Are people in Bend crazy? It’s hard to draw any other conclusion from the spectacle of more than 100 of them standing outside in the cold and rain last week waiting for the grand opening of Trader Joe’s.
According to news accounts, some loonies actually spent the night in cars in the parking lot so as to be first inside when the doors opened.
Trader Joe’s, whose arrival in Bend has been anticipated by the public and covered by the local media with an enthusiasm and exhaustiveness that would be appropriate to the Second Coming, is, basically, a supermarket.
According to its entry in Wikipedia, Trader Joe’s is descended from a chain of 7-Eleven-type convenience stores established in Southern California in the 1950s. The founder, Joe Coulombe, decided he needed to distinguish his stores from others of its ilk; hence the name change, the move to stock the shelves with more unusual items and gimmicks like having the employees wear Hawaiian shirts.
The formula worked: Today there are almost 300 Trader Joe’s stores in 23 states and the District of Columbia, and they racked up total sales of $6.5 billion in 2007. In 1979 the chain was sold to the German billionaire Theo Albrecht.
Trader Joe’s own website has a glowing description of the store’s wonders: “Just what is this thing we call Trader Joe’s?
Well, we’re a grocery store, sure, but really so much more. Our shelves
are stocked full of delicious foods and beverages from the basics like
milk, bread and butter to more exotic fare like imported cheeses,
organic produce and hand-tossed pizza from Italy.”
But The Wandering Eye visited a Trader Joe’s in Portland a couple of times and was not exactly bowled over. It just seemed like a cluttered, rather grungy little market with a vast selection of cheap wine from makers we had never heard of.
To try to find out what the big hubbub was about, The Eye ventured forth to the Bend Trader Joe’s on Saturday. We didn’t stay too long because the crowds inside induced feelings of claustrophobia, but the overall impression was the same as we had in Portland – a cluttered little market with lots of cheap wine. (The Bend store isn’t grimy, but then it’s barely been open for a week.)
The Eye’s verdict: Trader Joe’s is a nice addition to the local retail grocery scene, and giving consumers more choices is always a good thing.
But does it deserve all the hype and hysteria that preceded it? Hardly. Either our local media are unusually gullible or the people on Trader Joe’s PR and marketing team are world-class geniuses.
This article appears in Apr 3-9, 2008.
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I FOUND IT TO BE VERY SPENDY
Yes, but the Eye must try 2 buck chuck and Trader Joe’s Sourdough Bread. MMmmmm….
Did people really stay in their cars all night to be the first into the store? Maybe that is a sign of all the hype and hysteria that preceded it. I’m sure when talking about a little dump like Trader Joe’s, with their PR team a marketing decision involves a trip to Vegas. Loved the article!
For the hell of it I went and searched The Bulletin’s archives and found they have done no fewer than six (6) stories about the anticipated arrival and the ultimate actual arrival of Trader Joe’s, starting almost two years ago with a story headlined “Trader Joe’s expected in Bend.” And waaaaaaaay back in October 2003 there was a story about how Trader Joe’s was NOT going to locate in Bend “in the immediate future.” So that makes seven stories altogether. I can’t recall The Bulletin giving such obsessive coverage to the coming of any other retailer, not even giants such as Wal-Mart and Costco.
Well, I’m definitely definitely gonna try the Two-Buck Chuck (actually Three-Buck Chuck in Bend), but it seems the only varietals they have here are Merlot and Chardonnay — not my favorites.
All the hoopla about Trader Joe’s focuses not on their PR but on the fact that a person does not feel like they have been held up at gun point for the basic necessities or charged exorbitant amounts for some very delightful treats and some times unusual foods. I can buy a bouquet of beautiful fresh flowers for my wife or a pound of cashews for around $6.00 (ompared to $10-15 at other stores.
During the last 25 years we have shopped at a total of 7 different Trader Joe’s and in nearly all we found the “Crew” to be friendly and helpful. It is always a pleasant experience to shop at TJ’s and we find their marketing skills to be delightful.
Bend Born says “Yes, but the Eye must try 2 buck chuck and Trader Joe’s Sourdough Bread.”
If the Eye cares about wine, it’ll skip the tasting and concede that 3BuckChuck tastes like a decent $4.50 bottle and leave it at that. As for me, I think even my cooking (hardly gourmet, but my spouse thinks it’s pretty darn good) deserves a better wine than that. Most of what we’ve tried at the Trader Joe’s Cult is about what you’d expect for the price.
I actually liked my first experience here with TJ’s, and no, I wasn’t one standing in line. I had never been to one before and I found many interesting and good things to eat for a very decent price, that I wouldn’t have noticed in the cluttered and crammed grocery stores.
I heard them ring a bell a couple of times, so I asked why. It’s a system, 1, 2, or 3 rings mean different things, like calling for a manager. Much better than horrible intercom systems. I loved it!