I went to Trader Joe's for the first time on a trip to Chicago.
I'd never seen such a beautiful chain grocery store. It had handwritten signs and fun, colorful displays.
The range of products was impressive, too. I can't wait to try my ube snacks.
Trader Joe's has legions of loyal fans across the US who are lured in by its beautifully-decorated stores, friendly members of staff, and extensive range of food that it's not possible to find elsewhere.
On a recent business trip to Chicago, I was able to set foot in the retailer for the first time — and boy was I glad I did.
The store was located in Chicago's South Loop, not far from the museum campus. Walmart, Meijer, and Aldi didn't have stores that were anywhere near as central.
I visited a Trader Joe's store in central Chicago.
Grace Dean
As soon as I stepped in the store, I felt a warm, cozy, homely feeling I don't get from other grocery-store chains.
The Trader Joe's store was warm and homely.
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Trader Joe's had soft-colored white and yellow walls, much lower ceilings than other stores, and some wooden shelving throughout. The shelves were all at easy-to-reach heights, too.
The Trader Joe's store has wooden accents throughout.
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This, in comparison, was the headache-inducing interior of the Target store I visited.
I didn't enjoy shopping at Target.
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Note the white walls, shiny floor, high ceiling, and blinding white lighting. It felt sterile and clinical — almost like I was in a hospital.
At Trader Joe's, the aisles were very wide which made the store easy to navigate. It felt spacious.
The Trader Joe's store has wide aisles.
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Both times when I visited the store I saw lots of employees neatening up the shelves, too. It was very tidy.
The shelves at the Trader Joe's store were neatly stacked.
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Everything was well stocked.
The Trader Joe's store was well stocked.
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Artwork throughout the store celebrated Chicago, from this silhouette of the city in Trader Joe's trademark red ...
The Trader Joe's store had Chicago-themed artwork.
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... to this artwork of the Buckingham Fountain. Images inspired by Chicago's flag decorated the walls, too.
The artwork made the store seem local and personalized.
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I was instantly struck by all the efforts that had been made to personalize the store. Some of these were at a large scale, like this signage for the flower shop ...
There were decorative signs in the flower section.
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... and this display complete with a squirrel, dinosaur, mini shopping cart, and terrible pun.
Trader Joe's referred to its "ex-squirrel-ent" quality merchandise.
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These bottles of wine were displayed atop a barrel, adding to the rustic, homely feeling.
This end-cap display featured bottles of wine in a barrel.
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Displays throughout the store were handwritten, including this end-cap display for pancake mix and maple syrup.
This display recommended pairing its pancake mix with maple syrup.
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But the store had paid attention to detail, too. Lots of individual products had colorful, beautifully-drawn signs ...
Staff members had clearly put a lot of effort into drawing the signs.
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... complete with small illustrations ...
Some of the labels had cute illustrations.
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... and serving tips.
The pimento cheese dip was labeled as "great on burgers or sandwiches."
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Some items were even labeled as "crew favorites." It gave the overall impression of shopping at a market stall or small independent store rather than a huge national grocery-store chain.
Trader Joe's manchego cheese was described as a "crew favorite."
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Now for the products themselves. As well as food, the store I visited sold flowers, plants, alcohol, and a limited selection of household items. I was impressed by how many food products were labeled as organic.
The Trader Joe's store had an extensive range of packaged goods, like cookies, candies, and cereals.
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The fruit and vegetables looked incredibly fresh — does Trader Joe's employ someone just to polish its apples every day? Everything was neatly arranged and a lot of the produce was available loose, which added to the market stall appearance.
I could see my soul reflected in those apples.
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The bananas were displayed nicely too, stacked on these wooden shelves — though I did notice the 23-cent price tag on its regular bananas. Prior to this spring, Trader Joe's had held the price at 19 cents for more than two decades.
Costco recently increased the price of its bananas after holding them at 19 cents for more than 20 years.
One thing Trader Joe's was lacking, though, was loose pick-n-mix bread rolls.
I was underwhelmed by the bread section of the store.
