Trader Joe's

[Shmoopie]

Hi all! I'm wondering if you folks who shop at Trader Joe's can tell me whether they have good prices or not. We have a few Trader Joe's in the state that I live in, but the closest one if about 45 minutes away. I'll gladly make the trip if the prices are worth it. Otherwise, I figure I might as well not waste the gas.

Also, is there any chance any of you Trader Joe's shoppers DON'T live on the west coast? I was looking around on their website and clicked on a link that shows a pretty nice list of their products. But some of them say "west coast" under them, and some say "east coast" (as if to say certain products are only sold in those stores??). Some say both, and some don't mention either one. Under "Organic", it only said west coast :( Do they sell organic produce in their midwest/east coast stores?? :confused: Did I phrase that in a way that makes sense? :p

Thanks in advance. :)

[samadhisoul]

I live in good old indiana and the TJ's here- in the chicago area, DO have organic produce--I can't say that the prices on organic PRODUCE are all that great-except for maybe avos and carrots...
but prices on other things are...(well, until recently, I shopped there to feed my cooked vegan family of 5), but I think the prices on their NUTS are something to write home about!!, If nothing else, go for the nuts and get lots, lol
if you eat larabars,they are only like 1.29

[SimpleGirl]

We love TJ's. We buy about 20 lbs of fruit a week. We also buy the almonds although the rawness is questionable. I must agree with the other poster the avacados are not good and the carrots were very dry this week. Apples and oranges are always fantastic. The larabars are only 1.29.

[Shivananda]

I have loved Trader Joe's for 35 years, not only for their low prices, but for their selection of unique food items from all over the world and their early offerings of natural foods organic. When I lived in Burbank I sometimes shopped at TJ's#1, but more often at the closer Sherman Oaks store. Initially I thought of them as the "wine & cheese" store, because those were the two items I always bought there, due to their remarkably low prices on them. And of course recently TJ's got national press over its "Two BucK Chuck" line of drinkable cheap wines.

When I moved to Seattle I had TJ's withdrawal, although now I think they have them. When I got to NYC, however I found them all over the NY & NJ suburbs, although the first TJ's in Manhattan didn't come about until this winter. That's when I first noticed that some items I had been used to getting on the west coast weren't available on the east coast.

And here in Massachusetts they are all over the place, but due to legal restrictions, most of them do not carry wine, the most noticeable difference from California. And due to a happy accident, the closest TJ's and the closet Whole Foods (in Swampscott, where I shop often) are practically next door to each other, so that encourages price comparisons. But you can mostly only do "similar" comparisons, because TJ's is mostly private label, but TJ's generally has better prices, sometimes by a startling amount. But TJ's selection is much smaller, by design. They are not a full line store, but are a gourmet/sorta-natural foods niche store, and they only have 5-10% of the total number of skus that Whole Foods does. Their produce section is not large, and not all organic, but what they have is usually cheaper than WF.

Since I've been eating raw I don't buy nearly as much there, but I'm still a sucker for their prices on flowers and plants. :)

Anyway, back to the question about west and east, I personally think (but don't know) the east is a different company, based in Needham, Mass., which has a cross trade and marketing agreement with the Monrovia, California based original company. That would help explain why there are some things only available east, and some only west.

[PATH301]

Shmoopie,
I don't know where your from so I can't help you the easy way. So what you have to do is go up to the upper right hand corner of the page link that I'm sending to you and change the zip code and city to yours then go through the selections to grocery and health and see if they have trader's joe in your area for cuopons; at those stores that you buy organics and ono organic food from.
http://cairo.com/cairo/home.jsp?z=46201
:D

[misslinda]

Sorry but I am not a fan of Trader Joes. The only thing I care for is, Larabars there and organic arugula or basil. Other than that, the foods just don't look clean and fresh. :confused:

[Sillybloss]

You should call the store you intend to go to and ask about availability of the items you're interested in. I know in my store, the manager places orders for the items that move in THAT store. Also, they encounter supplier problems on some products and will be out for an extended period of time. So anyway, a phone call would allow you to make the decision whether to make the drive or not. (Hint: morning shopping is advised, as they stock before the store opens, and sometimes run out before the end of the day!)

Hope that helps! (I get organic bananas, org. oranges, org. basil, org. raw nuts there for myself and lots of other org. stuff for my cooked family).

[juliebove]

I don't know if there's a TJ in Seattle, but there is one in Lynnwood. It seems rather small and for me, not the best place to get good produce. I have gotten it there sometimes, but most of the time it isn't very fresh. And I get annoyed with them because I'll get something there once that I like, but when I go back, they no longer have it. Their prices are good though.

[ljannise]

Gosh, I was sitting here thinking Trader Joe's was a coffee place.

This place sounds like our World Market, but with a Basic Foods touch??

I feel like I'm missing out on this awesome store.

[Shivananda]

And I get annoyed with them because I'll get something there once that I like, but when I go back, they no longer have it. I've noticed that myself for years, and finally got an explanation in an article I read in the New York Times about the first TJ's to open there in Manhattan.

What they said is that TJ's only carries maybe 1/20th the selection of different items at any time as, say, Whole Foods does. So they depend on having things that are a little different, that people can't find elsewhere and develop a big liking for. To promote that happening they are constantly, continuously flushing out the bottom 10%, the items that don't sell well, and replacing it with new stuff.

So when something you like disappears, it usually means that not enough people agreed with you to make it a viable item for them to keep around.

But sometimes they just run out of popular items, so your tastes are either totally off or totally on in comparison to other TJ's shoppers. :)

No question, TJ's is a quirky store, but you have to love a company where everybody wears Hawaiian shirts as a reminder to keep things light hearted.

[Revvell]

http://www.traderjoes.com/ Certainly not a raw place yet they do have organic fruits and veggies at good prices.... except for the avos.



Gosh, I was sitting here thinking Trader Joe's was a coffee place.

This place sounds like our World Market, but with a Basic Foods touch??

I feel like I'm missing out on this awesome store.

[ljannise]

Thank you Revv

[Revvell]

Welcome ljannise :)

[greeninlosangeles]

When I ate cooked, I loved TJ, now-not too much. Produce is a disaster in many cases. Avocados, even if they look okey and not too soft, when you open them at home - all rotten(I never buy them there again after couple of these). Ohter vegies go bad very quickly. I do buy there organic apples(which never last longer than two days for me, but because I love them), sunflower seeds and almonds.And Lara bars.

[RowanC]

I love trader joe's frozen mango for smoothies.

[Revvell]

I love trader joe's frozen mango for smoothies.

Try this then ~ when you can find their mixed tropical blend fruit, put it in your blender along w/ a banana or two. Scoop into a bowl, then sprinkle a bit of coriander on top. PUDDING!!!! Can do the same w/ just mango. :)

Revvell

[LeanAndHungry]

When I ate cooked, I loved TJ, now-not too much. Produce is a disaster in many cases. Avocados, even if they look okey and not too soft, when you open them at home - all rotten(I never buy them there again after couple of these). Ohter vegies go bad very quickly. I do buy there organic apples(which never last longer than two days for me, but because I love them), sunflower seeds and almonds.And Lara bars.

That's crazy. Every time I have bought avocados there mine were also rotten. No matter what the ripeness of the avocado appeared to be on the outside, on the inside it was gross. I will NEVER buy avocados at TJ'z again. How can they be so bad at getting decent avocados at every single store location? It's not rocket science.