Explain to me the appeal of Trader Joe's
 

I don't understand why people love this place so much. It seems to me that most of their products are bulk/generic products that are simply repackaged into smaller portions, with quirky labels.
The "Trader Giotto/Jose/etc" products are usually gross (for instance, their bad hummus comes in at least three different flavors), and most of their meat and produce is crap, having been shipped all over the country from their warehouses in California.

Why do people like to shop here?

Certain things are great. For instance, their nuts. I don't know what it is, but their almonds are the best I've had. No comparison to any of the name brands that are in the grocery store.

I get vitamins there too. My wife gets a few things for the kids (organic cereals that are still "fun" for kids, and juices that aren't quite a sweet as others).

That said, we definitely pick and choose - we only get a few things there. It's not the place I'd go for all of our basic shopping - just supplemental stuff.

there was a website..can't find it now, that was a cross reference for every trader joe product. They just buy in bulk from other manufacturers, re-label with their in-house packaging and sell it. IE: their gluten free macaroni and cheese might actually be Annie's brand, with TJ packaging, etc.

You forgot the parking lots that are too small for the store.

The quality of the food may be better here in SoCal since that's where it originates. They started as a place where you could get less traditional items than you'd find in the local Safeway/Albertsons/etc. Nuts, spices, beers, etc. You'd get their flyer where they'd have the latest stuff they'd found. Prices used to be pretty good. They then evolved into a more full service/carry everything store and did a lot of ready to cook stuff. Some of it is ok - certainly better than canned crap you find at other places. Other stuff...not so good.

If you want me to rant, let's talk about Whole Foods. What a freakin' waste of time and money...

My mom is one of their disciples. But then my folks live on an island with very limited grocery shopping and the mainland only has one big store within reasonable driving distance. They're visiting us in AZ now and she blew $68 at Trader Joe's last night on one bag of little stuff we don't need.

Their vanilla Ice cream is very tasty! Scotch seems 30% cheaper there. I avoid their breads

I don't get it either. Every one I've been to is horribly organized and terribly laid out for smooth traffic flow.

My wife loves the place.

If you're very, very selective at Whole Foods you can get good stuff that isn't easily found elsewhere. It has gotten to the point, though, where it's cheaper to go out for (gluten free) pizza than it is to buy (gluten free) frozen pizza.

the 4-cheese (maybe it's the 3 cheese) pizza is fantastic. great for an emergency quick dinner.

at the same time, pick up a bag of their arugula. cook pizza, cover with arugula , drizzle with a great olive oil. eat. very good. very very good.

besides that, the store is fun..has a great vibe.

love the two buck chuck house wine.

The repackaging into smaller portions is why I shop there. I'm single and don't need nor have storage for the giant family size packages that other stores and Costco market. A lot of their foods are organic but you do have to become a label reader to check the contents especially the sodium which is very high in a lot of their processed foods.Their wine selection is great and typically several dollars less than other markets. Once in a while I'll shop at a market like Safeway or Oliver's and I find I spend less for the same foods at TJ's.

They have a number of specialty type items that are often quite hard to find anywhere else. I can often get healthier, cheaper foods at TJ than at the conventional supermarkets. However, I don't buy everything there. Like anything else, you can find deals and you can find stuff that is obscenely overpriced, you have to do your homework.

I go there every once and awhile to remind myself why I don't shop there regularly. Overpriced, snotty women wearing spandex they REALLY should not be wearing. Of course, that could just be attributed to Atlanta.

They opened one here recently and the lot is always full. I've never been there, nor plan on going. Same for Whole Foods.

the best place to shop because the women that shop there aren't exactly Wallmart quality. they are usually hot and thin.

Bingo. I think we have a winner. :cool:

My buddy use to call the corner of 3rd and LaBrea the "Twin Towers of Pussy" with Ralph's on one corner and TJ's across the street. :)

Fooking dirty minds think alike.

You can put TJ anywhere even in or near the dirty and ratty part of town, and the pretty thin girls will come.

We love the food that we've tried and I eat a "flexitarian" diet (no red meat, only chicken or fish once or twice a week for health reasons) and the vegetarian stuff they sell is really good.

The pretty thin girls will......WHAT?

I am still laughing as I type this.

Peppermint Jo-Jo's... need I say more?

Pretty much the same reasons for me. I love the place. It's my version of the Apple store( for you Igeeks.) Some of their prices are high, but some stuff is extremely cheap, compared to other stores here in NYC/NJ. Their prepared / ready to eat foods, wraps are half the price of any deli around here. The cereals are waaaay cheaper then the supermarkets. Coffee is excellent.

Also I will back up the hot babe thing. All the ones that work and shop in the local one here are smokin.:D

By hot and thin he really means unshaved and feminazi...

