Talk:Trader Joe's/Archives/2013

Discount Phrasing
Does "all at a discount price." sound a little too much like an advertisement to anyone else? --Brolin Empey 23:36, 2005 August 2 (UTC)


 * yes, it should be removed or toned down imo. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.75.49.213 (talk • contribs) 20:46, 5 October 2005 (UTC).

Trader Joe's Addresses
What Trader Joe's addresses for email are available for customers services, for feedback and for company leadership? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Donwarnersaklad (talk • contribs) 09:47, 8 August 2005 (UTC).


 * Check their website. -Willmcw 10:49, August 8, 2005 (UTC)

Already did, none indicated there. Company leadership addresses for email would have to be ferreted out by a savvy netizen! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Donwarnersaklad (talk • contribs) 13:29, 9 August 2005 (UTC).


 * Their snail mail addresses are here: http://www.traderjoes.com/contact.asp. But this isn't an information service. -Willmcw 19:11, August 9, 2005 (UTC)

''Some people at Trader Joe's are listed at http://google.com

Search using quotes and an asterisk, for example "*@traderjoes.com" email

Within the quotes before the at sign use an asterisk.

Names of the principle people at Trader Joe's are found at the Kirstein Business Branch Boston Public Library for example or try your favorite library http://bpl.org/research/kbb/kbbhome.htm

Use the examples from Google to construct addresses for email for other Trader Joe's people.

Please reply with Trader Joe's addresses for email for some of the more responsive Trader Joe's departments, people.'' —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Donwarnersaklad (talk • contribs) 16:51, 17 April 2006 (UTC).

There is an updated Trader Joe's website. Within it is a Contact Us page. Consumers can write directly to TJ's now. War17 05:50, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Pasadena or South Pasadena?
IIRC, the location on Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena was the first Trader Joe's (according to signs in the store explaining why it was numbered something other than store #1 (the explanation being, that the Pronto numbering carried over)). This store is definitely not in "South Pasadena". Tmurase 17:22, 26 April 2006 (UTC)


 * I lived in Pasadena in the late 1960's, and this store was there. The one on Mission Blvd in South Pasadena came later.  BTW:  there is in fact a Chevron Station next to the Trader Joes in Pasadena.  When I was a kid it was Bill Barry Chevron. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.64.112.236 (talk • contribs) 00:58, 4 August 2006 (UTC).

Back in the 1970's, I worked with a lady by the name of Kati Lapi. She and her husband owned the store on Mission Blvd in So. Pasadena. I do not recall the name of store when it originally opened. Later it was sold after her husband passed away, that is when it became Trader Joe's. It was the first store with that name.

On a related matter-- why does it refer to the South Pasadena store (presumably the one on Mission) as the "flagship"? I know that the corporate HQ used to be in South Pas, but now that they're in Monrovia, why would we refer to the SP store as the flagship? Also, does anyone know where their corporate office ARE in Monrovia? I drive through there all the time and have never seen a building with their name on it. 66.215.75.10 03:18, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

I changed this today; the New York Times article clearly indicates that this was the original store, and when I moved to this area in 1987, it was definitely there, and the South Pasadena one (on Mission) was not. I also deleted any references to a "flagship" store. How would we define that for a store like this? 4.232.186.52 04:14, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

History
A Business Week article about the store noted that between 1990 and 2001, the chain quintupled its store count while increasing its profits by an order of magnitude. An order of magnitude? Meaning a factor of 10? --Galaxiaad 18:04, 2 July 2006 (UTC)


 * I guess that's the only thing it could mean, but it still sounds strange and is unfamiliar to a lot of people. I changed it to "tenfold" which I hope is clearer. --Galaxiaad 13:25, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

I like to add the following event to the timeline of Trader Joe's History:

The first store outside California opened in 1993.

WLee 07:02, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

Headquarters Location(s)?
Does anyone know where their corporate office ARE in Monrovia? I drive through there all the time and have never seen a building with their name on it. 4.232.186.52 04:14, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

> The main headquarters (West Coast and National) are in a non-descript typical office park looking building at 800 S. Shamrock Ave., Monrovia, CA 91016. Just a kind of boring California office park looking place (as opposed to a fancy palace) Google Maps street view.

