Tell me about Trader Joe's. (two are opening up in my city)

[Seedersandleechers]

on Friday and a lot of people are making a big deal about it. Why? :shrug:

[Sanity Claws]

1. Good value for the prices

I get TJ's canned wild Alaskan salmon (best quality you can get) for 2.49 a can.
TJ offers gourmet rice, like Jasmine rice, brown or white, at sensible prices. I get the brown Jasmine and think it works out to $1.10 a pound.
I can go on and on. The point is you pay reasonable prices for gourmet quality. That's something to make a big deal about!

[Seedersandleechers]

11. Great!

Will definately try them out on Friday as I'm sure they'll have opening specials. I'm rather tired of paying over $7 for a 16 oz jar of Tahini.

[kwassa]

25. TJs doesn't sell tahini.

At least mine doesn't.

Good for almost everything else.

Produce is very iffy sometimes.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. When they open, stop in. Then you'll see what the fuss is about.

[mucifer]

3. lots of good vegetarian foods for reasonable prices.

[LynneSin]

4. Because they sell a ton of natural and organic products but around the same price as the big chains

I love my Trader Joe's

Edit note: And when I mean the big chains it's like a dozen eggs from hens that lived in cramped cages and were pumped full of hormones cost the same price as the free range, all-natural eggs at TJs.

[LeftyMom]

5. Nice food for cheap. Good deals on booze. Never enough parking. nt

[LibertyLover]

6. We've had a Trader Joe's near where I live for about 8 years

In that time I can count on the fingers of one hand the products we have gotten there that we did not like. While we don't use Trader Joe's for every day shopping, we do shop there 2 or 3 times a month for things like their rices, frozen foods and dog treats. We also like them for cheeses and specialty breads like naan. Unfortunately, due to Maryland's somewhat archaic laws on alcoholic beverages, our Trader Joe's does not carry wines, but I understand that their Two Buck house label isn't bad for cheap wine. Try them and you'll see what the fuss is about. Good food, good quality, good prices.

[hifiguy]

7. The selection is limited but the quality is tops

Their frozen pastas are delish, the cheese counter is tremendous, meats and produce are very good. Gourmet quality food for much, much less than you'd pay for the same items in a more upscale sort of grocery store. And Three-buck Chuck is surprisingly drinkable wine. I love me some TJ's.

[StevesRedLens]

8. Here's some Negative Stuff on Trader Joe's

Some don't like them. Here's a couple web sites that gives information: http://www.greenamerica.org/programs/responsibleshopper/company.cfm?id=300
and http://zesterdaily.com/zester-soapbox-articles/944-trader-joes-says-no-to-increase-for-florida-tomato-farmworkers

I don't know anything about them personally however.

[meegbear]

9. Kinda like a poor man's Whole Foods ...

prices can be up there, but not as steep as WF.

[muffin1]

10. Great food at great prices...

It was raining when we left Trader Joe's recently, and an employee WALKED US TO OUR CAR with an umbrella! We demurred, but he insisted and wouldn't accept a tip.

[bif]

12. What do you want to know? I shop there about 4 times a week!

One opened up in our home town about 3 years ago. I still go to Kroger's, but TJ's has some great stuff. Excellent and reasonably priced wine and beer selection. Affordable and interesting cheeses, and so much more. About the only thing I'm not wild about is the cheery cashiers. Shop there a while and you'll know what I mean. They ask you questions like, "What exciting thing has happened to you today?" And they feel a need to comment on at least one or two of your purchases. "I love this cheese! What do YOU do with it?"

[catzies]

38. Aww.....I happen to love that, and will also gladly share coments if anyone asks me

Customers or cashiers. I'm one of those damn perky people. :P

[Amerigo Vespucci]

13. Interesting food items coupled with "Cult of Personality"

Sometimes, their stuff is really good. It's been about two years since I've set foot in a Trader Joe's, but they used to sell a "personal" sized Margherita pizza that came with a little envelope of fresh basil, which you'd then cut into julienne slices, add to the top, and bake the whole thing in the oven. It was refrigerated, not frozen, so it didn't taste like "a frozen pizza," but it also wasn't as good as one you'd get from a pizzeria.

