[Sca-cooks] About Trader Joe's

Fri Oct 7 10:15:08 PDT 2005

This just got posted to our local group list - it answers all the questions
pretty well.
Christianna

Per the Trader Joe Web site

TRADER JOE'S: A UNIQUE GROCERY STORE
Our Mission...
At Trader Joe's, our mission is to bring our customers the best food
and beverage values and the information to make informed buying
decisions.  There are more than 2000 unique grocery items in our
label, all at honest everyday low prices. We work hard at buying
things right: Our buyers travel the world searching for new items
and we work with a variety of suppliers who make interesting
products for us, many of them exclusive to Trader Joe's.  All our
private label products have their own "angle," i.e., vegetarian,
Kosher, organic or just plain decadent, and all have minimally
processed ingredients.

It's fun to shop with us...
Customers tell us, "I never knew food shopping could be so much
fun!" Some even call us "The home of cheap thrills!" We like to be
part of our neighborhoods and get to know our customers. And where
else do you shop that even the CEO, Dan Bane, wears a loud Hawaiian
shirt.

We taste it first...
Our tasting panel tastes every product before we buy it. If we don't
like it, we don't buy it. If customers don't like it, they can bring
it back for a no-hassle refund

How we keep our prices low...
We stick to the business we know: good food at the best prices!
Whenever possible we buy direct from manufacturers, in large volume.
We bargain hard and manage our costs carefully. We pay in cash, and
on time, so our suppliers like to do business with us.

Trader Joe's Crew Members are friendly, knowledgeable and happy to
see their customers. They taste our items too, so they can discuss
them with their customers.  All our stores regularly cook up new and
interesting products for our customers to sample.

A SHORT HISTORY - AND FUTURE - OF TRADER JOE'S
Trader Joe's actually began in 1958 as a chain of convenience stores
called "Pronto Markets" in the Los Angeles area. In 1967, the
founder, Joe Coulombe, the original Trader Joe, wanted to expand
the  stores' offerings and enhance their image. He doubled the floor
space and offered hard-to-find, boutique domestic and imported wines
and gourmet food items at outstanding prices. He decked out the
stores with cedar plank walls and nautical décor and garbed the
Captain (the store manager), the First Mate (the assistant manager)
and the Crew Members in colorful Hawaiian shirts. "Trader Joe's" was
born.

Currently Trader Joe's has expanded to over 200 stores in Arizona,
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico,
New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.

Our future plans call for on-going development of new, one-of-a-kind
food items at value prices, and continued expansion of our chain
across the country.
--- In southdowns at yahoogroups.com, Wendy Colbert <rapierlady at e...>
wrote:
>
> OK, what is a Trader Joes?
> Irene
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: kingstaste at m...
> Sent: Oct 6, 2005 11:43 PM
> To: South Downs <southdowns at yahoogroups.com>, SCA Cooks <Sca-
cooks at a...>
> Subject: [SD] FW: [MellowBellies] Current Status of Trader Joe's
Coming to Atlanta Area
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mellowbellies at yahoogroups.com
[mailto:mellowbellies at yahoogroups.com]On
> Behalf Of lindazfgram
> Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2005 12:46 PM
> To: mellowbellies at yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [MellowBellies] Current Status of Trader Joe's Coming to
Atlanta
> Area
>
>
> Hi,
>
> I finally got through to someone in Customer Service in Trader
Joe's
> East Coast corporate offices in MA.  They are definitely planning
to
> open a store somewhere in the Atlanta area in 2006  They will
service
> it from their warehouse in Illinois-probably see how it goes and
then
> look for a place to build a warehouse in the South.  Of course,
> northern GA would be perfect for that.
>
> TJ's is a totally privately owned corporation and really knows how
to
> expand, and they already know that many people in Atlanta area want
> them to come here.  My daughter and I have been calling them
> periodically for five years.  Their real estate people are scouting
> locations, and I'm sure they are quite capable at looking at sites,
> marketing and demographic data, etc.  They know what they want,
and I
> don't think a lot of calls from people who want them will make a
> difference--nor would anyone who has land, vacant property or a
> specific site to sell them.
>
> I did put in a strong pitch for coming to Grant Park-Ormewood Park-
> East Atlanta area with cheaper land/sites, inside the perimeter,
> centrally located, lots of eager customers, etc.  I don't know
Atlanta
> area yet as well as many of you do, but I'd guess they also are
> looking at places like Decatur, Sandy Springs, Buckhead, perhaps
even
> Athens.
>
> One thing that might work would be to get to Carla Smith to call
them
> and perhaps invite TJ people to meet with her and reps of various
> homeowners associations, Mellow Bellies, etc.  I'd be happy to work
> on that with any others who might be interested.
>
> Linda Fishman
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Be radical.  Eat local.
>
>
>
> SPONSORED LINKS Corporate culture  Corporate culture change
Business
> culture of china
>       Corporate culture training  Grant park and real estate
Grant park
> real estate
>
>
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downs.org.
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