One more thing: it seems that the stores in the east carry merchandise indicating the corporate headquarters are in Massachusetts (Needham, I believe.) What's that all about?66.215.75.10 03:18, 19 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Needham Taunton, MA is the site of a TJ's warehouse, somewhat independent from Chino Hill, CA warehouse. The East Coast corporate headquarters (Trader Joe's Company East, Inc.) are there also in nearby Needham, MA. At one time there was a senior Vice-President of Operations for the East Coast and one for West Coast. I am not sure if this is true today. Some products are developed in Needham, MA, and some products are developed in Monrovia, CA. Some products are transported across country. Some are not. War17 23:48, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

Early Store Operations
When I moved to LA County in 1987, most, if not all of the stores had big signs that proclaimed "Galley Meats." These were taken down a while back, but I don't remember what they were advertising, exactly. I don't recall that they ever had butcher counters-- just wrapped meats like they still do today. Does anyone remember? 4.232.186.52 04:14, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

New Locations
I edited the list to fix the references to "Anthem," "Point Loma," and "West End." These are not cities but rather neighborhoods within other cities (Henderson, NV; San Diego, CA; and Washington, DC, respectively.) I also changed the punctuation between each city/state pair from a comma to a semicolon. And I clarified the reference to "Brentwood, California" to show that it relates to the city of Brentwood in the Bay Area, and not the Brentwood area of Los Angeles.4.232.186.52 04:22, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

The language in the first paragraph of the main article contradicts the later information about the numbers of stores and states. It needs to be updated to reflect the 2006 information so that the paragraphs are consistent. 4.232.186.52 04:27, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

I edited the total number of stores to 271 by end of December 2006. Manhattan store is counted twice, as it has separate grocery and liquor stores. I modified the recent store openings to stores opened from late August through December 2006. Upcoming store openings are limited to what is posted on Trader Joe's website. Other potential store openings are too speculative for encyclopedic content. I have a more speculative list in Traderjoesfan.com website. I will update the list at the end of every month. war17 16:56, 1 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Hi war17. I deleted the locations that have opened which were not on the Trader Joe's website. I think the article can do without these extra newest locations. It would be too arbitrary to keep more locations than Trader Joe's considers "new". Clipper471 19:22, 1 January 2007 (UTC)


 * As with most TJ's stores, openings are in the Spring and Fall. My list reflected recent store openings from October to December 2006.  It is quite arbitrary of you to delete an accurate lists of store openings because TJ's website does not show them.  Trader Joe's website store openings are not always accurate. In the past, they have misspelled Pittsburg and Midtwon. They Left store listing as Coming Soon when the store had already opened. Madison, Pittsburgh, and Roswell store openings were major events to those living in those states and should not be quickly deleted. There will be 15 to 20 store opening in Spring 2007. Does this mean you are going to delete the store names if they do not appear on TJ's website? Also, I had listed sorted the stores by the dates they opened, and you changed the order. War17 22:50, 1 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Since citation needed is given for the reason to delete 6 or the 12 recently store openings, I restore the deletions and put a note at the end of the sentence ((citation needed)). Since other content is allowed to stay up with ((citation needed)), this content should be allowed to stay up. The store openings are accurate. I could provide 12 separate citations for each of the store openings, but that would be too much. War17 21:57, 5 January 2007 (UTC)


 * There is never "too much" citation. Please cite your new openings. Clipper471 16:10, 6 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Here are the citations for the new stores that you keep on deleting:


 * Madison, WI - http://www.channel3000.com/news/10124315/detail.html


 * Roswell, GA - http://www.ddimagazine.com/displayanddesignideas/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003286777


 * Pittsburgh, PA - http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_476978.html


