Fans of Trader Joe's - article at SFGate

[Kadie]

The tao of Trader Joe's
Devoted fans meet online to swap news, stay connected
Pia Sarkar, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, June 6, 2006

snip...
Californians fell in love with the gourmet grocery chain based in the Los Angeles area a long time ago. But more people keep joining the cult following as Trader Joe's continues a slow expansion into other parts of the country. Today, it has more than 240 stores in 19 states.

But as much as it thrives off a swelling population of admirers, Trader Joe's has refused to shake its long tradition of privacy, posting only selective information on its Web site. The company hardly even advertises outside of its monthly newsletter called the Fearless Flyer, which is jammed with descriptions of new products and bad clip art.

snip...
Even customers have taken it upon themselves to fill in what Trader Joe's leaves blank. Jovanna Brooks, who lives near Boston and has created a Web site for Trader Joe's fans (http://www.traderjoefan.com), said she often receives inquiries from customers even though she has no affiliation with the company. Trader Joe's does not have an e-mail address and instead encourages correspondence the old-fashioned way -- by letter or in person.

Mike Kaltschnee of Danbury, Conn., also created a Web site, http://www.trackingtraderjoes.com/ , which contains information about store openings and collects articles about the company. Kaltschnee said his site gets about 1,000 visitors a day. Like Brooks, he finds himself responding to questions from customers, many of whom want to know why there isn't a Trader Joe's in their community.

more...
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/06/BUGD3J8PJ11.DTL

[Ohio Joe]

1. I love Trader Joes

They have mushrooms marinated in a red wine vinaigrette and crushed garlic that are just awesome. I've been known to eat an entire jar at a time.

[Gormy Cuss]

2. I was pleased to see the estimate on revenue per sq ft

I've always thought they did very well by keeping the stores on the small side. The first time I shopped in TJ's was on a business trip to San Diego about 15 years ago. I thought it would be one of the warehouse stores full of past date or grade B food items but I ended up buying as many high-end goods as a could to take home with me. For years I stocked up on trips to California. We did a happy dance when they expanded to the East Coast -- Boston was one of the first locations because their market research showed that there were another of us crazies who shopped their West Coast stores.

[maxsolomon]

3. you cannot beat Quivera Fig Tree white - yumm

you can keep the 3 buck chuck.

also Tuna for Cats - its all my cat wants - he turns up his nose at organic canned food now.

[tigereye]

4. one is coming here soon

I liked the one we visited in California....

[kwassa]

5. I've been to the original Trader Joe's in Pasadena

though I mostly went to the one on National on the westside. My first visit was in 1979. I still eat the blue corn torilla chips today.

I moved from California to Maryland in 1995, and one of the things I missed the most was Trader Joes. Then Trader Joes moved into Maryland, opening a store about a mile from my house. We shop there every week.

In Maryland they can't sell wine and beer, so they have to be successful on food only. They have been very successful.

It is also great to see that the original business concept has been kept intact. The food is also often less expensive than the regular grocery store, much less the high prices of Whole Foods.

[Duer 157099]

6. Ahhh, the store on National

Could the parking lot have been any smaller? LOL

I wonder if all of the stores sell the same things? There's one item that I used to find several years ago, and have been looking ever since but cannot find anywhere. I wonder if one of the other stores would have it?

I'll have to check out those fan websites...

[Duer 157099]

7. Ack! There's a store in Chatsworth now!

http://www.traderjoes.com/locations/map/184.asp

And not only that, but there's a Smart & Final right next door to it!! My two favorite stores in the world! (add a Costco and it's the triple crown)

That shopping center, at Mason & Devonshire, has always had icky stores. I can't even imagine the traffic at that intersection now.

Wow. In a way, I'm glad I don't live there anymore, it's probably crazy.