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Pirate Joe’s, Maverick Distributor of Trader Joe’s Products, Shuts Down

nytimes.com

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Re: Pirate Joe’s, Maverick Distributor of Trader Joe’s Products, Shuts Down

#41

Post by terravion »

captainmuon wrote: post #10

I don't understand with what right trader Joe's can prohibit somebody from reselling their products. If he clearly states where he bought them from, and that he is not affiliated, and doesn't misuse their trademarks (impersonate them), it should be absolutely legal. A side remark, people often say how great the US / north America is for entrepreneurs, compared to (continental) Europe where there is a lot of red tape…

Not being an expert in the history of the enterprise I read the story as saying that Trader Joe's failed to get legal relief and that Pirate Joe's shut down for other reasons. Trader Joe's was welcome to make life difficult for Pirate Joe's, by refusing to trade, but in the end it was other frictions/owner interest that caused the shut down, not the legal system.

Re: Pirate Joe’s, Maverick Distributor of Trader Joe’s Products, Shuts Down

#42

Post by joezydeco »

DanBC wrote: post #23
captainmuon wrote: post #10

I don't understand with what right trader Joe's can prohibit somebody from reselling their products. If he clearly states where he bought them from, and that he is not affiliated, and doesn't misuse their trademarks (impersonate them), it should be absolutely legal. A side remark, people often say how great the US / north America is for entrepreneurs, compared to (continental) Europe where there is a lot of red tape…

> But in my opinion, if I were to do this in Germany there is no way ALDI (whom trader Joe's belongs to iirc) could sue me out of business. They could, and Levi's jeans did it with Tesco who were selling grey market imports. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1261829.stm

There are two ALDIs in Germany.

ALDI Süd operates the American ALDI stores. ALDI Nord owns Trader Joe's.

Re: Pirate Joe’s, Maverick Distributor of Trader Joe’s Products, Shuts Down

#43

Post by goodcanadian »

captainmuon wrote: post #10

I don't understand with what right trader Joe's can prohibit somebody from reselling their products. If he clearly states where he bought them from, and that he is not affiliated, and doesn't misuse their trademarks (impersonate them), it should be absolutely legal. A side remark, people often say how great the US / north America is for entrepreneurs, compared to (continental) Europe where there is a lot of red tape…

It seems pretty clear that they have no right to prohibit reselling. He was being sued on trademark grounds. Personally, I think it is likely he would have won, but he could not afford the legal costs to fight it. He never really made money on the project.

Re: Pirate Joe’s, Maverick Distributor of Trader Joe’s Products, Shuts Down

#44

Post by slg »

TommyBombadil wrote: post #16
captainmuon wrote: post #10

I don't understand with what right trader Joe's can prohibit somebody from reselling their products. If he clearly states where he bought them from, and that he is not affiliated, and doesn't misuse their trademarks (impersonate them), it should be absolutely legal. A side remark, people often say how great the US / north America is for entrepreneurs, compared to (continental) Europe where there is a lot of red tape…

Yeah, I don't really understand the difference between Pirate Joe's and every snack stand that resells candy and soda they bought from somewhere else like Costco.

I think the difference is the focus on the specific products and their brand. If someone named their candy stand "Silly Wonka" and only sold Nerds and Runts, I am sure they would have Nestle come after them too.

Re: Pirate Joe’s, Maverick Distributor of Trader Joe’s Products, Shuts Down

#45

Post by will_brown »

captainmuon wrote: post #10

I don't understand with what right trader Joe's can prohibit somebody from reselling their products. If he clearly states where he bought them from, and that he is not affiliated, and doesn't misuse their trademarks (impersonate them), it should be absolutely legal. A side remark, people often say how great the US / north America is for entrepreneurs, compared to (continental) Europe where there is a lot of red tape…

A lot of people are using the "I bought chips at Costco and resold them at a concession stand example". This is at least a little different.

Say you owned Captainmuon Grocery and only sold private label Captainmuon Chips. Although demand is so high you could distribute your Chips to other groceries and retailers, you see greater value in driving traffic to your store through the exclusive distribution. Don't you have a legal right to create exclusive distribution of your consumable product? Don't you have a legal right to enter into a contract with your shoppers (i.e. You agree to purchase consumable products for consumption only and not resell them)? Don't you have the legal right to limit your product liability (i.e. If I buy and resell a defective bag of your chips, possibly becoming defective after it left your store, you will be jointly and severally liable for the damages as a result of a products liability lawsuit)?

Only playing devils advocate, but I do believe you can play with the facts to highlight the push and pull of contractual rights, ownership/resale rights, and product liability. Also, playing with the facts would highlight how trademark rights/goodwill could be more negatively effected, again something more along the lines of a reseller selling tampered/expired product.

Re: Pirate Joe’s, Maverick Distributor of Trader Joe’s Products, Shuts Down

#46

Post by kinkrtyavimoodh »

beatpanda wrote: post #27

>>For one trip, he hired a couple who he said did not look like conventional Trader Joe’s shoppers. They had dreadlocks, tattoos and piercings. “They looked like they just walked off the set of a Burning Man documentary,” he said. I'm sorry? Trader Joes, in at least 4 locations I've seen in California, does special signs and displays the week before Burning Man to market to Burners. Where is this writer from?

This was in Northern Washington, close to the Canadian border, and more than 1000 miles away from Burning Man.

Re: Pirate Joe’s, Maverick Distributor of Trader Joe’s Products, Shuts Down

#47

Post by enknamel »

kefka wrote: post #5

Gotta love capitalism, eh? Just like votes, more money = more protection. This certainly wasn't a trademark issue. Trader vs Pirate. There was no question this store wasn't run by Trader Joes/Aldi North. They were buying in bulk to stock a store where they couldn't normally get the goods. Reselling should be 100% A-OK. Any trademarks go along with the products. And as far as I would guess, the grocer certainly wasn't…

I love capitalism

Re: Pirate Joe’s, Maverick Distributor of Trader Joe’s Products, Shuts Down

#49

Post by peterarmstrong »

chaostheory wrote: post #6

Is Trader Joe's that much better than anything else Canada has to offer?

My son used to love their Hawaiian bagels, which we would stock up on when we lived in Maple Ridge and went down to the US for a day trip occasionally. Trader Joe's also has wine which is good for the price, but that doesn't work for Canadians because of import duties and quantity limits. The Trader Joe's in Bellingham is overrun by us Canadians, just like Point Roberts for package receiving...

Re: Pirate Joe’s, Maverick Distributor of Trader Joe’s Products, Shuts Down

#50

Post by Stratoscope »

ska wrote: post #33
irrational wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does it even mean "what America has to offer"? The Trader Joe stores are in America. True TJ is owned by a multi-national corporation, but almost all stores are owned by multi-national corporations. If what America has to offer only includes stores that are not owned by multi-national corporations then I'm not really sure what is left that TJ is being compared to.

I suspect that meant that many Americans will go out of their way to go to a Trader Joes, because their products are unique in some way. Ergo, the rest of "what America has to offer" isn't a good TJ replacement, either.

A few years ago I was thinking about moving to another state, and we made a checklist of things to look for when checking out locations.

Up near the top of the list was "how far is it to the nearest Trader Joe's?"

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