 * Glendale, WI - http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20061111/ai_n16843111WLee 07:06, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Trader Joe's website is not keeping up with the new store openings and coming soon stores. For example, Point Loma, CA; Irvine, CA; and Hillsboro, OR stores have opened but the website still shows them as coming soon. And Coming Soon stores are not showing Park Ridge, IL and Maple Grove, MN stores as coming sonn, even thought TJ's is hiring for those stores. So I cannot use TJ website for citation. I don't want to post a link for each of the sites I add, but they are available. May I reference a Traderjoesfan forum post, which contains all the reference links, as the citation? http://www.traderjoesfan.com/option,com_joomlaboard/Itemid,40/func,view/id,843/catid,10/ WLee 04:03, 1 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Trader Joe's updated its website, so reference for All Locations PDF file is no longer needed. WLee 02:24, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

WLee: You deleted my mention of a Trader Joe's coming to Chapel Hill, NC. The reference for same is http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/560447.html. You also asked why I would mention this ahead of 20 other Trader Joe's. I'm not aware of other TJ's openings, although I'm sure they exist. I thought some visitors to Wikipedia might find a Chapel Hill location of interest and would suggest its re-addition.


 * Wikipedia is not an announcement board. If you want to make announcements, do so in some of the Trader Joe's fans websites. Wikipedia is encyclopedic facts. Queens, NY fans will feel neglected if we posted your announcement, and not the TJ's store in Queens, which will open much sooner than Chapel Hill store. WLee 01:34, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

Time to lose the locations section ?
Given the rather large number of Trader Joe's and their frequent opening these days, I don't see the point of using the Wikipedia to document these. Flame on.

--Scott.kelley (talk) 23:31, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Reluctantly agree. Total number of stores will continue to get updated, but the locations should not. WLee (talk) 20:43, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

Private Labels
Anyone up for making a list of the various Trader Joe's private labels? I know they sell Italian under the "Trader Giotto" name. It'd be pretty informative, and amusing. --Dccarroll 0:16, 13 July 2006

Thanks Fragilityfemme! Dccarroll 06:11, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

...as an aside, does anybody else thing that Trader Joe's missed a big opportunity with their Asian-food imprint? I mean, Trader Ming's isn't bad, but wouldn't "Trader Zhou" be better? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.15.34.118 (talk • contribs) 01:14, 5 August 2006 (UTC).

Also, there should be a thing on Wiki that mentions that any food with a Trader Joe's label contains no artificial colors, flavors, or preservitives. Also, NO MSG; and NO added Trans Fats. TJ prodcuts are also sourced from non-genetically modified ingredients. Idantran (talk) 20:18, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

Answer to Trivia Question
''There is a mystery shopper who will randomly ask a crew member the following question. If answered correctly, the mystery shopper will pay the crew member one hundred dollars on the spot. The question is, "What was the name of the owner of the business next door to the first Trader Joe's to open as a Trader Joe's?" The answer is, the business next door is a Chevron Station (there are only two businesses on that block of Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena, California), and in 1966 this business was owned by William Barry (Bill Barry). It is now (2006) owned by Frank Nelson. It is not known if the mystery shopper is an employee of Trader Joe's.'' I removed this as it sounds like a rumor, and quite possibly not encyclopedic even if it were sourced. --Galaxiaad 02:47, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Beer, wine, hard liquor Question?
Quick question about Trader Joe's - and this answer should probably go in the main page - but does anybody know which stores carry liquor as compared to beer and wine? Would be useful to know. I know that the California stores carry liquor, and that the Maryland ones carry nothing, and that many carry beer and wine, but not hard liquor. - Thanks, Justin —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 208.59.116.242 (talk • contribs) 20:00, 5 August 2006 (UTC).

Trader Joe's carries liquor in states that allow it to be sold in supermarkets. California allows this, for example, but Oregon (and Washington and Idaho) require anything stronger than beer or wine to be sold in specialty liquor stores. Typically, these states (Liquor control states) also hold a monopoly somewhere along the distribution chain. See the Wikipedia article on Alcoholic_beverage_control_state. Cranialsodomy 07:27, 5 September 2006 (UTC)


 * A recent article in the NY Times described how the new Manhattan store has a very separate (though adjacent) wine/liquor store. -Will Beback 11:38, 4 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Trader Joe's website has a PDF file of Store Locations. The locations have marks by them indicating which stores sell no wine and beer, no wine, and no beer. War17 05:26, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Only stores in California and Nevada carry hard liquor (Vodka of the Gods, etc.)

