Trader Joe’s, Where Great Quality Foods+Great Prices=Value
Dear Friends & Neighbors,
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Windermere Blue Sunset (credit: Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
I‘ve been a loyal customer of Trader Joe’s (TJ’s)
Trader Joe’s-sign (credit: Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
long before moving down to Florida (from Illinois) about nine and half years ago. Within a year of my arrival in Central Florida region, I’ve emailed Trader Joe’s main office because there wasn’t any Trader Joe’s (TJ’s) presence in Central Florida and I dearly loved Trader Joe’s selections of healthy
Trader Joe’s-adventure in shopping (credit: Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
Trader Joe’s-tofu, hearts of palm (credit: Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
and exotic variety of quality food choices… not to mention great values! Even more importantly, it is
always a pleasant experience
Trader Joe’s-outside barrel planters (credit: Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
Trader Joe’s-flowers near the entrance (credit: Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
to shop at Trader Joe’s. So, I was really tickled when TJ’s finally made it down here in 2014 in Winter Park (131 N Orlando Ave., Winter Park, FL 32789, 407-622-0874, 8:00 am-9:00 pm Mon-Sun) and now in Dr. Phillips (8323 W. Sand Lake Rd., Orlando, FL 32819, 407-345-0611, 8:00 am-9:00 pm Mon-Sun) in 2015 in my neck of the woods 🙂 .
Did you know that Trader Joe’s started in the 1950’s as a small chain of convenience stores called Pronto Markets? In 1967, the original founder of Trader Joe’s, Joe Coulombe, changed stores’ name to Trader Joe’s and the way business was done. He/they enlarged the stores, decked the walls with cedar planks and donned their crew in cool Hawaiian shirts (even now, the management team may still be spotted in TJ’s stores by their happy Hawaiian shirts), and started packaging innovative, hard-to-find, great tasting foods under the Trader Joe’s name. Trader Joe’s believes in the formula: Great Quality Food + Great Prices = Value
Trader Joe’s Formula: Great Quality + Great Prices = Value (credit: Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
Trader Joe’s-outdoor wall of plants (credit: Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
and arrives at its result through:
- Buying directly from suppliers whenever possible and bargaining hard to get the best price so to be able to pass the savings onto consumers.
- An item not pulling its weight in the store would soon be replaced.
- Buying in volume and contracting early to get the best prices
- Most other grocers charge their suppliers fees for putting an item on the shelf (resulting in higher prices for consumers), but TJ’s does not.
Some thoughts shared by the founder Joe Coulombe on how Trader Joe’s arrived at its formula for success, below:
- Many Trader Joe’s stores hide a toy in the store for kids to find
- Every Trader Joe’s has its own artist, making each store unique
- 80% of Trader Joe’s products are their own brand
- Founder Joe Coulombe came up with the idea for Trader Joe’s on a Caribbean vacation
- Prices at Trader Joe’s are so low that there are never any discounts
- Trader Joe’s has a “No Questions Asked” return policy
- Each Trader Joe’s store reportedly has a plastic lobster hidden somewhere in the store
I particularly like the assortments of prepped healthy foods available
Trader Joe’s-wonderful prepped healthy foods (credit: Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
and inviting yet subtle messages in the form of colorful and tastefully done wall murals
Trader Joe’s-creative golf mural ad for Bay Hill Golf Club (credit: Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
…all making it a very pleasant experience to shop at Trader Joe’s (TJ’s).
Trader Joe’s-bread & golf mural (credit: Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
~Let’s Help One Another~
Gathered, written, photographed, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
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