry. Do NOT recommend their fish. Crackers and coffee are all good. Produce is hit and miss: The bagged stuff, like Cruciferous Crunch, is usually good, but one bag ago had a heavy musty smell and I threw it out. Their real vanilla ice cream is good.

I don't like it when the store workers push products: Everything that's been 'pushed' to me by one of them has been not good. I had a TJ cashier tsk-tsk me one time this fall because I had no Pumpkin Spice anything in my cart. I almost told him where he could insert any pumpkin spiced. Yeah, the cashiers need to lose the yak and the intrusive behavior. Just take my money and shaddap!

I just came back from shopping at TJ. I shop there at least couple of times a month. I don't buy all my grocery there, but there are certain items from that store that I cannot find elsewhere or are better priced than elsewhere. Love this store. My faves are some frozen fruit/veggies/dumplings, nuts, spices and salad greens. Their breakfast cereals are also pretty good and not expensive at all. I used to get all my cereals there until I went low carb.

My parents (late 70's ) LOVE Trader Joes...especially the 2 Buck Chuck!

One of the cheap ass Aldi groups in Germany owns Trader Joes . They share a similar ethos. Have a limited selection and have competitive pricing. TJs has more gourmet items but the pricing and restricted selection is similar to Aldi's.Except Trader Joes employees in the US are eccentric happy dicks and weirdos. Aldi employees are robots without a personality.

The Trader Joe's employees seem like older, calmer versions of the people who used to work at Tower Records.

What's "all the hype surrounding Trader Joe's," OP?

It's a food market chain.

I don't see it advertised on television or hear it advertised on radio. I don't see newspapers devoting pages to its ads. I don't see internet click bait demanding I look to see what are the 10 best and worst things about Trader Joe's. I don't see it being represented by the same PR firm that does the kardashians. I don't see the Daily Mail devoting constant stories to it, as if it were Adele or Cara Delevingne or Donald Trump.

TJ's doesn't run TV ads. But they do run radio ads, and have for years -- usually only with the voice of the CEO.

Are the stores outside of NYC crowded? Everytime I go into one in NYC, the line is wrapped around the store. And the one in Chelsea (which used to be Barnes & Noble) is too crowded. You can't even get around the store because the aisles are so small.

Has anyone tried the salted caramel ice cream? They rave about it online.

What about the peppermint Jo-Jos?

I don't eat sweets.

R82 I feel like puking. Mentioning fat Adele,Cara Dingaling and Chump is too much.

R83 I live on Long Island and the Trader Joes stores are always busy. People think it is upscale when it is really a slightly more expensive Aldi's. Which is considered ghetto by many people, even those that shop there. I'm surprised Aldi's biggest competitor in Europe,Lidl hasn't tried to invade America already. They will open their first store in the US in 2018. You thought Wal Mart is bad. Just wait how traditional supermarkets will be fucked by the ultra cheap and cheesy Lidl and Aldi model.

I can't believe the "organic food" scam is still so alluring to people. Organics are a lot more expensive for products that are still most certainly raised with pesticides (just approved ones), and are no better for you, or the soil. I mean, why is it still such a pull for people?

r74, my friends used to come and shop at my store when they knew I was working on the register at TJ's so they could be amused by the perkiness I would put on for work. I find myself still doing it when I go in there just to shop for myself, several years later.

(I will say that the inability to keep up the perkiness would weed out a lot of employees.)

[quote]Aldi employees are robots without a personality.

WRONG!!!! The Aldi employees where I live are so nice!

You needn't "Oh dear", r29 . Obviously r6 shops with a forklift.

Organics aren't raised with glyphosates, GMOs, hormones and other unnatural products the human body does not need and cannot digest. Also, most organic food simply tastes better.

There are some vegetables and maybe some fruits (can't think of any offhand) that aren't heavily saturated with herbicides and pesticides, but I'm not willing to saturate my body with Monsanto and Dow's favorite money-makers.

If you don't care, have right at it. I'll make my own choices, thank you very much.

[quote] I lie on Long Island .......People think it is upscale when it is really a slightly more expensive Aldi's.