Trader Joe's Saw Palmetto
What informative details are there about Trader Joe's Saw Palmetto? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Donwarnersaklad (talk • contribs) 07:19, 18 October 2006 (UTC).
 * Trader Joe's stores sell 100 capsules of 160 mg each containing 90% fatty acids and sterols—standardized saw palmetto—for $11.99. --War17 05:32, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
 * And how is this fact notable? Note, this information is unsourced, and now very old. thats why this is not a board for commenting on the subject. TJ may have stopped carrying this, or may have different dosage now.(mercurywoodrose)76.232.10.199 (talk) 01:46, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

Trader Joe's Total Sales
I added total sales of Trader Joe's stores at the end of the History section, $4.5 billion. This info is sourced from "Supermarket News". This info is needed as I see many other articles estimating sales at $2 to $3 billion. The $4.5 billion is a conservative estimate, as of June 2005, and verifiable. Actual total sales today is probably over $5 billion. war17 17:12, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

Employees
In the Employees section, there is a statement, "Part-time crew members work as few as 25 hours a week and no more than 40 hours per week." The way it is worded, it sounds like hard limits. This is not really true. I know crew members who work less than 25 hours regularly because of family issues and more than 40 hours when the store is busy. The citation listed at the end of the paragraph do no indicate hours worked. There may be a general requirement to work 3 to 5 8-hour days (24 to 40 hours), but store manager can make exceptions. War17 21:45, 5 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I changed the number of hours crew members worked to "up to 35 hours", which is stated on TJ's website. I know some crew members work more hours, but those are the exceptions, not the rule. WLee 08:00, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

Trader Joe's Employee Section
full-time crew members starting at $40–60,000 per year and store managers earning in the "low six figures."[2] It contributes to an employee's standard 401(k) plan.[2] As of 2004, pay for entry-level part-timers was $8 to $10 an hour.[5]
 * It's correct because they use mostly part time employees. Full timers are over 40 hours so there are not many of them in a store. Usually a manager a few asst managers and one or two full time staff. The rest are part time. Less than 40 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.149.195.30 (talk) 22:47, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

These numbers need some attention. $8 per hour is about $16,000 per year, not $40,000. Do they pay full timers more than twice as much per hour as part timers? This needs attention from someone who knows what TJ's starting pay is. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.96.66.128 (talk) 23:14, 19 September 2011 (UTC)

I am concerned that the statement in the entry:

"According to Business Week, Trader Joe's pays better-than-union wages"

. . . is not viewpoint neutral and I would propose changing this to:

"According to Business Week, Trader Joe's pays good wages..." or something similar without the same political overtones.

It's true that this statement is duly sourced from a BW article, however the original source, on this point at least, seems to be editorializing rather than stating an empirical fact. Comparing the worker benefits at Trader Joe's to the wages of a hypothetical union grocery worker seems to be unnecessarily provocative. (There are a number of factors, [job security, benefits, pension, comparing to which union employees exactly etc.] and issues that could be debated in this statement and it doesn't seem like an article about Trader Joe's is the best place to engage in such a debate.)

Personally, I myself shop at Trader Joe's. I usually get what I need there and have a fine experience in general (though I wish they had better that were not packed in so much plastic.) I don't know any employees personally and the small amount of research I've done does not paint TJ's in a bad light so far as labor practices - of which I am glad. However as I said above I don't think the comparison to union shops benefits this wikipedia entry and would propose its removal.

Any objections to the change above?

