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Honored Contributor
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Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Trader Joe's - America's Favorite Grocery Store

@Caligurll  I had forgotten about the Whole Foods in the area (Boston) where my daugher used to live.  Great location for if you need one bag of groceries and can walk home with it.  For anything else...no!

Unless I'm shopping for a holiday, I can park at the end of the lot at Trader Joe's if I must, and pick up my 2-3 sturdy bags to haul them to my car.

Honored Contributor
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Re: Trader Joe's - America's Favorite Grocery Store

DH and I like to shop at Trader Joe's but the closest one is 120 miles round trip.  So when we go there we have a long shopping list.  I wish we had a TJ a lot closer.  If so we would shop there a lot more often.  We mainly shop at Weis or Giant which has stores in town and a town 10 miles from us.  Have never shopped a Publix (none near me) and do not like Aldi.

"Faith, Hope, Love; the greatest of these is Love." ~The Silver Fox~
Honored Contributor
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Registered: ‎05-23-2010

Re: Trader Joe's - America's Favorite Grocery Store


@noodleann wrote:

@Moonchilde wrote:

@ValuSkr wrote:

@Irshgrl31201 wrote:

I do like Trader Joes a lot but the one near us has such a small parking area it is literally impossible to find a place to park no matter what time you go.


Same here.  There are two TJ's near me and both parking lots are much too small.  I wonder if that's intentional - surely, when TJ's plans a store, it can accurately forecast parking requirements - or just poor planning.  In either case, I lump it, with other examples, under "poor customer service."  


 

 

FWIW, TJs always seem to have "small", packed parking lots. They are not the same size in square footage as a large chain grocery, so why would their parking lots be the size of a much larger square footage store? That doesn't make sense.

 

The lots are packed because the stores are full of (happy) customers.

 

Poor customer service? Customer service is their best asset. Their employees are cheerful and helpful. They are well-paid and also financially invested in the company. They promote from within. Any of them will stop what they're doing and check anything for you, bring stock out from the warehouse, offer to put an arriving item aside for you. They always have multiple check-outs open. Everyone who shops there is in a good mood.


So is there a happiness checker at the door who won't let you in unless you're bright 'n' perky, or are they piping aerosolized MDMA through the HVAC?

 

Methinks you have an extremely rosy picture of TJs. A lot of people like working there, a lot of people like shopping there, but not  everyone, and there are articles to prove the point.

 

It's a store that sells fancy foods. It doesn't even sell Brawny. It's not in the same class as most of the other stores listed, and shouldn't have been included in the survey, IMO.

 

Besides, Wegman's rules, even though their cat litter selection is pathetic.


 

 

LOL.  "You have a rosy picture" sounds like something one would say to someone who had never been there. If I like the store, it's because I have shopped there once or twice a week for 20 years - a fair amount of exposure to the stores (many different stores, BTW, not just the same TJs).

 

Fruit, vegetables, meat, cheese, frozen food, cereal, coffee, bakery goods, milk, TP - all "fancy", I guess...not.

Life without Mexican food is no life at all
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Re: Trader Joe's - America's Favorite Grocery Store


@Burnsite wrote:

I have had a mixed experience with Trader Joe's while visiting up in Maine, esp. buying wine for a family party.  Followed the rep's suggestions and thought, "huh?"

 

   I like Publix, a southern chain that started in FL, a lot. Excellent employees and customer service, fair prices, getting better with the selection of organic vegetables.


We don't have a Publix, but I like Publix.  I've shopped there in Florida.

 

I also am not super impresed by the wine department at Trader Joe's.  I don't like the selection, and I don't think the prices are as good as Kroger's prices.  The prices are not bad, but they aren't as good as I can find elsewhere especially with the 15% discount on buying 6 bottles Kroger offers. 

 

My uncle likes TJ's wine dept, and so does my sister.   It's just "ok" imo, and I think some of their wines are awful.

"friends don't let friends drink white zinfandel"
Honored Contributor
Posts: 32,486
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Re: Trader Joe's - America's Favorite Grocery Store

I haven't found anything attractive for me about Trader Joe's or Aldi. They seem to have a lot of packaged and prepared foods that I don't buy. 

 

I divide my shopping among Whole Foods (produce, pasta, specialty cheese, grated parm. cheese and olives, and several of their 365 house brand items which are usually excellent; Natural Grocers, which are small stores with excellent all organic produce, flours and bulk beans and oats etc., and good buys on milk and dairy, as well as good sales on other items; and Sams for cleaning supplies, mushrooms, and a few other things we pick up periodically.

 

I DO go to the local Homeland sometimes for supplies and foods.  I usually buy meal on sale at Whole Foods and then freeze it for later.   Oh, and I have Amy's Mexican frozen meals on hand for when we don't want to cook.

 

We cook a lot from scratch, and use a lot of fresh fruit and veggies.  I spend I guess a lot for certain things, but we hardly ever buy snacks or chips or things like that, so all in all, we don't spend lots on groceries, nor do we really shop often.  It's the basics for us. 

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Re: Trader Joe's - America's Favorite Grocery Store

If you like a lot of prepared foods, you'll like TJs.   

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Re: Trader Joe's - America's Favorite Grocery Store

You guys crack me up and it seems a big peeve is the parking lot. Problem solved as there are NO parking lots in their Manhattan stores. The stores are not large (much smaller than Whole Foods) or maybe it looks small since it is always packed with people. At times especially the holiday season, there are lines outside the store to be let in. 

 

The staff is always cheerful, perhaps an act but that's fine with me. When I'm there, I have see them asking people who are waiting on line if they forgot anything and could they go get it for them. Our lines are long but they always go very quickly. To be met with sullen staff with grunts when asking a question or I don't know and walks on by at some retailers is the pits. They also treat their employees well in terms of benefits.

 

Trader Joe is not Utopia, it may not serve everyone's purpose. I'm glad it finally came to my area, I read about it here for a while.

Respected Contributor
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Re: Trader Joe's - America's Favorite Grocery Store

[ Edited ]

@dex wrote:

@Irshgrl31201@My son has sprouts and it is one of his favourite stores I went once.We have Trader Joe's and I remember telling my son that I wished we had Sprouts.I think they had great produce and health products but little meat choices.


I'm a fan of Spouts too.   I prefer Sprouts over TJ.  The majority of my grocery shopping is done at Kroger's.  

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Posts: 7,265
Registered: ‎03-27-2012

Re: Trader Joe's - America's Favorite Grocery Store

I'm definitely a Trader Joe's fan. I can't do all my shopping there, but I wouldn't want to shop in one place anyway. I like variety!

 

The employees are friendly there, but I've never really noticed grumpy employees at any of the places I shop. As for the parking, I agree, it's either crazy limited or designated to a garage where you take an elevator to the store. That's okay, though, it's all part of the experience. 

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Posts: 612
Registered: ‎08-19-2016

Re: Trader Joe's - America's Favorite Grocery Store

[ Edited ]

I've never shopped at Trader Joes-I wish I had-

 

My husband shops at TJ's every week for certain things-

 

I am addicted to their balsamic vinegar, been known to eat it with a spoon and happy he keeps a stash!