I live on Long Island and I don't know anyone who thinks of Trader Joe's as "upscale" at all. It's considered a reasonably priced small grocery store with a selection that is different from local supermarkets, at better prices. It is busy because it is a lot smaller than a supermarket, so the same amount of people in King Kullen or Stop N Shop will look like a big crowd in Trader Joe's, which is about 1/10th the size.

The clerks in my TJs stopped discussing the contents of my shopping cart more than a year ago. I figure the store manager may have gotten complaints because it ended rather suddenly. The clerks are friendly but not overly so. Employees who are out on the floor always ask if they can help, but they're not obnoxious about it. The last time I ran into an obnoxious TJ's employee was over two years ago, and I thought he was high because he wanted to have an in-depth conversation about eggs.

No, r91. There are NO fruits or vegetables that are "saturated" with pesticides, you are just parroting the organic trade group talking points. There is actual only tiny traces of these "toxins" the organic lobby shrieks about, and they can ALSO be found on organic produce as well. Yes, organic produce is a multi-billion dollar business, and they have lobbyists too! Organic pesticides like horse manure, paraffin, or other petroleum pesticides are no more digestible than synthetics, and you really do have to drown your plants in them, which is why synthetics were developed. Synthetics are almost always kinder to the soil and water table as well. The GMO scare is 100% hype. There is zero science proving they are harmful, just mommyblog madness. I doubt the "tastes better" can pass a real blind taste test. Your saying this is the first I've ever heard of that claim.

What you will do is "ignore facts and science for truthiness, thank you very much"!

I live in the LA area and the stores are always busy, and it's often hard to park at some of them, but there are so many stores (I think there are at least six within a 10-mile radius, and I live in a downscale, non-trendy area) that it's usually not a problem. And they do a good job of opening up registers so there's rarely a line. That said, I had to take my elderly aunt to one in northern California the Monday before Thanksgiving, and it was a nightmare. I drove around for 30 minutes trying to find parking.

I try to go to the stores that are in large shopping centers-- at least you can always find parking there, as opposed to the stores that are standalones with there own, usually too-small, parking lots.

I see Mr. Monsanto at R94 has decided to join us today. I hope they pay you well.

[quote]with there own, usually too-small, parking lots.

there=their

Sorry.

R87 Barely anyone on this thread even mentioned "Organics" or pesticides or claimed this food was ultra healthy.

A few years back, some Trader Joe's stores had to pull Speculoos Cookie Butter from their shelves because some people were buying them by the truckload and either selling them on eBay for ten times the price, or shipping them to the Philippines where that shit is apparently the rage.

R92 I disagree completely. The perception of TJs are far different from Stop and Stop, Shop Rite, King Kullen , Best Yet or any chain on Long Island. PERIOD. Trader Joes is perceived as more upmarket than those chains by far. Little do they know that Aldi Nord owns them and looks at the bottom line like hawks as they do at Aldi.

Aldi people are told not to be too friendly with customers for the poster who said that the ones near him are so nice. In addition unlike the average unionized supermarket employee, the Aldi worker does literally 4 different jobs. There is no separation of labor.

The whole happy dick act is sometimes not an act. I know people who work at trader Joes who were happy dicks before they work there. They prefer to have that type of work than an Aldi robot.

I meant:I know people who work at Trader Joes who were happy dicks before they worked there. They prefer to have that type of worker than an Aldi robot.

My pet peeve is that they don't have express lanes.

ALL the guys who work there are totally faceable bear cubs

Trader Joe's is very picky about expansion on the East Coast. They will only open stores within a certain number of miles of their distribution centers. There are areas where people have even started Facebook pages asking TJ's to open in their area and gotten a flat "no" from HQ.

People like the prices more than anything else, and if a store has reasonable parking, you can get in and out rather quickly because you don't have to walk two miles inside a giant supermarket to get your shopping done and the number of open cashier lines is always adequate -- as opposed to supermarkets and Walmart/Target where there are three lines open at 5:30pm. .

