Trader Joe’s: The Good, the Bad, and the Quirky

Trader Joe’s -store & flyer

I was surprised to learn that Trader Joe’s has been around since 1958. I discovered it much later and only started shopping there regularly around 2014. However, I was aware of it before then and realized it had a kind of cult following. This will be a meandering review of the chain, based on my experiences (mostly in half a dozen or so stores around the country).

An Acquired Taste

I first wandered into a Trader Joe’s in Manhattan sometime in the early 2000s and found it fairly bewildering. I was only making a day trip to the city from upstate so I wasn’t looking to do grocery shopping. As a place to run into quickly to maybe grab a bottled water or snack, it didn’t seem very efficient. I found it mainly crowded and confusing.

Over the years, I met people who loved Trader Joe’s and I never really got it. As someone who mainly shopped in health food stores (I date back to days when supermarkets didn’t carry virtually all “health foods” and Whole Foods wasn’t everywhere), I didn’t really understand the point of Trader Joe’s.

I started frequenting the store when living in the East Bay area. In Walnut Creek, Trader Joe’s was in walking distance to Whole Foods, and I discovered it was a cheaper alternative for many items. I gradually got accustomed to the random layout and smaller choice of…