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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

#61

Post by AlexC04 »

chaostheory wrote: post #6

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

For sure.

I love in Toronto and my girlfriend is going to school in philly. Every time she visits she brings up treats from TJ's

There's a chilli-lime spice shaker, and an "everything bagen seasoning" shaker. I've never seen either of those combinations in a single shaker. If I wanted to make either of these at home from constituent parts it would actually be challenging. (powdered lime is really hard to find, maybe not as much for everything bagel)

The chili lime is amazing on popcorn by the way.

Anyways - the thing that makes TJ's so special is if you go into the store there are hundreds of things that you've never seen anywhere else interesting and experimental flavor combinations etc... on top of that, the prices are reasonable instead of "gouging". (possibly cheap, but I haven't shopped there enough to make that claim).

There is no shop in Canada quite like it - but that's because we're dominated by the "big-box-grocery-store"

I wouldn't say there was any single item which was must have at TJs - but on aggregate it is without question "that much better" than anything we have in Canada.

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

#62

Post by Paul-ish »

guelo wrote: post #54
will_brown wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

No, the seller does not have any of those rights. It's called the first-sale doctrine.

First-sale doctrine applies to copyrighted works. Deed restrictions are an example where someone can sell property with conditions on its use.

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

#64

Post by tgb »

chaostheory wrote: post #6

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

I think Trader Joe's is mostly about having different things, not necessarily better. At least the one near me has poor selections of most basic grocery items with weak produce and missing the less common basic items if you want to cook yourself (corn meal for example). Instead, it has a large selection of TJ-branded frozen and semi-prepared food items that aren't available elsewhere as well as snacks. I'm rather contemptuous of the whole idea as I'm in favor of more basic food items being the standard and think Trader Joes' take up precious grocery store space in urban areas, but I can see its appeal.

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

#65

Post by hinfaits »

ska wrote: post #32
sp332 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a trademark infringement case. The (alleged) problem is that he set up a store which billed itself as being basically a Trader Joe's.

Except he didn't. It was always clear what he was doing. This is pretty straightforward legal bullying, in my opinion.

The guy clearly tried to position himself as a pseudo-Trader Joe's though. He called it Pirate Joes and only sold products from Trader Joe's. It seems like everyone thought of it as a kind of Trader Joe's.

Even though copyright infringement might not have been his intent, intent doesn't matter. That said, this does look like egregious legal bullying even if the case holds water.

IANAL

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

#67

Post by otterley »

Paul-ish wrote: post #62
guelo wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the seller does not have any of those rights. It's called the first-sale doctrine.

First-sale doctrine applies to copyrighted works. Deed restrictions are an example where someone can sell property with conditions on its use.

Real estate is the only type of property I'm aware of that allows the owner to enter into covenants that "run with the property." As of yet, I haven't heard about any exceptions. Software licensors have tried, but so far haven't been successful AFAIK.

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

#68

Post by FussyZeus »

madamelic wrote: post #58
FussyZeus wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment is perhaps a little hyperbolic but it's also pretty dead-on. India is FAR more capitalist the US is these days, possibly too much but here in the States our capitalism is regulated to death, ironically to a large extend by the corporations who whine about too much regulation all the time.

It is only regulation if it hurts you.

No way, there are tons of ways corporations lobby for favorable regulations, most often against competitors. They either make sure the regulations being met will cost more than their competitors can spend, or they write them in such a way where they already meet them and therefore have an advantage, etc. There are numerous ways corporate interests use influence to not so much author regulations, but get them tweaked in such a way that it gives them a leg up.

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

#69

Post by will_brown »

imgabe wrote: post #56
will_brown wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> Don't you have a legal right to create exclusive distribution of your consumable product? Not a lawyer but, I'm not sure you do have that right. I know this isn't a copyright issue, but couldn't the same logic of the First Sale Doctrine apply? As a consumer, once I purchase something, it becomes mine and I may do with it as I wish, including reselling it, yes?

Again all I am suggesting is there is a difference between buying/selling a copyrighted work (protected by first sale doctrine) and a private label consumable product that exposes the manufacturer and private labeled to product liability issues.

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

#70

Post by _red »

will_brown wrote: post #45
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…

If you can't sell something you own, then you don't own it.

Being free to dispose of property how you see fit has been a foundation of common law for a few centuries.

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