Thanks! Zakkenroller 04:37, 13 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the consideration of asking before making the change. I did not write that part of the Tj's article.  I did not know stating that wages are above or below union wages is political.  To me union wage is a point of reference.  To others, the statement could be political. Yes, it is OK to make a change. "pays good wages" seem kinda blank though. When I was in college, I wish I had a job like Trader Joe's which pays so well. WLee 15:54, 13 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Thank-you, I will change this paragraph to:


 * Employees


 * According to Business Week, Trader Joe's pays better-than-union competitive wages, generous bonuses, and contributes an additional 15.4% of each worker's gross pay into a company-funded retirement plan. As of 2004, pay for entry-level part-timers was $8 to $10 an hour; first-year supervisors average more than $40,000 a year.[3]Zakkenroller 22:23, 13 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Good wages sounds better. WLee 14:55, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Using phrases such as "generous" or even "above-average" are not objective. "Generous" (as applied as a descriptor here to bonuses) is an empty term that could be applied to any bonus, and thus adds nothing to the article. "Above-average" also signifies very little. It does not establish what "average" is (do we mean here minimum wage? or are we averaging all hourly wages in the U.S.? the world?) and even if this "average" could be established, "above-average" means merely greater than this number (say for example 'average' is established to be $7.00/hr then "above-average" could mean $7.01/hr). Please take out these empty descriptors and leave only numbers, which can be interpreted by discerning readers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.24.249.255 (talk) 05:59, 29 March 2008 (UTC)


 * The article uses better than union wages. That is quantitative term. One union rep wants to remove "better than union wages" and use "good".  Another union rep wants to remove "good" and use a quantitative term.  You cannot have it both ways.

WLee (talk) 21:06, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Not only should the information be quantitative, but it should be specific numbers. Descriptions of wages (or any statistic) merely in relation to other statistics is not valuable information, especially when neither statistic has been provided (as in this situation). The employee's section already states what the average starting wage was in 2004. If somebody wants to state that this is above what the unions pay, then they need to dig up a source that tells what unions paid in 2004 (or better yet, get the statistics for 2007 or 2008 if possible--after the minimum wage hike). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.24.249.255 (talk) 01:47, 30 March 2008 (UTC)


 * The paragraph describes how good Trader Joe's treats its employees. The reference, Business Week, has already done the research of comparing wages. WLee (talk) 16:04, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

-As a 10yr. veteran crew member (non-management employee) at Trader Joe's in northern CA, I have to admit that the union reps are right in this situation. In my experience, it seems to be true that our new-hire wages and benefits are above the average starting pay of our fellow unionized grocery workers, especially if you come on as an entry level manager (full-timer). This is what attracts people to come and work for us, but to say as fact "Trader Joe's pays above-union wages..." is a blanket statement that is just not true. I know that the paragraph is just trying to describe how good TJ's treats it's staff, but considering the fact that unions are formed to protect and ensure fair treatment and pay of employees... then by just stating that we are non-union should be enough to show that we consider ourselves to be treated fairly (at the very least) by our company. I would remove any comparison with union wages and focus on the facts that Trader Joe's has demonstrated or confirmed. - For example: I see no mention of the "7 core values" of Trader Joe's, one of which is "no bureaucracy". This lack of red tape and micromanagement allows stores and their staff to have more independant control over their success by allowing them to decide for themselves what is gonna work better in their area. There is also the fact that TJ's is not compartmentalized, meaning that everybody is trained and generally required to work all areas of the store, not just one section like produce. Everybody, including managers are required to do checking and bagging, stocking shelves, unloading delivery trucks, ordering products, merchandising sections, and even gathering carts in the parking. Along with creating more respect and cooperation among the entire crew, (especially between managers and part-timers), it also creates a more well rounded crew member that can assist anywhere help is needed. This gives crew members a huge level of pride for their job, their crew, their store, and the company as a whole. WHITEYPTFL (talk) 22:28, 9 May 2011 (UTC) I'm adding the bell system that the employees use instead of the normal PA system. I work at TJ's and get a bunch of questions about it all the time. 1 Bell-More registers need to be open 2 Bell-Need assistance at check out 3 Bells-Need manager assistance Idantran (talk) 20:21, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

Number of Stores
Trader Joe's website All Locations Stores listing changed without changing the date. San Diego (Point Loma), CA store was added as coming soon and Needham, MA store deleted. The store count will be correct once Point Loma store opens this Friday, February 9, so I will not change the store number from 272. I am not sure why Needham store was deleted. It could be the listing is TJ East Coast Office, not really a store. war17 21:32, 6 February 2007 (UTC)


