I don't understand why this neighborhood does not want a Trader Joe's

[jaedaliu]

Trader Joe's is shit. They put on this phony "natural" hipster persona when their food is the same an anyone else's, cram people into tiny spaces so the line stretches around the store, and all of their shit is store brand so you can kiss any chance of selection goodbye. Whole Foods is much better.

Isn't that the same as Whole Foods? Except that Whole Foods has more of it, and longer lines? (I gotta be honest, I've never been more than 3 deep in a Trader Joe's line. Same with Whole Foods, except the evening before Thanksgiving in RI & MA. That shit's ridiculous)

 

[jaedaliu]

Nice cherry picking. I can choose from a dozen other brands at all price points at Whole Foods.

I think you made Whole Foods sound a lot worse. They have a dozen different brands of the EXACT same item at all price points?

How can one be a smart consumer in that store?

 

[Rakehellion]

I think you made Whole Foods sound a lot worse. They have a dozen different brands of the EXACT same item at all price points?

How can one be a smart consumer in that store?

Different brands are not the exact same food. If you don't care about quality, then you might be better off at Walmart after all.

 

[jaedaliu]

Different brands are not the exact same food. If you don't care about quality, then you might be better off at Walmart after all.

ok, you have no idea what you're talking about.

fwiw, these 2 are the EXACT same product, from the same production line. guess which is at least 50% more expensive...

Who am I to believe?! I just don't know!

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Nice cherry picking. I can choose from a dozen other brands at all price points at Whole Foods.

i cherry picked because these are products i have purchased and eaten. inside the slightly different boxes are identical silver bags containing identical amounts of identical chocolates. not similar, like oreos and fake oreos, but identical products. 1 is sold for a somewhat reasonable price, the other is more expensive for people with more money than brains.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Different brands are not the exact same food. If you don't care about quality, then you might be better off at Walmart after all.

And I've already posted that WF and TJ sell some of the same brands. Go check and see what packaged bacon are sold by each. I bet you that a few of them are the same brands but WF charges twice as much for it.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Different brands are not the exact same food. If you don't care about quality, then you might be better off at Walmart after all.

Yeah nobody willing on this cheap Earth is to pay extra for quality, especially if paying little for much more of it. Let's not talk about things like shopping experience, product selection etc

 

[JBT]

I freaking love Trader Joe's with the closest one wasn't so far away. The next place I move WILL have one with in a 20 minute drive. Preferably in the direction I have to travel to and from work. They have the BEST Almond Milk known to man kind available at the time of this post.

 

[Ns1]

I guess you're the type to drive 20 minutes to save 5 cents a gallon on gas.

In the kind of guy who buys a prius so I don't have to give a shit about gas prices

You hate trader joes. We get it. Thanks.

 

[Rakehellion]

i cherry picked because these are products i have purchased and eaten. inside the slightly different boxes are identical silver bags containing identical amounts of identical chocolates. not similar, like oreos and fake oreos, but identical products. 1 is sold for a somewhat reasonable price, the other is more expensive for people with more money than brains.

I have no interest in purchasing truffles, but when your argument applies to the thousands of other items on display, it might hold water.

 

[Rakehellion]

In the kind of guy who buys a prius so I don't have to give a shit about gas prices

And pay $6000 more than a Civic. By the time you've "saved" money on gas, you'll have needed to buy new Li-ion batteries twice over. Not the smartest consumer.

 

[HumblePie]

Meh, whole foods is a sham. Like the poster said above, it's for people with more cents than sense. Actually, many of the products they sell at whole foods are just bad tasting for their ridiculous price. They premade food is certainly hit or miss. HEB Plus and Central Market stores do a much better job at that around here. They are far more on the hit than miss.

 

[Ns1]

And pay $6000 more than a Civic. By the time you've "saved" money on gas, you'll have needed to buy new Li-ion batteries twice over. Not the smartest consumer.

Except a civic is not comparable to a prius in any metric other than mpg, and your battery claims are based on 1999 knowledge of batteries.

You attempted a slam, I refuted it, now you're trying to slam me again. Is that all you got? We're trying to talk about trader joes, you're making it personal.

