Bob

Yes, they avoid having to deal with fruit and vegetables

Nutek

And most recognizable meats.

Bob

Yes, because it would be horrid eating something that look like a dogs anus, but once it's been squished into a larger, breaded looking anus, it's much more palatable

Nutek

So hungry now...

tuxedocat

taco shells
frosted mini wheats
whole wheat bread
stir fry veggies (like them more than birds eye)
there is usually a good special on some type of produce - cheaper than walmart
canned roast beef
wheat thins (do not buy triscuits there but their brand of wheat things are good)
cheese balls ^ for the wheat thins
steel cut oats
pickles
olives
natural peanut butter
If you have teens that like to eat round the clock it's a great place!

E17Avenue

Living two-three hours from a Trader Joe's we have never experienced one. We looked for one in Chicago yesterday while on a short trip, and we are hooked. Aldi's cool, but Trader Joe's is OUTSTANDING. There's no comparison. I am starting a campaign to get them to come to Grand Rapids TODAY. Well ok, maybe tomorrow, it's almost midnight.

Southy_SWFC

Our local TJ is about 45mins away so we don't get there all that often. Luckily we're off to pick my FIL up this afternoon so we're heading down a little early to make a trip there.

Englishmum

There used to be a large Wholefoods store at the edge of our township, (Millburn, NJ) but they relocated less than a mile away to another nearby town where I guess the taxes are cheaper and into a slightly larger brand new building. The nearest Trader Joe's stores were at least 20-30 minutes away depending on traffic/time of day (although at least one of those stores sells alcohol, most of them don't in New Jersey).

Everyone used to (and continue to) complain about the high prices in Wholefoods, but still wanted to buy produce of good quality (no MSG's or organic) but at less than 'Wholepaycheck' prices. However there is an excellent local website serving the local communities with a very active messageboard (Maplewoodonline.com) - many people who post there are quite vocal, many work in the media/arts/publishing etc. and were musing which retailers might move into the vacated Wholefoods store; it was soon discovered that the floor space was going to be split into two to produce two retail units instead of one large one - and that PetsMart was taking one of the units.

Many posters (including myself) suggested on the forum that Trader Joe's would be a great asset to the local communities and wouldn't it be great if they opened a local store; someone said that they had sent an e-mail to the corporate offices requesting that they move into our district and also that they investigate the vacated Wholefoods store. The ball started rolling....many local people (including myself) also sent in a request and they must have been inundated

Lo and behold, Trader Joe's did move into that store due to overwhelming demand! It's been open maybe 4 years now and it's seen as a real asset to our town and the neighbouring ones; the products are great and many are so different to anything on offer in the other local supermarkets, the only negative is that they don't sell alcohol as the cost of the licence is too high. I can't do a full weekly shop there eg. they don't have much variety in cleaning and personal care products and I still pop into Wholefoods from time to time, just for a change or to get some specialty items I can't find anywhere else.

The same community has been trying to get Wegman's to move into the local area too....(no space in the town but there are large vacated retail units on the main east-west major roads) but sadly Wegman's are currently not interested - they want *huge* units with lots of parking etc.

So my message to the O/P is: get your local community involved - show them Trader Joe's website with the variety of products they sell. Tell them how well they treat their employees with good hourly rates and healthcare provision (I once met an English guy who worked in a local TJ's - he'd been laid off from his job in Wall St and he took a job there so he and his young family could get decent health insurance cover). Bombard Trader Joe's corporate office with messages - it would help your case if you could identify a good location, local demographics etc. You never know, they may even send over a team to check it out as they did in NJ

S Folinsky

In visiting one of my offspring, we went into Wegmans -- it is something else.

BTW, it has just changed ownership, but I have found Fresh and Easy is a good place to shop for basics. However, I have noted that the stores vary in quality. The one in the Eagle Rock area of L.A. is great, the one in Hollywood sucks.

yukichon

Lucky for us they are beginning to build a Trader Joes in Fort Collins, which is where we are moving to. Heard lots of good things about it.

Orangepants

Just got back from the UK - Aldi seems to be taking over the high street there and the TV ads - they are everywhere. They sell everything now - lots of luxury foods too. Also from a quality perspective they are now seen as equivalent to Sainsburys and Tescos (long way to go here in the US).
My sister headed up the Product Assessment Centres for the UK for Tesco and she said they never used to test Aldi products against the other major brands as they were not considered equivalent - that sentiment is now changing.
Winking Owl - Merlot from Aldi is a staple in my wine fridge. Love TJ's

penguinbar

There are a few Trader Joe's in the city but I like Fairwarys better . It's walking distance from my apartment and is just as good if not better than Trader Joe's. They have amazing deli and bakery departments.

S Folinsky

http://www.latimes.com/business/mone...#axzz2o3lnMo67

penguinbar

I just won a $50 gift card at Fairways! They were having a contest the last week or so where you fill in a card at the store with your name, address etc and they would pick a winner every hour on the hour until Christmas. you could win a $10 $25 or $50 gift card. About 10 minutes after I left my phone rang and they told me I won a $10 card and to just com to customer service to pick it up. Then It rang a minute later saying they made a mistake and it was $50! So next time your in a store and can't be bothered to fill out one of these cards just do it!