 * TJ's updated the page, so the store count is correct as of February 28, 2007. WLee 22:43, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Gallery of Pictures
Ragesoss, what is the purpose of adding the pictures of a specific store on an encyclopedic page? What is the significance of the West Hartford store? Such pictures are more appropriate in a blog or forum. WLee 22:43, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Depictions in popular media section?
Surfed past the second ever episode of Six Feet Under tonight and a character was plopping down a Trader Joe's bag. I seem to recall there were several episodes that featured either the shopping bags or TJ's products. Perhaps a section for references in popular media? RoyBatty42 09:07, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

History -2
Theo Albrecht bought Trader Joe's in 1979. Joe Columbe continued to run the company until 1989. The Lift and Time article is loosely worded, and can be misinterpreted. WLee 15:32, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

Employees -2
AThing, you removed the whole section on Employees without discussion. If you do not how Employees are important to Trader Joe's encyclopedia information, then ask. Do not arbitraily delete.

If you knew anything about Trader Joe's, employees are what distinguish TJ's from other grocery stores. So, yes, how emplyees are so happy and helpful is a big part of TJ's. WLee 01:25, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Well if it's so important, make it not read like a recruitment advertisement for them.—a thing 01:29, 6 May 2007 (UTC)


 * How would you reword the section? The section was not put together by me, but by a combination of many readers over several years.  I felt the section reflected the truth.  If you read about Trader Joe's in a Google search, TJ's fans are much more fanatical about TJ's. WLee 01:41, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
 * How about removing the third paragraph? It has no use to anyone except a TJ's employee.—a thing 17:15, 6 May 2007 (UTC)


 * That is reasonable edit. 3rd paragraph gives lots of detail about names of crew members that are found on Trader Joe's website. If no one objects in a week, let's remove the third paragraph. WLee 16:37, 7 May 2007 (UTC)


 * I removed third paragraph of Employee's section per above conversation. There is no objection. WLee 15:43, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

Values
I like to add a core values section to the main page, probably after Products section, and wonder what everyone else thinks. Trader Joe's operates by 7 core values. 1. Integrity 2. Product driven company 3. Create a WOW customer experience 4. No bureaucracy 5. National chain of neighborhood grocery stores 6. Kaizen 7. The store is the brand

I would give a brief description of each based on this article http://flooringtheconsumer.blogspot.com/2007/04/trader-joes-where-values-drive-brand.html

Fair use rationale for Image:Trader joes.jpg
Image:Trader joes.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 04:50, 11 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the heads up. But I did not add the image, and do not know much about Fair Use. Or I would edit the info as you required. Sorry!

WLee 15:06, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Employees Reviews
There has been some editing of time period between employee's review. All the references say 3 months. Several TJ's employees say period has changed recently to 6 months. I believe the latter is true. The documentations have not yet caught up. WLee 05:52, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Trader Joe's old logo.png
Image:Trader Joe's old logo.png is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 21:03, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Foreign language link is not vandalism
The change by a bot that was reverted twice appears to be a link the the Japanese wikipedia article for Trader Joe's, not vandalism.Langhorner (talk) 20:07, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

Part-time Employee Wage
I just started working there last week and they started me off at $10.50 because I've had some experience (at another job). The Employees section should be edited to say $8.00 - $10.50, or at least, that's what I think it is. The minimum might be higher than $8 at the moment. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.179.47.208 (talk) 09:06, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Criticism section
Need to add info on the company's refusal to sign Fair Food Agreement with Florida tomato workers, an ongoing dispute...e.g. the company's stated reasons for refusing to sign as against the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' (tomato pickers) responses to those purported reasons. TJ's "Note to Our Customers" of May 11, 2011 is on its website. The tomato pickers' org. website at CIW-online.org has a point-by-point response to the "note" and b.g about the Fair Food issue. Skybluewater (talk) 02:18, 2 September 2011 (UTC)

