I needed to go to Trader Joe's today and arranged my day to go early this morning. I went to one of the larger ones, where parking isn't so congested, only to find about half of the parking lot unavailable due to some tree trimming. Bad timing on someone's part! I lucked out and found a parking space, but I can only imagine the chaos a couple hours later.
I was just telling someone today about how I've been a Trader Joe's shopper for -- count'em -- 30 years now. Started in Redondo Beach in 1983. Mostly we were reminiscing about how much more adventurous it used to be, going there. It's still a great store, but now they're all the same, and the corporate stamps pervades them all. So, just curious, which one(s) do you go to? I had a few favorite ones around different parts of town.
Yes, you're right about the uniformity.
My first TJ's was, I think, a small one in a little shopping center near what is now Sony Pictures, not far from what was once the Culver Theatre. In those days they just had all sorts of oddball items and didn't try to cover all the bases grocerywise.
There was a large TJ's in San Diego, again with odd assortments of gourmet items. There was hardly ever anyone in the store!
These days I shop at the one on Pico and 33rd (Santa Monica) and (today) the one on Sepulveda and Palms Blvd. (WLA) There are two more near me, but are less convenient due to traffic patterns.
TJ's has done an exceptional job, I think, of staying abreast of trends and customer preferences. Virtually everyone I know shops at Trader Joe's at least some of the time.
