At 7:30 a.m. on the 11th, Trader Joe’s store in Emeryville, California, had already lined up in front of the store even though there were 30 minutes left until the store opened. When asked what time they came out, the mother and daughter, who were standing at the front, said, “They came about an hour ago.” People diligently joined the reporter behind them, who was seated around the 30th. By 8 a.m., the number of people waiting had increased to 90. “Everyone here can buy it, so don’t worry. Please take your time to come in order.” At 8 a.m. sharp, many laughed with relief when the clerk shouted, “We’ll open the store.”
What made them “open-run” on the day was the $2.99 mini canvas tote bag that Trader Joe’s released on the 8th. It is the successor to the so-called “TZO mini bag,” which was first released in February last year and was viral on TikTok, causing a shortage of products. The new product has been released in four colors, pink, sky, mint, and light purple that give off a spring vibe. Trader Joe’s, which experienced explosive popularity last year, is said to have made full preparations this year by announcing the release schedule in advance and increasing the number of employees working in stores on the release date. Most stores are allowed to buy up to four mini bags per person. On the day of release, people who want to buy mini bags as expected gathered at Trader Joe’s stores, and most stores run out of stock within an hour of opening. Many used products such as eBay posted messages saying that they sell them for up to 70 dollars each. Reddit, the world’s largest online community, and social networking services (SNS) received a flurry of questions about “where can I go to get a mini bag?” along with photos of “open run authentication” and “certification of successful purchase.”
When the reporter joined the open run on Wednesday, mini bags were available only in select stores that secured last-minute inventory. “We will use two and give the rest to our nieces and nephews,” the couple said. “It’s not essential, but everyone wants it and can’t live forever unless it’s this time,” they added. A university student at a nearby university said, “I wondered if I should do this, but I came to buy it because it was profitable to resell it.” “Some customers come to buy it every day. I’ve been working for three years. This is the first time I’ve seen such a popularity of mini bags.” Mini bags are inexpensive and cute, but they are not made of special materials and design or products that have great practicality. Smaller than A4 paper, they are too small to use as a grocery bag and are as small as a lunch bag. One of the secrets of this bag is that it is different from other canvas bags on the market, and Americans line up early in the morning. The word “Trader Jaws” on the bag is written. The mini bag craze can be seen as an event that shows Americans’ high loyalty to the Trader Jaws brand.
Indeed, Trader Joe’s is one of the most beloved grocery stores in the U.S. There are only about 560 stores, which is significantly less than Walmart (about 4,700) and Kroger Group (about 2,700) that operates Fred Meyer, but the store has the highest sales per employee per unit area. It is because of Trader Joe’s uniqueness that sets it apart from other brands. Trader Joe’s is only available in the U.S. For this reason, it is considered a must-see tourist attraction among U.S. visitors. In his book “The Art of Trader Joe’s,” Julie Arborack defined Trader Joe’s as this. “Trader Joe’s is Disneyland in the U.S. grocery store. Everything from fancy product packaging, manual illustrations throughout the store, tasting corners, and music playing in the store excites customers’ five senses.” Trader Joe’s first store was “Fronto Market,” which was opened in Los Angeles, California in 1958. It is headquartered in Monrovia, near Los Angeles, and hence has the largest number of stores in the city. The Silicon Valley area has the second largest number of stores after LA. More than 30 percent of stores are located in California. For this reason, people in California perceive Trader Joe’s as part of the local culture, not just a supermarket. At the time, he thought the U.S. retail experience was too uniform, centering on some hypermarkets. Therefore, he opened his first store with the goal of selling ingredients from all over the world at relatively low prices for consumers of various tastes. The exterior of the store is designed to reflect the South Pacific style that was popular in the U.S. around 1960. Through this, the store wanted to become a space that goes beyond just selling groceries to give an exotic “experience.” In 1967, it changed its brand name to its current name after the then famous South Pacific restaurant (Trader Biggs), and began full-scale chaining and spread across the country. Trader Joe’s does not follow the formula of the grocery industry. It does not advertise, does not have a sale or coupon, and does not run a membership program. Instead of having no discount, most products are cheaper. Trader Joe’s has about 4,000 products, unlike other grocery stores that sell as many as 40,000 products. It reduces consumers’ worries by providing only their own carefully selected products among numerous products. There are also no self-checkouts here that are common in any store.
One of the identity and popularity of Trader Joe’s is its own brand (PB) products. Trader Joe’s stores are mostly filled with items that can only be purchased here. PB products are directly contracted with producers and sold to consumers without going through intermediaries, so the price for quality can be kept low. A case in point is the $3.99 Korean frozen kimbap, which was launched by Trader Joe’s in 2023 and caused a nationwide sell-out crisis. The high ratio of PB products enables flexible store operation by quickly removing unpopular products and filling in new products. It is common for Trader Joe’s to not have the products purchased during his previous visit next time.
Trader Joe’s PB products have unique product names and packaging. Everything but the bagel set is called “Everything but the bagel set” and the snack that tastes almost the same as Korean rice crackers is called “Sweet and Salty Umami Crunchies.” Never seen before, these products stimulate consumers’ curiosity and desire to buy, and give them the pleasure of discovering and experiencing new things. It is no coincidence that not a few video creators specialize in reviewing new products of Trader Joe’s. Store interiors and handwriting menus that vary from region to region and season are considered unique identities of Trader Joe’s that make people feel familiar with themselves like a regular restaurant in the neighborhood.
Trader Joe’s emphasizes friendliness when training employees. When a consumer asks for the location of a particular product, it is recommended to respond by not only informing them of the location but also accompanying them to the location of the product. The vice president, who worked at Silicon Valley Trader Joe’s for about a year until last year, said, “If you spend 20 minutes checking whether the product is in the warehouse for customers looking for a $1.99 product, Trader Joe’s praises it. I don’t blame you for not using your time efficiently,” he told the Hankook Ilbo. “What’s special about Trader Joe’s is that the company’s values and performance evaluation criteria match,” he said, adding, “As a result, employees can do their best to satisfy customers.”
“Working at Trader Joe’s should be a middle class race,” said Joe Culom, the founder of the company. Perhaps this is why Trader Joe’s is known to pay more than ordinary supermarket workers and have better welfare such as health insurance and vacation. This is a reason that attracts more high-end workers to the company. In a recent survey of 210,000 workers in the U.S. by Forbes, Trader Joe’s was ranked as the second most preferred workplace. It is especially symbolic that it was ranked first in California, which has a large number of high-income earners.
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
