4 Things You’ll Never See at Trader Joe’s, According to the CEO
Plus, what shoppers can expect more of.
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When you leave your home or get in your car to go to Trader Joe’s, you know what you’re going to get—a combination of beloved products like Peanut Butter Filled Pretzel Nuggets and Mandarin Orange Chicken, as well as new and innovative items such as Root Beer Float Bars and Chunky Garlic & Jalapeño Hot Sauce. However, there are also some things you won’t see at your neighborhood TJ’s.
On the latest episode of the Insider Trader Joe’s podcast, co-hosts Matt Sloan, vice president of marketing at TJ’s, and Tara Miller, marketing director at the grocery store chain, sat down with a pair of Trader Joe’s execs—CEO Bryan Palbaum and president and vice CEO Jon Basalone—and peppered them with questions. After going through several queries from TJ’s employees, Sloan asked the pair to address a handful of rumors about the future of the popular brand. Palbaum and Basalone shared certain things customers will never see at Trader Joe’s, as well as a few things shoppers can expect more of. See what they had to say below!
Related: 10 Underrated Trader Joe's Items to Add to Your Grocery List ASAP
No Self-Checkout
While self-checkout is becoming more common at other grocery store chains around the country, including Whole Foods and Kroger, don’t expect to be bagging your own groceries at Trader Joe’s. Ever. “[Self-checkout rumors are] as false as false can be, because we believe in people and we’re not trying to get rid of our crew members for efficiency's sake,” Basalone declared.
Palbaum added: “It’s not fun … I have fun bagging groceries and working at the register. Self-checkout is work. I don't want that.”
No Drive-Through (With or Without Free Samples)
Despite some chatter that drive-thru grocery stores may be in our future, Trader Joe’s has zero plans to turn its stores into fast-food restaurants, and certainly won’t give out free samples via a drive-through. This rumor got an immediate “false” from Basalone, who admitted it took him a second to answer because he had trouble picturing it.
Palbaum was also quick to put this rumor to rest, and even poked fun at Trader Joe’s notoriously small and chaotic parking lots in the process. “There's probably plenty of room in our parking lots for a drive-through,” he quipped sarcastically. “I think that would work out really well.”
Related: 9 Grocery Shopping Habits That Are Costing You Money
No In-Store Restaurants With Waiting Areas in the Aisles
Some larger grocery stores have food courts or in-store restaurants (shoutout to Costco and Wegmans!) but Trader Joe’s plans to remain restaurant-free. Palbaum called this rumor “false,” while Miller added: “Our stores are filled with great products and amazing customers and crew members, so there's no need for any of that.”
Should you find yourself peckish or eager to try a new product while shopping at TJ’s, you can always ask an employee to try a product or pick up some of the chain’s famous free samples.
No (Purposefully) Flirty Employees
Reddit and TikTok are filled with Trader Joe’s shoppers who swear that employees are told to flirt with customers on purpose, but Palbaum says that’s “definitively” not the case. “I think we just have such a unique environment in our stores that, to go into a Trader Joe's store and feel that everyone is genuinely interested in whether or not you are having a good day, compared to maybe perhaps other retailers, I could see how that might be misinterpreted,” he added.
As Basalone put it: “That's just what niceness feels like.”
Related: 8 Items You Shouldn't Buy at Trader Joe's
But Expect More Stores in New Areas
Now that we know what we won’t be seeing in Trader Joe’s, what can shoppers expect from the popular chain? “We're going to keep doing what we're doing, but we're going to grow. The newness comes from the new customers we're going to be able to reach, the new products that we're going to see on our shelves, and the new opportunities for the crew members who get promoted and get to run those stores into the future.”
Palbaum echoed those sentiments, adding: “[Expect] opening more stores, newer locations, and new geographies. What might feel old to us is brand-new to all those new customers, wherever they may be, even in our existing stores.”
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