The thing that keeps me from going in there on a regular basis is the clientele. I'm talking about the one on El Camino in Sunnyvale, and the one on Bascom in Campbell.

All of the other Trader Joe's in the U.S. might be the bestest place EVER to shop, but in these two stores, the clientele is basically cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, ****less, hopeless, heartless, fat-***, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey **** "hipster," "slacker," trust-fund clueless yuppie scum.

I really, really, really do not like Yuppies at all. There is virtually nothing so good on the shelves at Trader Joe's (or Whole Paycheck) that can entice me to shop there more than once or twice a YEAR.

You might be more open-minded than me, so that might not bother you. I break out in HIVES when I'm around soccer moms driving Chevy Silverados, yuppies, hipsters, and the rest of their ilk.

I consider them to be the anus of humanity.

[XemaSab]

16. Our TJ's has a very mixed clientele

Rednecks, hippies... the whole range.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

17. Silicon Valley isn't mixed...it's yuppie / hipster scum of the earth.

I was a member of the Campbell Chamber of Commerce.

One year they had a "surplus" in funds.

They wanted to use it for the Christmas Light Ceremony.

My initial reaction is "Why don't you feed a few homeless people, you sick fucks?"

And I realized that would have gone over like a lead balloon.

Because when you weigh the value of some yuppi3e fuck enjoying twinkling Chistmas lights versus a cold, scared, desperate homeless person enjoying a warm meal...it's NO CONTEST.

Silicon Valley has many positive aspects.

Campbell, CA isn't one of them.

[Digit]

20. The one close to my home has the same type of clientele

When I go there, which is seldom these days, I am instantly reminded why I don't like the place.
The employees are very pleasant and helpful and I don't have any problems with them.

It is the snobs that shop there that get under my skin and you should see how they treat the hired help.
It is nauseating.

Next time I will remind myself to go when they open in the morning on a weekday.

[nolabear]

22. Dayum, Buckaroo.

I'll just park my sidewinder over here and scratch my carbuncles on the veranda.

What did a Yuppie ever do to you?

Oh, that...

[Rabrrrrrr]

24. Pretty much all yuppie scum at the one by me, too. Who think they're more important than they are.

People maybe pulling $100K or 200K a year, who think that gives them all the license they need to be pretentious asshole dickheads.

Seems like the biggest dicks in the country are the ones earning in the high-five-figure or low 6-figure incomes.

I worked with folks who make $500K into millions a year, and they were mostly friendly, non-pretentious, non-assholes who didn't treat the mailroom folks, the waitresses, the clerks like they were unworthy to be part of the human race or had no right to dignity.

it's the middle-management pseudo-professionals who act like pricks, and a lot of them shop at Trader Joe's. And all their kids are named Dakota or Madison.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

34. Try the one on Coleman near the airport. More downtown. More diverse clientel.

Much better parking too. I know what you mean about Campbell but ya gotta admit, their Sunday farmers market is the best I've ever seen.

[Zorra]

14. Many good quality all natural products at reasonable prices.

And the stores I've been in have a relaxed, friendly, and alternative feel, and staff has always been helpful, pleasant, and knowledgeable.

TJ's seems to me to be exceptionally GLBT friendly.

I totally love TJ's. The closest one to where I live is 100+ miles away, in Phoenix. When I'm not traveling I go down there every 2-3 weeks and do the bulk of my shopping there because they have most of the stuff I need and like.

And I don't think conservatives like to shop there much, it's probably too different from normal corporate grocery stores like Safeway for most of them.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[geardaddy]

15. Good prices and decent food.

Their over-the-top friendliness at the check out is a little annoying.

[AngryAmish]

18. good beer and wine selection

artisnal bread

[LiberalEsto]

19. Try their Tuscan pane' bread

$2.29 a loaf. Fabulous dipped in olive oil.

[grasswire]

21. the downside is the overpackaged produce

Otherwise, what's not to like?

My particular favorites:

wonderful low fat cottage cheese -- the very best ever

nuts -- great variety, good quality, prices

dried fruits -- same as the nuts

cheeses

olive oils

interesting crackers

and...........it's kind of entertaining.