Also, the workers are helpful rather than a hindrance. In our local target I've had workers actually block my way and keep me from shopping in an aisle. Hello? I go there to shop. You're a store for shopping. I have a certain amount of time to get my shopping done. I don't have all day to stand in the cat food aisle waiting for you to bring one row of cat food further to the front of the shelf. An idiot in Target did this last week. He took forever and only brought one row of cans to the front, leaving three rows of cans in the very back of the shelf. WTF? What was the point of that?

And try getting two shopping carts down the aisle in Walmart. Theyve got huge pillars in the middle of the aisle, making it an impossibility. The two main aisles are not big enough to come into from a side aisle without crashing into a cart being hurriedly pushed by someone you can't see til it's too late. This makes Walmart the worst place in the world to shop. Bad enough this fucking family are the richest people on the planet, they underpay their workers, they get corporate welfare and they started the whole violent aspect of Black Friday -- they calculate space down the fraction of an inch in such a way as to make shopping there a torturous experience. I only buy birdseed there and only in the dead of night. Rancid fuckers.

So yeah, I'll take Trader Joe's where the prices are good and shopping isn't a crazy-making experience.

r102 When we tried that at my store, no one paid attention to the signs. I think people are used to them not being there, or expecting them.

[quote]Trader Joe's is very picky about expansion on the East Coast. They will only open stores within a certain number of miles of their distribution centers. There are areas where people have even started Facebook pages asking TJ's to open in their area and gotten a flat "no" from HQ.

That's not an East Coast phenomenon; it's true across the country. They set up distribution centers before they open stores. Because of that, it took forever for us to get our first TJs, almost that long to get the second, but the third happened fairly quickly.

[quote] I had a TJ cashier tsk-tsk me one time this fall because I had no Pumpkin Spice anything in my cart.

Yeah, what's up with their weird pumpkin spice obsession?

Now it all makes sense. I went to TJ's for the first time last week and the checkout guy was really talking up the guy in front of me. Asking questions like, "So, what are your plans this weekend?" The customer was clearly uncomfortable with the overly familiar conversation.

I just want to checkout, pay, and be on my way. I don't want a perfect stranger asking me what my plans are for the weekend with follow-up questions while 5 people behind me listen in.

TJ is awesome because they really treasure shelf space. The result is that the products that catch on stick around, those that don't go away. I like Peanut Butter as an example. TJ's has regular, chunky, organic, cashew butter, salted and unsalted. That's it. And the peanut butter is natural--just peanuts. Go into a supermarket, you'll find 50 varieties of peanut butter, most of which have additives and those that don't cost up to $6 per jar. TJ's is cheaper by $1-2 than the cheapest pb you'd find at a supermarket.

If you shop there regularly, you may find your culinary horizons expanding. They are always sampling something and it's usually a combination of 2-3 items. The result is that over a year, you may try 100 new items that you'd never think of buying otherwise. Great way to get introduced to items, flavors, and foreign cuisines you haven't been exposed to yet.

R108 - I find an awful lot of their employees to be really hot, so they can chat away as far as I'm concerned.

[quote]I just want to checkout, pay, and be on my way. I don't want a perfect stranger asking me what my plans are for the weekend with follow-up questions while 5 people behind me listen in.

OK, but you have to admit that a whole shopping cart full of Trader Joe's Vodka might raise a red flag and make them ask if you're having a party or just planning a weekend in.

They have good mochi. I like the strawberry and mango flavors, the green tea is just okay. Haven't tried the chocolate.

I was informed that they plan their expansion based on local income and education levels. The first two stores in Florida were in Naples and Sarasota, more than two hours apart by road, so I don't see how requiring a local distribution center plays into that?

At our local TJ's one of the checkers sold two bottles of 2 Buck Chuck to a local homeless guy which isn't unusual in and of itself because there are a lot of homeless around. It's just that the guy brought his bicycle through the checkout and the checker uncorked one of them for him and helpfully pulled the paper sack down around the neck of the bottle. I am not making this up.

I don't like peanut butter that you have to stir with a stick.

Then maybe you need to stick with the kind of peanut butter that has hydrogenated fats so it doesn't settle, R115. There's plenty of that available.

I try to like the natural peanut butter but without the sugar/salt/hydrogenated fat combo, it sadly tastes like ass. I tend to buy Peter Pan, and just hope I don't die too young.

