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Trader Joe's Shrugged

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Re: Trader Joe's Shrugged

#21

Post by ultrasaurus »

scotch_drinker wrote: post #14

Does Trader Joe's have a habit of hiring local people? Are there known instances where Trader Joe's or other reasonably high end store coming into economically depressed areas and significantly improving the economic status of people in the area? This article has a lot of rage and perhaps it's justified. But it's also entirely possible that stores do this sort of thing all the time with the blessing of city councils…

Are the poor from the community currently working at, eating quality food from or benefitting from taxes collected from the "empty two-acre lot on which it was to be built"?

"This isn't the best way to help poor people" is a very different argument from "this will hurt poor people".

Re: Trader Joe's Shrugged

#22

Post by cm2012 »

msmillie wrote: post #7
rst wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps you're not familiar with Trader Joe's --- they are known for good food at low prices. And it's hard to see any parallel between a grocery store (open to local residents) and Twitter HQ (where most workers never interact with local residents at all).

That someone can innocently and unironically describe Trader Joe's as being "known for low prices" is really the crux of the problem here. Perhaps you're not familiar with minimum wage?

Trader Joe's can get meal costs really low. If you're past the stage on only eating rice, eggs, and chopped veggies, TJs is comparable to any other store. Having lived in relatively poor neighborhoods that are not at all hip, it's not like fresh fruit is super available otherwise.

Re: Trader Joe's Shrugged

#23

Post by fr0sty »

jessedhillon wrote: post #15
msmillie wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That someone can innocently and unironically describe Trader Joe's as being "known for low prices" is really the crux of the problem here. Perhaps you're not familiar with minimum wage?

It's true and what's more, TJ's is not even close to a one-stop grocery store. They have a few general interest items and a bunch of foods specific only/mostly to their store. Only a nutritionally deficient person could shop solely at TJ, for everyone else I know it's supplemental shopping. There is a lower limit to your wealth before you get to the point where you're in the market for supplemental groceries. *source…

> Only a nutritionally deficient person could shop solely at TJ.

I shop almost exclusively at Trader Joe's* and am not (to my knowledge at least) nutritionally deficient. I get fruits, vegetables, dairy, meats, eggs, bread/cereal, and the odd snack. What am I missing?

Re: Trader Joe's Shrugged

#24

Post by 11thEarlOfMar »

scotch_drinker wrote: post #14

Does Trader Joe's have a habit of hiring local people? Are there known instances where Trader Joe's or other reasonably high end store coming into economically depressed areas and significantly improving the economic status of people in the area? This article has a lot of rage and perhaps it's justified. But it's also entirely possible that stores do this sort of thing all the time with the blessing of city councils…

"Does Trader Joe's have a habit of hiring local people?"

Yes. They hire locally and train and pay very well. That one store would bring 30-40 jobs paying $40,000 - $60,000 for 'grocers' that stock shelves and run the registers.

Re: Trader Joe's Shrugged

#25

Post by ojbyrne »

scotch_drinker wrote: post #14

Does Trader Joe's have a habit of hiring local people? Are there known instances where Trader Joe's or other reasonably high end store coming into economically depressed areas and significantly improving the economic status of people in the area? This article has a lot of rage and perhaps it's justified. But it's also entirely possible that stores do this sort of thing all the time with the blessing of city councils…

http://www.npr.org/2014/01/22/264528139/long-a-dirty-word-ge...

Re: Trader Joe's Shrugged

#26

Post by d23 »

scotch_drinker wrote: post #14

Does Trader Joe's have a habit of hiring local people? Are there known instances where Trader Joe's or other reasonably high end store coming into economically depressed areas and significantly improving the economic status of people in the area? This article has a lot of rage and perhaps it's justified. But it's also entirely possible that stores do this sort of thing all the time with the blessing of city councils…

> But it's also entirely possible that stores do this sort of thing all the time with the blessing of city councils and what it does is displace the existing population. Dallas (where I live near) is notorious for giving developers tax breaks to tear down lower class apartments if they agree to build something of much higher tax value. I doubt Dallas is odd man out.

I'd guess that's exactly the worry here. Installing places like Trader Joes, which have the impact of attracting the more well-off, causes a gentrification feedback loop, raising the cost of local housing and ultimately displacing those that can't afford it.

Re: Trader Joe's Shrugged

#27

Post by CWuestefeld »

scotch_drinker wrote: post #14

Does Trader Joe's have a habit of hiring local people? Are there known instances where Trader Joe's or other reasonably high end store coming into economically depressed areas and significantly improving the economic status of people in the area? This article has a lot of rage and perhaps it's justified. But it's also entirely possible that stores do this sort of thing all the time with the blessing of city councils…

giving developers tax breaks to tear down lower class apartments if they agree to build something of much higher tax value

I'm having trouble seeing how this is comparable. It sounds like the Dallas example involves (ab)using eminent domain to take property away, but the TJ case is developing new on a vacant lot. And the Dallas example is giving extra incentive through the government to do something that may not be economically wise on its own, but evidently TJ thinks that it can offer something in that neighborhood that will be able to justify its own existence.

Re: Trader Joe's Shrugged

#28

Post by graylights »

msmillie wrote: post #7
rst wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps you're not familiar with Trader Joe's --- they are known for good food at low prices. And it's hard to see any parallel between a grocery store (open to local residents) and Twitter HQ (where most workers never interact with local residents at all).

That someone can innocently and unironically describe Trader Joe's as being "known for low prices" is really the crux of the problem here. Perhaps you're not familiar with minimum wage?

Trader Joes has low prices but they don't have the dirt cheap junk food that you might find at some stores. But you can eat cheaply at a Trader Joes. You can also eat very expensively if you go into some their specialty stuff.

Re: Trader Joe's Shrugged

#29

Post by fr0sty »

Zelphyr wrote: post #8
benched wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who lived very close to a Walmart-centered ecosystem for several years, including working there, I'll also add that while it isn't Gucci, there's nothing really wrong with the stuff Walmart sells, from a poor person's practical point of view. It's just regular, everyday useful stuff.

Except the food which, on the whole, just isn't healthy.

> Except the food which, on the whole, just isn't healthy.

Care to elaborate? Assuming the Walmart has their standard grocery section they will sell fresh fruits/vegetables, meat, dairy, eggs, grains and the like. It may not be the highest quality but it won't kill you.

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