Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

sburer.github.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 88 posts

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

#31

Post by noduerme »

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…

TJs is the bomb. But their choice of store placement is definitely cryptic. It always seems to be a little too far for a regular grocery trip; somewhere close to a hip strip, close to a blue collar neighborhood, but not quite walking distance from either. They have a very specific demographic and I'm sure they've been making shrewd property decisions as well. Here in Oregon they have to compete with New Seasons, which mainly sells locally sourced produce and kinda straddles the upper line with Whole Paycheck, which everyone hates; and with GrossOut (Grocery Outlet) which is just... a kind of amazing place to go if you've never been there (they basically sell all the day-old food from wholesalers alongside this month's new test products that failed to launch - if you aren't picky what you're going to cook, GrossOut is inspirational).

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

#32

Post by noduerme »

quickthrower2 wrote: post #30
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…

>>stuff like 2 slightly different tomato varieties

I'm such an idiot shopper. I was on a date with a girl and going to cook her dinner but I was missing a few vegetables. Went to Fred Myer (local Kroger chain). I was picking up some potatoes and the girl found a stack for half the price that looked just as good, hidden on the other side of the produce aisle. She was like, "you don't look for good deals, do you?" Ugh. Shamed. I wish I'd had an excuse like "I wanted organic" but the truth was I'd never known there was a whole separate stack. Damn you Fred Myer!

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

#33

Post by hahajk »

noduerme wrote: post #31
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…

TJs is the bomb. But their choice of store placement is definitely cryptic. It always seems to be a little too far for a regular grocery trip; somewhere close to a hip strip, close to a blue collar neighborhood, but not quite walking distance from either. They have a very specific demographic and I'm sure they've been making shrewd property decisions as well. Here in Oregon they have to compete with New Seasons, whic…

If you’re interested in learning about how they choose locations, Freakinomics did a good episode where they cover just that. In short, they look for inexpensive locations that are rising in value, with demographics that have high education but relatively low income. (so, like, English majors.)

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/season-11-episode-9/

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

#34

Post by quickthrower2 »

noduerme wrote: post #32
quickthrower2 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

>>stuff like 2 slightly different tomato varieties I'm such an idiot shopper. I was on a date with a girl and going to cook her dinner but I was missing a few vegetables. Went to Fred Myer (local Kroger chain). I was picking up some potatoes and the girl found a stack for half the price that looked just as good, hidden on the other side of the produce aisle. She was like, "you don't look for good deals, do you?" Ugh.…

Oh yeah thats another trick, out the cheaper ones somewhere illogical! They just are doing price discrimination based on how much time you have to hunt for the best deal.

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

#35

Post by sampo »

quickthrower2 wrote: post #34
noduerme wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>stuff like 2 slightly different tomato varieties I'm such an idiot shopper. I was on a date with a girl and going to cook her dinner but I was missing a few vegetables. Went to Fred Myer (local Kroger chain). I was picking up some potatoes and the girl found a stack for half the price that looked just as good, hidden on the other side of the produce aisle. She was like, "you don't look for good deals, do you?" Ugh.…

Oh yeah thats another trick, out the cheaper ones somewhere illogical! They just are doing price discrimination based on how much time you have to hunt for the best deal.

The Norwegian groceries delivery company Oda, in their app you can sort each category (e.g. hard cheeses) view for price per item, or price per kg.

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

#36

Post by quickthrower2 »

sampo wrote: post #35
quickthrower2 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh yeah thats another trick, out the cheaper ones somewhere illogical! They just are doing price discrimination based on how much time you have to hunt for the best deal.

The Norwegian groceries delivery company Oda, in their app you can sort each category (e.g. hard cheeses) view for price per item, or price per kg.

Yeah ordering online is sweet in this regard

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

#37

Post by noduerme »

quickthrower2 wrote: post #36
sampo wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Norwegian groceries delivery company Oda, in their app you can sort each category (e.g. hard cheeses) view for price per item, or price per kg.

Yeah ordering online is sweet in this regard

To me the downside of online ordering is I always feel the need to tip extravagantly to make sure the delivery person doesn't get me rotten tomatoes. It ends up being a lot more expensive than just putting on a mask and trundling down to the market. If I'm in the middle of work I can justify it.

I used to enjoy going to the market. (Well, and a lot of other things that aren't fun anymore).

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

#38

Post by Freak_NL »

ahartmetz wrote: post #29
elloworld1221 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

A necessity in order to stay competitive against Lidl (comparable customer segment). ALDI took quite a punch by Lidl in the Netherlands (these were all of the ALDI Nord concern, but were not labelled as such), and depended on inertia (being the first and most well-established discount grocer) for too long.

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

#39

Post by unwind »

noduerme wrote: post #37
quickthrower2 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah ordering online is sweet in this regard

To me the downside of online ordering is I always feel the need to tip extravagantly to make sure the delivery person doesn't get me rotten tomatoes. It ends up being a lot more expensive than just putting on a mask and trundling down to the market. If I'm in the middle of work I can justify it. I used to enjoy going to the market. (Well, and a lot of other things that aren't fun anymore).

As a Scandinavian person living almost wholly outside "tipping culture", that worry just sounds bizarre.

Here, if you order food for home delivery from the major grocery chains, the order is not packed by the driver, and fresh produce is typically in smaller paper bags inside the large outer bag (the ones the driver carries from the truck).

There is no tipping of the driver, who just puts down the bags outside our front door.

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

#40

Post by ghaff »

supernova87a wrote: post #18
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!

I remember in the beginning of the pandemic they were asked to comment on this, especially about how online ordering and pickup could help people in the situation. The COO (?) specifically said that they preferred to invest in their people and store experience, not automation or such technology. edit: ah, found the articles: https://www.businessinsider.com/trader-joes-wont-offer-groce... https://www.boston.com/food/c…

And delivery runs counter to that if you deliver from one of their stores because you now have pickers for delivery clogging up the aisles.

It is an idiosyncratic store. To tell you the truth, I'm not as enthusiastic about them as some people are though I go in from time to time if they're convenient. They have a lot of prepared food and possible healthier and better quality prepared food is still prepared food which I don't eat a lot of.

Post reply on HN