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Where in the world are Trader Joe’s warehouses? (2015)

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Re: Where in the world are Trader Joe’s warehouses? (2015)

#21

Post by genocidicbunny »

hbarka wrote: post #20

Trader Joe’s is a favorite study in trying to explain how it manages to thrive with just a small number of SKUs (~4000) relative to typical grocery stores that carry 50,000 SKUs. Perhaps this might shed light on their warehousing strategy.

A big part of this is that they are ruthless with cutting products that don't perform well. A good chunk of those ~4000 sku's are dedicated to items that are available for very short periods as they are tested.

I think a big part of Trader Joe's success is that they have a good core of staples that people are willing to come in for, and then they have a big selection of new and interesting items that people are willing to try, since they're already there. The quality of the staples allows them to fly under the radar with the rotating stuff, which is in reality pretty hit or miss. But this symbiotic relationship between the core and the experimental sides allows them to quickly iterate through the experimental stuff to find more popular items.

Re: Where in the world are Trader Joe’s warehouses? (2015)

#22

Post by heeen2 »

hbarka wrote: post #20

Trader Joe’s is a favorite study in trying to explain how it manages to thrive with just a small number of SKUs (~4000) relative to typical grocery stores that carry 50,000 SKUs. Perhaps this might shed light on their warehousing strategy.

Trader Joes is sort of related to ALDI and the condensed offering of ALDI and its success has been written about before

https://www.forbes.com/sites/sanfordstein/2019/10/25/aldi-ri...

Re: Where in the world are Trader Joe’s warehouses? (2015)

#23

Post by indigodaddy »

genocidicbunny wrote: post #21
hbarka wrote: post #20

Trader Joe’s is a favorite study in trying to explain how it manages to thrive with just a small number of SKUs (~4000) relative to typical grocery stores that carry 50,000 SKUs. Perhaps this might shed light on their warehousing strategy.

A big part of this is that they are ruthless with cutting products that don't perform well. A good chunk of those ~4000 sku's are dedicated to items that are available for very short periods as they are tested. I think a big part of Trader Joe's success is that they have a good core of staples that people are willing to come in for, and then they have a big selection of new and interesting items that people are willi…

Seems spot on with my experience and shopping there. Well said.

Re: Where in the world are Trader Joe’s warehouses? (2015)

#24

Post by [deleted] »

jonas21 wrote: post #15
hbcondo714 wrote: post #2

I wish Trader Joe's would start a delivery service since they don't partner with delivery vendors like Instacart. Great and unique selection of food!

> Great and unique selection of food! I suspect that's why they don't partner with delivery vendors. Grocery stores would rather you came in person. You'll make impulse buys, they can direct you to products where they have excess inventory, and they can maintain a direct relationship with you. Most are forced to offer delivery precisely because they don't have a "great and unique selection of food." If they don't sup…

[deleted]

Re: Where in the world are Trader Joe’s warehouses? (2015)

#26

Post by reducesuffering »

hbarka wrote: post #20

Trader Joe’s is a favorite study in trying to explain how it manages to thrive with just a small number of SKUs (~4000) relative to typical grocery stores that carry 50,000 SKUs. Perhaps this might shed light on their warehousing strategy.

Easy. You don't need ten different types of butter, yogurt, tea, etc. You can grab the single TJ branded item and have a reliable indicator it's reasonably healthy, tasty, and a good value with minimal margin.

Re: Where in the world are Trader Joe’s warehouses? (2015)

#27

Post by elloworld1221 »

indigodaddy wrote: post #17
kabes wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would mean that Aldi Nord and Aldi Sud share warehouses?

It seems fairly unlikely doesn’t it? I was under the impression they had a fairly intense, and not so friendly, rivalry.

Afaik, they have been working for the last few years on cooperation, since the original brothers are now out of the picture.

Re: Where in the world are Trader Joe’s warehouses? (2015)

#28

Post by indigodaddy »

elloworld1221 wrote: post #27
indigodaddy wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems fairly unlikely doesn’t it? I was under the impression they had a fairly intense, and not so friendly, rivalry.

Afaik, they have been working for the last few years on cooperation, since the original brothers are now out of the picture.

Ah ok, thanks, it’s been a few years since I’ve kept up..

Re: Where in the world are Trader Joe’s warehouses? (2015)

#29

Post by ahartmetz »

elloworld1221 wrote: post #27
indigodaddy wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems fairly unlikely doesn’t it? I was under the impression they had a fairly intense, and not so friendly, rivalry.

Afaik, they have been working for the last few years on cooperation, since the original brothers are now out of the picture.

Yup - e.g. and IIRC, Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd are unifying their store brands in Germany.

Re: Where in the world are Trader Joe’s warehouses? (2015)

#30

Post by quickthrower2 »

rmason wrote: post #8

Back in the nineties a very popular East Lansing supermarket announced they were closing. A campaign was raised to get Trader Joes to locate in the space. A major campaign was raised and they gathered a pretty amazing 20-25,000 signatures online. The organizers got a nice letter back from Trader Joes who said they really appreciated their enthusiasm but the East Lansing area was too small a municipal area for a Trade…

I get the sentiment: I was very excited to have an Aldi store being built near me. Great value for money and an almost “grab what you need and you wont get a shock at the till” unlike other stores that do stuff like 2 slightly different tomato varieties one double the price of the other. Another example the coke is always a good price. Other supermarkets keep rotating the 24 and 30 packs prices to pretend there is a discount at any given time.
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