By Anita Garner<\/p>\n
Our little town is one of a string of small towns\u00a0in this part of Northern California that together have finally come up with the\u00a0magic formula\u00a0to cause\u00a0a Trader Joe’s to open \u00a0nearby.\u00a0 That statement, of course,\u00a0has nothing to do with the way these deals really happen.\u00a0\u00a0 There was intense\u00a0lobbying from both sides and parking studies and all kinds of rigmarole involved, but\u00a0we TJ’s fans\u00a0don’t care, just so\u00a0the danged store opens as planned in August.<\/p>\n
A friend of mine worked in development for a nearby city that pined for its own Trader Joe’s.\u00a0 The board she reported\u00a0to kept asking her, “Can’t you get us a Trader Joe’s?” and since she’d tried many times, she knew the answer, which was “We don’t fit their expansion profile.”<\/p>\n
Yet many in my community didn’t want the store, complained about what it will do to traffic patterns, etc.\u00a0 While checking online to find the actual opening date, I encountered a website\u00a0loaded with comments for and against TJ’s coming to this area, with some commenters asking, “What’s the big deal?\u00a0 It’s\u00a0 just another grocery store.”<\/p>\n
Answers\u00a0are plentiful at a TJ’s fan site.\u00a0 Yes, here’s a\u00a0grocery store with its own fan site,\u00a0devoted solely to loving all things Trader Joe’s.<\/p>\n
I don’t know why I feel the way I do about them.\u00a0When I lived near one of the stores in Southern California,\u00a0I wasn’t there every week, and it’s true they don’t\u00a0always have the same things in stock trip after trip.\u00a0\u00a0If that’s what you require from your grocery store, you and TJ’s may not be a match.<\/p>\n
A shopping trip to Trader’s\u00a0is much more of a grab bag (awful wordplay –\u00a0I apologize) where we make\u00a0a list based on\u00a0ads (their Fearless Flyer and their radio ads are fun) or our particular needs, and then end up wandering the aisles finding cleverly packaged, well-displayed stuff we never knew we wanted.\u00a0 Yes, it’s the way many grocery stores entice\u00a0us, but\u00a0with TJ’s distinctly,\u00a0deceptively laid-back spirit.<\/p>\n
While\u00a0all the comments online about our new store\u00a0aren’t positive,\u00a0many of them express the same kind of odd loyalty I feel toward this company.\u00a0 Without blinders, with full knowledge that\u00a0much of their success is in the marketing of their “brand” \u00a0(and their store brands)\u00a0still I have never been disappointed with their merchandise and certainly not with the entire shopping experience.<\/p>\n
Parking?\u00a0 That’s another subject for another time. The\u00a0opening of a Trader’s will turn a\u00a0too-small lot into an exercise in patience.<\/p>\n
But for now, I’m glad\u00a0they’ve\u00a0overcome all hurdles tossed at them and I’m happy the welcome mat is\u00a0out.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I’ll be in one of those cars looking for a parking spot.<\/p>\n