I am very critical of Trader Joe's, but the criticism section I deleted contained no criticism at all. I encourage users to post specific grievances with Trader Joe's, but simply posting the mnemonic form it sometimes takes ("Traitor Joe's") is completely unsatisfactory. 24.5.174.164 (talk) 04:04, 3 May 2009 (UTC)
 * And i will greatly discourage users from posting grievances (I will in fact delete them), as we dont have "users", but rather, editors, who gather sourced material from print and online sources, to build up articles. There is absolutely no reason to post on the talk page any personal grievances, as NONE of them can EVER make it to the article, and the talk page is ONLY for helping this article, NOT for discussion of the subject in general. It is of absolutely no relevance that you are critical of TJ's, it is only relevant that you are critical of the contents of this article.(mercurywoodrose)76.232.10.199 (talk) 01:40, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

Environmental Awareness
Please provide facts, and not opinions. References need to be from news agencies, not blogs.WLee (talk) 15:17, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Edit again references based on above criteria. WLee (talk) 03:17, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

This article seems to be a bit one sided. It makes Trader Joes seem like an extremely environmentally company with no really information to the contrary. There could be mention of Trader Joes packaging, which is often excessive. Or the fact that they ship most things and don't focus on local goods. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.170.53.98 (talk) 01:41, 17 June 2011 (UTC)

List of locations
I've removed the list of locations as essentially unencyclopedic. It's no longer unusual for a state to have a TJ's; half the states in the US now do. All this information, such as most recently opened stores and future openings, is marketing material better gleaned from TJ's own site. There seems to be some disagreement, so let's discuss. --jpgordon:==( o ) 00:55, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

Relationship to Aldi
I added a section about Trader Joe's relationship to Aldi Nord/Sud (North/South) but it was removed. Does anyone have any objections? See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldi to see the differences between both Aldis.

Current: Trader Joe's was founded by Joe Coulombe and is currently owned by a family trust set up by German businessman Theo Albrecht, one of the two brothers behind the German supermarket chain Aldi.[4]

Desired Edit: Trader Joe's was founded by Joe Coulombe and is currently owned by a family trust set up by German billionaire Theo Albrecht, owner of German supermarket chain Aldi Nord.[4]  Trader Joe's has no corporate relationship to the United States Aldi stores operated by Aldi Süd.

EdHayes3 (talk) 05:31, 21 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Why does the additional information matter to Trader Joe's? If you add the info, references is needed for the split Aldi and additional info.

WLee (talk) 18:49, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

When I mention Aldi to friends and family, they frequently say "Aldi and Trader Joe's are the same company, right?" Therefore I believe the current summary may be incorrectly impacting how people perceive the two companies' relationship. The way the summary is written now makes them sound like they are operated by the same executive team and/or owned by the same entity. If Aldi is mentioned in the Trader Joe's Wikipedia article, there needs to be a distinction that explains Trader Joe's and Aldi US are very different companies and have little connection between them.

The argument could be made that Aldi should not be mentioned at all in the Trader Joe's article. If it is, there needs to be an edit.

At the very least, this changed needs to be made, as Theo is not solely responsible for Aldi Group.

Current: ...one of the two brothers behind the German supermarket chain Aldi.

Change: ...one of the two brothers behind the German supermarket chain Aldi Nord. EdHayes3 (talk) 23:25, 27 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Ed, I appreciate your concern. The two brothers are in their mid to late 80's and it is their family that runs Aldi. Aldi Family acts as directors for Trader Joe's. Aldi Family has to approved every opening of Trader Joe's store over $10 millions. (Trader Joe's was ready to move into Florida in 2008 until Aldi said they want to move in first.) So there are some relationships between Trader Joe's and Aldi.


 * But mentioning Aldi North and South confuses the situation. So that is what I objected to. WLee (talk) 15:41, 11 March 2010 (UTC)

If that is the case, it should be mentioned in the article in a new section, and not in the summary.

There needs to be phrasing that says they are not the same company. They may have similar owners, and board members, but they do not share a corporate link; they operate independently. USG has a board member from Motorola, that doesn't mean Motorola and USG share a corporate link.

