User:Ludasaphire/Joe Coulombe

http://bbjtoday.com/blog/trader-joes-impact-on-market-levels-off/1416 - Trader Joe’s began as a small, three-convenience-store chain in Pasadena, California in 1958. Store founder Joe Coulombe expanded the business and later sold it to Karl and Theo Albrecht. The German Albrecht brothers are among the wealthiest people in the world — they own the Aldi company, which consists of thousands of European supermarkets and is quickly expanding in the United States, with more than 850 stores. There are 258 Trader Joe’s locationed in 23 states. And the Hawaiian print? According to legend, founder Joe Coulombe thought of the idea when he was vacationing on the beach in the Bahamas or the Caribbean, and he thought the tropical theme would put people at ease, make them relaxed and get them to shop more.

http://www.silive.com/westshore/index.ssf/2010/08/do_say_its_so_trader_joes_insi.html - In 1967, founder Joe Coulombe changed the name and expanded to include gourmet food at discount prices in an effort to elevate his stores above 7-Eleven, the new kid on the block.

http://books.google.com/books?ei=2IJsTLfmKsrcngeUlszxBw&ct=result&id=eMm6AAAAIAAJ&dq=%22Joe+Coulombe%22&q=Coulombe#search_anchor - Pages 526 (paraphrased): By the late 1980's, when almost 60 years old, Coulombe had built Trader Joe's up into a 30 store chain on the west coast having turned away from the convienence store concept (of 7-11; which became a competitor in the early years) to an upscale yet still good value store.

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SGVB&p_theme=sgvb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=allfields(Coulombe)%20AND%20date(all)&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(%22Coulombe%22)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no - On March 4, 2003, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune published and article written by Coulombe.

Joe Coulombe (born Joseph Hardin Coulombe, June 3, 1930 in San Diego, California)[1] is best known for being the founder and first CEO of Trader Joe's Market. He went to San Diego High School and entered Stanford University in 1947, where he was a member of Alpha Kappa Lambda. He graduated from Stanford with an MBA in 1954.[2] In 1953, he married Alice Steere, a fellow grad student. Her father was William C. Steere, a Stanford botany professor. A full professor in those days did not earn much money. Thus it was from the Steeres and the academic community that he learned about the class of consumers that would later provide Trader Joe's customer base, well educated and underpaid. After graduation, he worked for the drugstore chain Owl-Rexall. The drugstore later asked him to start Pronto Markets as a test. He had six markets running when the firm ordered Coulombe to liquidate them. With financing from the Bank of America and relatives, plus selling his home and 49 percent of company stock to employees, Coulombe bought the markets. In 1966, he was happily running a chain of 18 Pronto Markets convenience stores in the Los Angeles area when a threat loomed on the horizon. The Dallas giant Southland Corporation was invading with its fast-growing 7-Eleven stores. Coulombe saw the difficulty in competing with the well-financed Texans. He developed the idea to attract a group of well-educated people, looking for something different, perhaps a bit exotic, but with keen eye for bargains. In 1967, Coulombe launched his first Trader Joe's in Pasadena, California, a city which he viewed as the epitome of the well educated, underpaid customer. The concept worked. Slowly, he began converting Prontos in demographically correct neighborhoods. Today, more than 300 Trader Joe's stores in 25 states sell to the well educated and underpaid customers that Coulombe targeted in the late 1960s. While he retired from Trader Joe’s in 1988, he remains committed to the idea that a retailer must appeal to a particular demographic segment. In 2000, Los Angeles Magazine named him one of 10 almost famous Angelenos who helped shape the city’s culture. In 2002 Supermarket News named him one of the 50 people who helped transform the grocery industry in the 20th century.[2] Recently, Joe serves on the boards of Cost Plus World Market and True Religion Apparel. He also lectures and writes on business and wines. He serves on committees for the Huntington Library and the marketing committee for the Los Angeles Opera. In June 2010, he became Chairman of Cost Plus World Market.[3] References

^ Family Tree Legends ^ a b He Brought Trader Joe's to Main Street February 2006 ^ Cost Plus Announces the Appointment of Joseph H. Coulombe to Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors MarketWatch May 12, 2010 External links

LA Weekly Interview Stanford Business Magazine