[nolabear]

23. We have alot of them. Not much on produce and fresh meats but

they have really great frozen food, vegetarian specialties, spices and sauces, Ethnic stuff...I couldn't have it as my only grocery store but I stock up on certain things regularly. Not bad prices, either.

[kwassa]

26. I've been going to Trader Joes since 1979.

California and now Maryland.

Definitely non-yuppie here; just a local food store.

They can't sell booze here, and they are still a major success.

We used to call it the poor man's gourmet store, because the prices are so cheap. We buy about half our groceries here; they have many great products at good prices. Whole Foods costs about twice as much.

[Kali]

27. I love to go in there and day dream about living in the city alone

or with just the husband and shopping there for food every day.

It is not the kind of store you go drop $300+ in and shop for the supplies needed for feeding young male offspring (or any kind of large family) on a ranch for two weeks.:rofl:

Butter and wine and sea food are pretty cheap, frozen pasta dishes are tasty, LOVE those mixed tuber vegetable chips they had at least last year. I haven't been since September or October of last year.

[trackfan]

28. There are pros and cons.

Pros:
Good wine and beer selection, with many brands that are not the ones always found in the supermarket.

Nuts - much better price than the supers.

Dried fruit - great selection.


Cons:

Parking situation often sucks.

Haven for current and former "liberal" Republican types.

[Duer 157099]

29. I like their vitamins

and some of their prepared foods (especially the fresh wraps) are really good.

Great cheeses and dairy products.

Good chocolate.

Good frozen foods.

Great beer and wine.

Interesting condiments and jarred items, plus cheap coconut milk.

My dog likes the peanut butter dog biscuits.

I love Trader Joes.

[OmahaBlueDog]

30. Personally, I really don't see what all the fuss is about

95% of the itms are "Trader Joe's" brand. Some are interesting. Others can be had (IMO) at just about any store. A lot of people like the "$3 Buck Chuck" (cheap wine). Lot's of frozen and boxed foods. A pathetic meat department. I've been back about 4 times now, and I keep wanting to like it more than I do.

Go check it out.

[Kablooie]

31. 2 buck chuck. This is where you get it.

Good wine prices but often not very good wine.
Occasionally you can be surprised though.

[Optimus_Prime]

32. Their HOT pico de gallo salsa

is AMAZING. You have to get the hot version, not the mild one though.

You can make the best guacamole with it.

Their frozen foods, including their pizzas and stir-frys are quite good as well.

[demmiblue]

33. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Optimus_Prime]

36. Thanks!

I think I'm gonna be a Lounge Lizard ;-)

[semillama]

35. One word: Cookies

Trader Joe's has a great selection of utterly delicious cookies. When I was single and lived alone, I will admit to eating an entire tub of the crispy crunchy chocolate chip cookies over two days.

Actually, customer service is pretty good too. Friendly employees, knowledgeable about the products. One time we were there, my son threw up all over himself after having a bad reaction to some dairy (soon after found out he's allergic), and they gave him a Trader Joe's shirt to wear (a size large, which looked hilarious on an 18-month-old).

[Old Troop]

37. I see it as the place that well-off people go to so they don't have to

rub shoulders with the unwashed masses.

[Sabriel]

39. I'm not "well off"

And I like Trader Joe's.

Don't forget to try the Cambozola cheese and the habanero salsa. Nom, nom.

We drive to Madison to visit TJ's, never with a list.

Edited to add, also try the Thai Cashews.

[NV Whino]

40. Good food at affordable prices

Great wine selections. Nuts, dried fruits, snacks and cookies—yowser!

However, read the labels. What may seem to be a great bargain sometimes isn't. i.e.: Blueberry pomegranate juice is mixed with white grape juice. Spend the extra pennies and get Knudsen's.

At thanksgiving, they have Kosher turkeys. At other times they have half breasts. Their sour dough English muffins are better than Thomases.

Well, you get the idea. Check it out.

[GoCubsGo]

41. I'm jealous!!!

The nearest one is a two hour drive from me. They have the best prices on nuts and cheeses.