It's not a bad store, not really that different from vons or any other grocery store, the quality of the food is usually a little better nothing I would go out of my way for except for the "TJ" rebranded mayonnaise that comes in a glass jar. Best mayo I've ever had, whoever makes that stuff has it down and with the glass you don't leech that plastic taste into it!

As has been stated, the ones in So Cal are "MILF Central". I like the chicken gyozas, crown of rolls, cheese selection and bratwurst. Oh, the beer prices aren't bad, Oranjeboom "tall boys" for $5.99 (used to be $3.99, we'd buy a bunch and keep it on ice when we came back out from backpacking the Sespe).

Not around here. Definitely shaved. :cool:

Yep....you're at the wrong Trader Joe's. Try the ones in Chicago...hot 20 somethings in yoga pants as far as the eye can see on a saturda/sunday morning.

Low price on Scotch, whole coffee beans (and good selection), two buck chuck... nuff said.

Don't buy everything there either but the above items are hard to beat.

Shyte man I bin goin to TJ since the late 70's...day once had sum AusTRALian JUMBO Lobster tail (avg 2.5 lb ea) that BBQed up so FINE....$12.00 a lb...

TJ used to buy up lots or overages of different kinds O booze & beer and U used to git it cheap...

I be buyin der Whole coffee bean...PoPO Dijion Mustard, Dundee OJ Marmalade etc

This! Stock up, they come but once a year!

Mocha Java coffee. It's not chocolate flavor. It's a nice mix of Ethiopian and Indonesian coffees.

Love the place! All the reasons stated above. Whole Foods ("Whole Paycheck") is great too but insanely expensive for just about everything. There was a great place in SoCal called Wild Oats - haven't come across it elsewhere. Similar model - very nice environment, good and mostly healthy choices. Not quite as expensive as Whole Paycheck.

One thing I absolutely LOVE about TJs is no stupid "club cards". Dear Lord do I hate those things! Why should I be penalized with higher prices just because I don't want to carry your silly card around with me or allow you to personally profile my shopping habits? Eff off! None of the above-mentioned stores do it. There's a place around here (local/regional?) called Hannifords that's fairly good too although less "upscale" grocer than TJ/WF/WO... They're perfectly adequate though and similarly don't try to bulky me into their profiling/phishing card scam silliness, so I go there semi-regularly.

TJ is definitely my first choice however...

I have had a gift card to TJ's for a year. Used to go there a few times a year but got tired of the freakin' crowds. You can't pause to browse w/o thinking you're out in the middle of the intersection and the light's red.

Was in a TJ's last month (forgot the damn card) and there were a couple of MILF's that were making me start to behave funny. I had to leave. ;)

Other than the eye candy, I think TJ's has lost some of the mystique.

Re: whole foods.... the safeway has an aisle of organic/specialty foods. Why can't whole foods spare an aisle for "normal foods?"

Going to multiple places to shop for food. Eff that.

Trader Joe's, brought to you by the same family that brought you Aldi's, Try the frozen French Toast, it's ridiculously good.

/\ /\ /\ would agree their french toast is good but the Steel Cut Oatmeal with Banana and Walnuts added in is the best!

Whole paycheck is where you should have put your whole paycheck a few years ago. Like right when the stock went public.

Whole Foods is half a block from my house. The place annoys the crap out of me. While I like the quality of the chicken and fish there (though SM Seafood is better), the prices are astronomical and frankly the produce is hit or miss. For the prices they charge I'd expect better quality and more consistency. They also don't carry some basic things so it does end up being a "one of many stops" trip. Fail.

I used to live right next to a Pavillions that blows Whole Paycheck out of the water. I miss that place and actually will drive there to shop now and again.

btw, this was filmed at the Whole Paycheck right near my house:

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Trader Joes': smokin hot girls, really good prices, many hard to find interesting foods, smokin hot girls, free snacks while shopping.


Whole Foods: only buy meat at Whole Foods, easily the best meat other than going to a butcher or having stuff delivered from VT or NH.


Vegetables: Russo's Welcome to Russo's

Trader Joes is a panacea for people who can't cook!!...

Yea that bag of pot-stickers looks interesting and yummy... just steam or fry...

Blech...

I shopped at Trader Joes a few times.... then a smack in the face epiphany occurred...

Instead of buying the repackaged crap that TJ sells... I learned to shop and cook...

I don't mind at all having to "stop" at more than one place to assemble the ingredients for my meals.....

I can get fish right off the boat... went to school (30 years ago) with one of the Captains...know which markets have better produce. etc..

Shopping with my wife and MIL in Tianjin reinforced the locavore....In China they (my in laws) shop every day... sometimes the would go to market more than once if "something" special came in...

Trader Joes..... blech.....