 

[jaedaliu]

Except a civic is not comparable to a prius.

and the ?Ni-MH?Ni-Cad? batteries on the Prius last a looong time.

 

[zinfamous]

People shop at Whole Foods for the same reason they buy Apple products--they truly want to pay 10x the cost of the exact same food they can get most other places.

such a scam.

 

[Capt Caveman]

People shop at Whole Foods for the same reason they buy Apple products--they truly want to pay 10x the cost of the exact same food they can get most other places.

such a scam.

Personally, I find the quality of their veggies and produce to be better than any other place and worth the extra cost. And the fish they have on sale is comparable price wise to other places.

 

[nageov3t]

I don't really get Whole Foods at all outside of meat/produce.

once you take into account that organic food is mostly just a marketing scam, I've never found the items in the inner aisles to be worth the price markup versus what I could get at any other chain grocery store.

I like Trader Joe's store brands better than most other places, but the selection I'd be buying is so limited that it's hard to justify a special trip there since otherwise, I find their produce/meat to be generic.

regional chain grocery store: 95% of my shopping
Whole Foods: protein and produce for a special meal
Trader Joe's: if I happen to be in the area anyways and the parking lot isn't crowded

 

[SlitheryDee]

Lower-class families who don't own property. Imagine that?

If that's the case I could totally see how what they are afraid of could happen. Higher property values justify higher rent. Everyone is slowly priced out of the neighborhood as their contracts come up for renewal.

Still, their solution to that is to keep the neighborhood in shit hole condition. There's something wrong with that too.

 

[zinfamous]

Personally, I find the quality of their veggies and produce to be better than any other place and worth the extra cost. And the fish they have on sale is comparable price wise to other places.

granted, I'm fortunate to be where I am, but I have at least half a dozen places where I can get real organic produce for far less than what Whole Food charges for their Dole "organic" branded products.

Even so, I'd still much rather get produce from Safeway

 

[eng2d2]

I can't justify the cost of traders joe. Not really beneficial place to shop except for 2 buck chuck.

 

[bradly1101]

If that's the case I could totally see how what they are afraid of could happen. Higher property values justify higher rent. Everyone is slowly priced out of the neighborhood as their contracts come up for renewal.

Still, their solution to that is to keep the neighborhood in shit hole condition. There's something wrong with that too.

I've heard of 'food deserts' where food is cheap, but really bad for you. They have no access to fresh food. I'm not sure if this place is one of them, but what else is the answer if not to open a grocery store? I shop at TJ's. It's pretty cheap. Bananas are 19c ea. That's 5.7 bananas per fast food dollar menu item. That's a steal!

 

[hanoverphist]

i think the real gauge of a "ghetto" neighborhood is how many title loan and check cashing businesses are on any given intersection. my neighborhood now has 3 in the same intersection, where there used to be a smoke shop, store and a haircut place. id prefer a TJ there over any of those fast cash places.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

It's also New Seasons (local store founded by Trader Joe's former ownership group) who is actually blocking this. They've put up 3 stores in that area over the past few years and are building more.

Big money has spoken, nothing to see here, move along.....

 

[The Boston Dangler]

I can't justify the cost of traders joe. Not really beneficial place to shop except for 2 buck chuck.

where are you that is so cheap? i ask because tj's handily beats the big new england chains on price and quality.

 

[poofyhairguy]

People shop at Whole Foods for the same reason they buy Apple products--they truly want to pay 10x the cost to not think and have to make hard consumer choices.

FIFY

The only real advantage of Whole Foods is they are picky about what they will stock (compared to even TJs), so if you don't want to have to read the label and research everything you eat you can just go there, buy what they have, and know you are eating better than the average American who shops at Wal-Mart (for 5 times the grocery bill).

If you are someone who actually can think for yourself and doesn't mind going to multiple places to maximize value then Whole Foods is a ripoff. For example I get my meat from CostCo or local farms, my fruit from Natural Grocer, my veggies from a local farmers market, and my bulk goods from Whole Foods. From each place I get what is maximum value and I live well for cheap.

But I don't have kids or other large time drains. If I was Powermom and I only got the time to go to one place to shop for everything (and I don't have a Central Market nearby) then maybe I just bite the bullet and overpay for Whole Foods.