Did you read over the entire Aldi page and see Aldi operates as two distinct and separate units, one linked to Theo, the other to Karl? According to the Wikipedia entry, they are two separate operating groups.207.181.238.241 (talk) 16:10, 15 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Yes, there is an Aldi Nord and Aldi South. They are only in name. the Albrech family trust runs Aldi in practice. The Albrech family trust acts as Board of Directors for Trader Joe's in US and controls the finances. The two companies are separate corporation, one is public, and one is private. They have separate warehouses in US, and separate CEO's.


 * When Theo and Karl visits the US, they visit both Aldi stores and Trader Joe's stores. The reason Trader Joe's is not in Florida and Texas is because Aldi wants to be there first. The Family Trust made that happen. Trader Joe's customers have reported finding a few Trader Joe's labeled items in Aldi stores in Europe.

Current: ...one of the two brothers behind the German supermarket chain Aldi. Change: ...one of the two brothers behind the German supermarket chain Aldi Nord.


 * I did not write the first sentence. And you can make the change. But you need to provide reference. WLee (talk) 15:47, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

Products
Why are dried plums and raisins listed separately from dried fruit? They are dried fruit. Bluesonja (talk) 16:07, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

"Sustainability Initiatives"
I changed "Environmental Issues" to "Sustainability Initiatives" because when I read "Issues", I thought it was about negative things like pollution issues, etc. I think this title more accurately reflects the content of the section now.Zfish118 (talk) 04:29, 17 September 2010 (UTC)

Fortune Magazine's numbers
Forturne Magazine article "Inside the secret world of Trader Joe's" has numbers that are "estimates". They are more like "guessimates". They are too high. Sales per square feet is estimated to be $1,750. This number is true of only the 3-4 top selling stores. Previous estimates of $1,300 is more like the average. Number of SKU's is estimated to be 4,000. Most stores carry less than 3.000 SKU's. WLee (talk) 22:47, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

"Despite the name's implications, barter is not normally accepted as a means of transaction at any Trader Joe's store."
Is this line someone's notion of a joke? Who in their right mind would think anything different? Unless there's reason to think this is a common confusion, which I doubt, I don't see the purpose of including this. 50.72.196.97 (talk) 04:27, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Holiday Pay
Trader Joe's actually does offer holiday pay. I worked in Massachusetts and pay was time and half for every Sunday shift and certain holidays. The article has been updated. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.53.248.91 (talk) 01:49, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Why is Trader Joe's so secretive
I asked if I might take a photo of an employee at a Trader Joe's store, and the employee consented, but then a manager walked over briskly, said he would kick me out of the store if I took any pictures. Why? I asked. "Company policy." Wonder what the big secret is about; does anybody here have any insight about why this is so.--Tomwsulcer (talk) 00:08, 31 March 2013 (UTC)
 * It is a blanket policy in most businesses that managers, when asked, never give anyone permission to take photos. I would not say that this has anything to do with the Trader Joe's brand being different. There is other fan-made Trader Joe's content using photographs on the web. If you need a photo, then I see be respectful and discreet.  Blue Rasberry    (talk)   11:42, 31 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Yes thanks Lane, policies such as that one have not stopped me in the past. But I prefer taking photos of people, and I always ask them; and after I had asked, the employee agreed, but then the manager came over, and said he'd have to kick me out if I took one. I think I have run into the policy at other stores too, but it is not a uniform policy; my sense is most businesses don't mind. And I wonder why the secrecy? Maybe it is the firm trying to control their image? Or maybe it is to prevent competitors from taking photos of prices, sales boards, layout? Or, is the firm doing something illegal (eg buying illegally obtained caviar on the black market?) or is afraid of some kind of government action? (but then the government could still take any photos it wanted I suppose.) Still, I doubt a no-photos policy would stop a seriously inquisitive competitor. I see the no-pictures policy as counterproductive. It has irked me..--Tomwsulcer (talk) 13:46, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Number of shops?
How many shops are there? The source [5] says 367, the article 471?? --82.113.113.82 (talk) 11:55, 3 September 2013 (UTC)