Good grief. To answer the OP, no...I don't shop at TJ's. The closest store is too far away and in a really crazy part of town.
I went to Trader Joe's once, maybe twice, but never bought anything. There was very little in the store I ever bought before, so I couldn't compare the prices at the time. Even the fresh produce was packaged a little differently so it was hard to compare. I wonder if that's not on purpose. I'm amazed they can keep that many different and unusual fresh items on the shelves. It must be a busy place, or they have to throw a lot away. I have enough trouble not eating too much ice cream, bread and butter, and chocolate. Don't need to find anything better. Not interested in wine (and flowers?). Aldi was the same. And they close way too early. I like to shop after everyone else goes home. And one stop only. Do they still do this? Soon quarters will be obsolete.
Trader Joe's is a speciality store and to compare prices is foolish, they are just plain less costly than major commercial biggies....and again foods from all over the world. My city of Santa Monica has a population of about 80K and we have 3 stores in this small town....IT's a Pasadena owned company and privately owned and not affiliated with the big box or commerical stores. And the team that work for TJ's are the most friendly and helpful around. Their greeting cards are beautfiul and until covid were 99cents and what they are now, maybe a little more. I was a card sender for many years and always had a stash of TJ cards....That was before and I don't send any cards now.
Yes. But usually someone is coming out of the store as I'm going in, and they pass me their basket. Then when I'm done, I pass it to someone else.
Really? That's interesting that they do things differently in different markets. I'm not sure if you know how it works in other regions (like mine), but the idea is you put a quarter in this attached mechanism that releases the cart for you to use it. The mechanism captures your quarter until you return the cart to the row of them and reconnect it...then you get your quarter back. The idea is to save overhead and make sure carts are always available by not having to pay staff to go into the parking lot and retrieve them. You don't really pay to use them, you place a 25ยข deposit that's refunded when you return the thing. I know that NJ does not allow you to pump your own gas. Maybe they're likewise protecting the Shopping Cart Retrieval jobs. I had never encountered this methodology at any other store...but you never go to Aldi and find that all of the carts are out in the parking lot as sometimes happens with other stores.
I don't care much for TJ, but then, I live in the city where the original Whole Foods was a storefront operation when I first got here. They grew, I kept shopping with them. Austin actually has the best variety of grocery stores I've ever seen, and I've traveled all over the US. Whole Foods Sprouts HEB El Rancho Natural Grocers TJ Fiesta International Foods Randall's 99 Ranch Market Lots of Indian Grocery Stores etc., etc., etc.....
One of the very few things I miss about living outside of DC is the prevalence of ethnic markets. I've found one Asian market and one small Indian market that I like...how do these small places sell stuff so much more cheaply that the huge chains with their huge buying power??? We had a Whole Paycheck in my town and there's one in Charlottesville. If I need a specialty product (Calabrian peppers) I might wander inside, but that happens less often than annually. I can see you liking it since you cook vegan...there's probably more variety there for you than most anywhere else. We had an independent store outside of DC that had maybe 3 locations (Magruder's) that I really liked, but real estate costs eventually got the better of them.
I'm going to Trader Joe's tomorrow to buy some Fontina cheese. I need suggestions as to what else I should buy. I was there recently and noticed what @Nancy Hart observed...things are packaged a little differently, so comparing products/prices is difficult.
In my life before my damaged surgery body, I went to TJ's a lot, really like the store and one has to learn to "control" their buying, sooooooooooooo many tempetations.....the workers are first class helping the customer kind.... And overall best prices.... There are many imports at TJ's so one has to pick and choose wisely...their egg dept great. and good prices....But as I said I used to get carried away and buy stuff I didn't realy need and then I wised up. I hardly ever bought their meats.... Their wine dept is huge and again great prices... I don't drink anymore liquor but I did..... Oh their greeting cards are Beautiful and only 99cents.....I send no more cards though...
We got a Trader Joe's a few years ago. I went to it twice but I couldn't see the charm that everyone else sees so I didn't go back. It didn't require a quarter for the cart at that time, not sure about now. That would annoy me big time. Sometimes something little can be a big turn off. It doesn't matter because there is a Sprouts much closer to me and I prefer it, especially for produce. I get the majority of my groceries from the big stores but Sprouts has a few things beside produce that are different and good.
I have neither TJ nor Sprouts here. Basically I go to aldis or Walmart or Festival for fancy stuff. But I have preps and my garden for most foods.
I think there is some confusion about the quarter; it's Aldi where they require the quarter, not TJs. It doesn't really cost anything if you return the cart to the corral... it spits your quarter back out.