News for a New Generation

My uncle Chuck gave me my first introduction to Trader Joe’s grocery stores. He lives in Illinois, and shops at a Trader Joe’s located south of Chicago, about 45 minutes north from his home in Kankakee. I never actually set foot in the store, but I saw his refrigerator packed with interesting foods and drinks from Trader Joe’s. As there was no Trader Joe’s in Kentucky, where I was living at the time, I did not have a chance to shop the store for myself. I would not get that chance until I moved back to California in 2004.

When I first got settled after moving back, I was living in Brisbane, California, a small town nestled on a hill south of San Francisco. Several Trader Joe’s stores were nearby my home, including stores in Daly City and Millbrae, both of which I went to intermittently. The stores had a lot of interesting features, with exotic foods and nice, prepared meals at low prices. There were many things at Trader Joe’s not found in other stores, including an abundance of healthy organic foods, and imported foods from around the world.

I did not start shopping at Trader Joe’s on a regular basis until I moved to Emeryville, California in the East Bay. Emeryville was not built with people in mind, as it was originally an industrial center. Consequently, there are not many restaurants or grocery stores, with Trader Joe’s being the only sizable grocery store in the area. The only other grocery stores nearby are the Watergate Market and the Emeryville Public Market, both of which could only really be called convenience stores at best. The nearest actual grocery store was Pac-n-Save, a Safeway offshoot located at 40th Street and San Pablo in Oakland. This store, while enormous, is not very friendly. Also, the fact that the police have two reserved parking spots in the lot should give some indication of the type of people who frequent this store.

So, Trader Joe’s it was. I certainly was not hurting for food by limiting myself to this store, though. In fact, I got introduced to all sorts of new treats by shopping there. I had never tried dolmas, a Middle Eastern appetizer made with rice and grape leaves, before becoming a Trader Joe’s shopper. I had never even heard of mochi, a fantastic Japanese dessert that consists of ice cream wrapped in a rice skin. The latter can be particularly expensive, sometimes fetching four times the price I get it for at Trader Joe’s.

After being a regular shopper for many months, I became an employee. I was searching for a job while I was waiting to return to school during a hiatus imposed by financial aid problems, and Trader Joe’s seemed like the perfect fit. The pay started at $10 per hour, with benefits including 10 percent off on groceries from the first day on the job, and health insurance starting after a few months. In addition to the baseline pay, all employees have a chance for a raise every three months. This is in sharp contrast to many other jobs where review periods come up every six months. The job also has flexible hours. I have adjusted my availability several times since coming there in order to make my school schedule work, and have never had any problem doing so even with relatively short notice.

After I started working at Trader Joe’s, I learned a lot more about the how the store operates than most customers know. For example, the reason why so much of the food is inexpensive is that Trader Joe’s pricing is based solely on supply and demand. In most grocery stores, the store charges a stocking fee that varies depending on the size of the space and the placement of the item on the shelf. Large amounts of product facing at eye level will cost more than a few facings on the bottom shelf. This creates a financial incentive for stores to keep certain products on the shelf, even if they might not sell as well. It also becomes a self-perpetuating sales method, allowing established companies to crowd out the competition. Perhaps most important, it raises the price of groceries, because the companies do not want to pay the cost, and therefore pass it along to the consumer.

I also learned a great deal more about the products at Trader Joe’s by working the various sections of the store. I have worked nearly every section in the store, with the exception of flowers. After bouncing around to many different sections, I found my favorite place to work was the frozen section. Many sections of the store have to worry about spoiling older products before they can be stocked, whereas the only spoiled items I deal with in frozen are open packages and items like fresh meat that have been carelessly placed in the freezer and are frozen solid. This removes a tedious task almost entirely, which leaves more time for stocking the section. Another nice aspect of working the frozen section is that many other sections, with the notable exception of bread and dry produce, have an imperative to be done at least an hour before the store opens. While it is nice to be finished early, the frozen section has until the store opens at 9 a.m. to be off the floor.

The benefit of working one section regularly is that you really get to know the products, and can have more control over the section with greater experience. I have gotten to the point where I recognize most of the cases of products on the palettes on sight, and have even participated in remerchandising the section, a process that can involve completely reorganizing where whole sections of products are located on the shelf. The biggest shift in my responsibilities came when I was given the opportunity to write the frozen order myself. I had been assisting in order writing for some time, first for my manager Caleb, who ordered the section during the first several months I worked at the store, until he transferred and was replaced as order writer by a new manager, Soren. This worked out fairly well, but it soon became apparent that it could work to the benefit of the section if I took over order writing responsibilities.

Because the management at the store changes hours frequently, they never get the chance to work the sections they order on a regular basis. This can make it difficult to write the order, because the person ordering does not necessarily know what has actually sold or what has been worked up. Because of this, the head manager at the store, Darren Watson, asked me to take over as order writer. The shift has worked out pretty well, although I am still getting used to the responsibility. It can be difficult and time-consuming, and many of the variables are out of my control. With time and experience, I have been able to order fairly consistently, and have enjoyed the opportunity to have more control over the section.

When the idea of my taking over as order writer first came up, one of my managers, Chris Cha, expressed his excitement at the prospect. “I’m just glad we’ve finally found something to get you passionate about,” he remarked. It seems funny to say that about a section in a grocery store, but I am passionate about it. I love my section, and I love my store. We have parties and tastings. We all get along very well. The place has a family atmosphere that I love, and I have gotten to know many of my regular customers.

Yesterday, one woman in my checkout line said, “I love everything in your store.” I cannot say that I disagree. Working at Trader Joe’s has been a wonderful experience, and I am happy to promote the store to everyone I know.