Tracking Trader Joe's

NYC Trader Joe's Delivers

The New York City Trader Joe's is the first to offer a delivery service for the grocery and wine stores. Unlike Peapod (an online grocery delivery service) you have to visit the store, pay for your groceries and a $4.95 delivery charge, and wait up to two hours for your groceries to arrive. The delivery area ranges from 7th Avenue to 1st Avenue, and from 8th Street to 23rd Street.

The wine store also offers delivery, but there is a $19.95 charge and a one-case minimum order size.

SF Gate on Trader Joe's Fans

The San Francisco Chronicle has a story about the cult of Traders Joe's and features the community site Trader Joe Fan and Tracking Trader Joe's (The Tao of Trader Joe's: Devoted Fans Meet Online to Swap News, Stay Connected).

Even customers have taken it upon themselves to fill in what Trader Joe's leaves blank. Jovanna Brooks, who lives near Boston and has created a Web site for Trader Joe's fans (www.traderjoefan.com), said she often receives inquiries from customers even though she has no affiliation with the company. Trader Joe's does not have an e-mail address and instead encourages correspondence the old-fashioned way  --  by letter or in person.

Question: Does Trader Joe's sell Franchises?

Several people have written, asking if Trader Joe's sold franchises.

I'm sorry, but all of the stores are owned by a trust created by Theo Albrecht from the Aldi Group, a retail giant with more than 7,500 stores around the world.

WCCO TV Tastes Trader Joe's Wines

WCCO TV (Minnesota) held a wine tasting that included Trader Joe's wines, Wine Tasters Give Trader Joes a Try (be sure to watch the video).

"This tastes like a perm," said Weis.  "It's terrible. Yeah. Oh this is bad." 

The wine that made them cringe was Trader Joe's Shiraz.  It earned only one point out of a possible 60.

Two of the highest scores went to Trader's Joe's wines: the Chardonnay and the Cabernet Sauvignon. The most popular wine was the Hogue Fume Blanc. At $9, it's still a bargain as far as Poretti is concerned.

Possible Subsidy to Bring Trader Joe's to San Jose

Scott Herhold on MercuryNews.com  has written an editorial about a proposed subsidy to bring a Trader Joe's  to downtown San Jose, Herhold: We Can't Afford Subsidy for Trader Joe's.

Try as I might, I can't support a $2.9 million public subsidy for a Trader Joe's at the new MarketCenter shopping center on Coleman Avenue, between San Jose's airport and its still-struggling downtown.

What makes it hard is that I really like Trader Joe's. I visited its Mountain View store last week (No. 83) and came away with a bit of seafood, three bottles of Chilean wine and a carton of blackberries. For the time-starved yuppie, it's almost the ideal store. The portions are right, the prices are reasonable and -- no small thing -- the clerks are swift and competent.