[quote]I tend to buy Peter Pan, and just hope I don't die too young.

Grow up.

Maybe I'm lucky I don't like peanut butter. TJs has great almond butter and cashew butter.

[quote]I will not drink the 2 buck.

2 Buck Chuck (red) really isn't half bad.

Great for cooking and making Sangria if you're too much of a snob to drink it straight.

Our Trader Joe's can't sell alcohol. Maybe beer, I don't know bcause I don't drink beer. In our state, chain stores cannot sell alcohol over -- I think 6%.

In WA, there's a minimum physical store size to be able to sell alcohol other than beer and wine, designed to make 7-Eleven and other convenience stores unable to do so. Our old neighborhood Trader Joe's was too small, but they expanded into a new store a few blocks away, so now has an alcohol section.

Do you have to stir the almond butter with a stick?

Poor people shop at trader joes.

No, R123.

Who cares, R124? I should go to WF and spend far more money because it's trendy?

Trader joes is shit quality. If you don't realize that then I guess cheap means good for you.

Whatever, R126. I can tell you're an expert on food quality so I suppose we should all defer to you. Or not.

You should, r127. However, you couldn't afford to.

I'm grateful for that miracle, R128.

R126 does all of his grocery shopping at Big Lots and Dollar Tree.

R126 is the Libertarian troll shilling for Whole Foods

[quote] Every time I go into one in NYC, the line is wrapped around the store.

The one on the Upper West Side is the worst. There is often a line just to get INTO the store. And then, the two checkout lines wrap around the store.

New Yorkers, being the obnoxious people we are, will shop the lower floor first, then get on the checkout line with a half-full basket and then run back and forth on the upper floor, gathering up additional items, like some sort of bizarre Supermarket Sweep episode.

I walk right by them and shop at Fairway. I don't think the prices are significantly higher, the selection is better, and it helps preserve my sanity

Awwwww, r130 tries to play with the big boys.

R131, cute but no. How on fucking earth you turned that into a libertarian statement is beyond me.

So that means you like to spend more money on groceries because [you think] it impresses people?

I stopped caring after I read you shopped at Costco.

You know there's something wrong with you, R135?

There's a TJ in a nearby town (Boulder). Hubby and I used to go about every 2 weeks. I liked some of the frozen foods and the sweet stuff (toffee). Haven't been in a while. Shrugs....

I was never a fan of carrot juice until I tried TJ's organic carrot juice. Even their non-organic carrot juice is good, but there's something crack-like in the organic one.

[quote]The one on the Upper West Side is the worst. There is often a line just to get INTO the store. And then, the two checkout lines wrap around the store.

I've seen a line outside a few times at the Chelsea store. It's ridiculous. I wouldn't stand outside to get into Trader Joe's. Fairway is a good store, but they also have line problems when it gets crowded. Not as crazy as TJ, but their store really doesn't have anywhere for the line to go but down the soda aisle.

The lines move really fast. I've stood outside the market and the wine shop downtown and it moves very quickly. The first time you go in there it's a little shocking but you move through, pick up where things are and the next time you go in you're more familiar with the place. Eventually, you're in and out with everything you want.

I stood outside the wine shop on NYE once. The line was huge and you'd think it was going to take an hour, but I was on line, in the store, picked up my champagnes, paid and was out in 20 minutes. And it was quite pleasant as everyone was in a good, helpful mood. A young student in front of us was telling a middle aged tourist couple the best places to visit and eat for a good price in the city. We chatted and joked with others. I was in Central Park forty minutes after getting on line, giving champagne to my friends (and to tourists) as we waited for the Midnight Run to begin.

They opened a Whoe Foods in my city neighborhood (I live in two places) and I find it a pain in the ass and not interesting

For many years, Trader Joe's resisted the trend toward UPC scanners and still had price tags on all their products, so they had to be rung up manually.

i don't mind a chatty cashier if the dude is hot

Things I buy there: dairy, pre-made salads, pre-made sandwiches/wraps, pre-made entrees in the deli case, nuts, chocolate, coffee, wine.

Things I won't buy there: canned goods, peanut butter, frozen entrees, frozen fish.