Grace Dean
The bread section was a bit underwhelming — though the rolls and loaves looked great, they were all prepackaged. Some other grocery-store chains have bakeries on-site, meaning the smell of freshly-baked loaves wafts throughout the store.
There were also no staffed cheese, deli meat, or fish counters where you could have produce weighed out and ask for cooking and serving tips.
The Trader Joe's store I visited had no staffed counters.
Grace Dean
Instead, everything came prepackaged. This helps retailers cut down on staffing costs, but it surprised me because Trader Joe's seemed like a chain focusing more on customer experience than cost-cutting.
The store overwhelmingly sold own-brand products, but Trader Joe's had no unified packaging design for these, with different fonts, colors, and imagery. The Trader Joe's logos weren't prominent and it was hard to identify them as own-label products at first glance.
The coffee came in beautiful packaging.
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These frozen cheesecakes, for example, came in beautiful boxes ...
I loved the boxes the cheesecake came in.
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... while this vegan pepperoni had fun retro-style packaging.
This vegan pepperoni packaging was very fun.
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Each flavor of ice cream had a different design on its tub. There was no consistent branding uniting them all.
Each flavor of ice cream had completely different packaging.
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Trader Joe's also had some unique products that I hadn't seen elsewhere — or not in the UK, at least. These dark chocolate drizzled plantain chips, for example, looked great.
I regretted not trying these plantain chips.
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These "tiniest" chocolate-chip cookies looked adorable, too.
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Trader Joe's sold a version of Swedish Fish called Scandinavian Swimmers.
For $3.49 you could get your hands on some Scandinavian Swimmers.
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The store was a celebration of all things ube. Products I spotted included pretzels, tea cookies, Joe-Joe's, and ice cream.
Ube was a dominant flavor at the store.
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Trader Joe's seems to have been highlighting the purple root vegetable for years. A couple of days later, I returned to get some of the ube goodies.
I'm not sure who told the Trader Joe's team that English Breakfast Tea should be served with sugar, though.
I personally take my tea with oat milk and no sugar.
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I asked a staff member to point out the store's most popular buys.
Trader Joe's frozen tofu and vegetable kimbap costs $3.99 and is a strong seller.
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They mentioned the Mandarin orange chicken and kimbap from the frozen section as well as the tortilla chips. My flatmate, a Texan living in London, is a big fan of Trader Joe's flour tortillas.
I didn't notice any discounts while I was in the store, like two-for-one deals or 30% off offers.
There didn't seem to be any promotional deals in the store.
Grace Dean
Similarly, there were no signs advertising "low prices" or "bargains." Trader Joe's says that it doesn't have sales, coupons, or loyalty programs and focuses on everyday value instead.
I spent $41.26 with taxes — here's what I got, including a blue canvas bag. The Trader Joe's Almond Butter Granola, which was $3.99 pre-tax, was delicious. But I was disappointed by the oat milk, which was very watery.
Here's what i got for just over $40.
Grace Dean
I loved shopping at Trader Joe's. The store was incredibly clean, spacious, and inviting. I wish we had stores like this in the UK.
Shopping at Trader Joe's was a relaxing — and fun — experience.
Grace Dean
The handwritten price labels made a world of difference.
The store was beautifully laid out.
Grace Dean
I didn't feel like I was shopping at a grocery-store chain with hundreds of locations across the US. The attention to detail and Chicago artwork made it feel like I was at a small, independent deli. It was a far cry from the UK's main grocery-store chains — Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, and ASDA.
The pandemic helped accelerate the rise in grocery delivery, and it fuelled a debate about what retailers can do to lure shoppers back into their physical stores.
Trader Joe's makes grocery shopping an experience.
Grace Dean
Trader Joe's doesn't offer online shopping at all — and its stores are a prime example of how retailers can make grocery shopping an experience, not just a chore.
Some products at Trader Joe's are definitely more expensive than at other retailers.
I hope to return to Trader Joe's.
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However, many of the products are organic, which carries a price premium. And some of the flavor profiles are so unusual you wouldn't be able to get them elsewhere. When I next return to the US, I'm heading for Trader Joe's.