Things I'm highly selective about because they're hit and miss: breads, cheeses, sauces in a jar, snacks and cookies, frozen desserts.

Things I'll buy, but only if I don't want to go somewhere else: fresh produce, meat/poultry.

Are Trader Joe's (& Whole Foods) comparable to Waitrose and M&S in the UK? Re: Price, quality, perception.

I'd say M&S is more like a hybrid of Target and Whole Foods. And Waitrose is way more similar to Whole Foods than to TJ's.

A friend of mine got food poisoning twice with Tj's frozen dinner (it was chicken something). It was supposed to be "fully cooked" and only needed to be heated in the microwave, which was what he did. The first time he blamed it on the Mexican restaraunt that he visited a day earlier, although nobody else with him that day got sick. The second time it was obvious that the culprit was the frozen dinner. Reheating often don't heat the foods high enough to kill all germs. Too bad he didn't keep the package or receipt or any other evidence (all the bad stuff were flushed down the toilet) and he never bothered to complain to TJ. He never bought frozen dinner there again. My advice is to cook all frozen dinner like they are raw.

We have a TJs about a mile from our home. I'm probably there about six times a week. I love the employees there! I was told that they try to hire people who are happy and positive by nature. That's probably why we only have one former employee on DL.

R146 Since instant-read thermometers are so cheap now, I use them whenever I reheat frozen items to make sure they're hot enough.

TJ's spinach dip is the #1 requested item at our campus parties.

Are you guys kidding about store sizes dictating alcohol? Here, the only thing one can't buy in any grocery or convenience store is hard booze.

Ugh, the parking at the one in Midtown Atlanta is frequently at 100% capacity, with cars circling like vultures, traffic jams all over. Nightmarish. I invariably end up parking all the way in the back of the (shitily-designed) shopping center and walking back to the store.

R150 Every state has different liquor laws. In California, any kind of store (Walmart, Target, drugstore, grocery store) can sell any kind of alcohol.

In Pennsylvania you only get alcohol if you send a nice letter to Santa or buy three hunting rifles.

I like their soaps and cards. Great price on a quality product.

I was carded in Pennsylvania when I was 32.

Here's the background, R150 ...

In order to get the ballot question ending state stores here in Washington to stand a chance of passing, it had to have a minimum square foot requirement larger than most convenience stores. I didn't really get it myself, but there were enough voters convinced that 7/11's would be selling vodka freely to kiddies otherwise. So, hard stuff can be had at supermarkets, Walgreens, etc. now.

I'm waiting for r1 to come back and tell us how the eggnog was.

They have some really good stuff. But, some of it is overrated or just not that good. It's certainly not a bad store to have around, but it may not fulfill all your grocery needs.

That is exactly my problem with TJ. They have a few great things but i can do less than half my shopping there so i rarely bother.

Last summer/fall, because of the drought in California, Safeway no frozen peas for weeks; TJ did.

Not sure what the brand is, or what dairy, but they carry one of the best chocolate milks I've ever tasted in my life. It's so good that once I start drinking it, it will be gone by the next day. I don't get it very often, but it's incredible!!!

bump

I love their wasabi beer.

Poor people shop at trader Joes.

The anti-Aldi trolls are starting up.

OP, do you have an aversion to Hawaiian shirts?

I've been having a problem with TJ's cheese going moldy very quickly after I buy it. In general I don't trust them much with anything fresh, since God knows where it's been shipped from.

[quote]Poor people shop at trader Joes.

Poor people shop at convenience stores. I suspect the average income level among TJs customers is fairly high (as it is at Costco).

I love their lemon curd and dark chocolate-covered vanilla caramels. Some of their wines are good but not all of them.

r167 When I worked there (over 10 years ago), I was part of a new store, so the regional manager had a meeting with all of us about a week before opening. He said TJ's products have always been aimed at the "out-of-work professor" type, as in someone with not a lot of money but who was fairly educated. I definitely think things have gone a little more mainstream than that since, but it made sense at the time.

They have a few unique things i like but just really haven't found it worth the hassle to bother going much. They obviously have a market but i'm just not the target i guess.

There used to be a LOT of good looking cashiers working at Trader Joe's.