Why Do Trader Joe's Employees Ring the Cashier Bells? Here’s What Each Chime Means

Inside Trader Joe's podcast hosts explain why customers often hear the chime of bells while grocery shopping

Trader Joe’s is lifting the veil behind one of their most recognizable sounds.

In the latest episode of the Inside Trader Joe’s podcast, co-hosts Tara Miller and Matt Sloan discussed the grocery store chain's bells, revealing why employees ring them and what each chime means.

Miller said that she recently visited a New Jersey Trader Joe's location where she went around asking new crew members what the dings mean during a training.

She recalled their answers: “One bell means you need another cashier. Two bells means you need someone to find an item. And three means you need a manager.”

Related: Trader Joe’s Fans Flock to Buy $3.99 Mini Cooler Bags Before They Resell for 10 Times the Price

Sloan went on to explain that the bell system was created with the “maritime aspect” in mind, as crews on ships would use a bell to send a “signal and communicate."

“And we just have been sticking with it for decades,” Sloan said. “A bell was less expensive than a public address system, and I think that they sound a little more interesting.”

He went on to say that the meaning behind the bells “can vary store by store,” and one ring sounds “the most urgent” while three rings “sounds really special and sometimes kind of like ordering off menu.”

He said he’s even heard of a “four bell situation.”

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“At my store, [four bells] means all hands on deck at the front, baggers at each register,” he explained. “The lines are building, [and] we want to help get customers out into their day with their groceries. Everybody come on up front. That's what I've seen with the four bell [situation].”

Miller said that the bell system is much easier to hear and understand than intercom announcements at other grocer chains.

"When I'm in stores – not our stores, but in other stores sometimes – and there's like an intercom announcement throughout the whole building, you sometimes can't hear it. It's kind of garbled. But when you hear that one bell very clear," she said.

Sloan agrees with the efficiency of bell signals.

“You hear it. Each crew member knows and can use that,” he chimed in. "Simple, effective, and open to everyone. That sound of a brass bell, really, that tone cuts through a lot of other sounds and in our stores, there are a lot of sounds."

Related: Trader Joe's Gives an Update on Their Mini Totes After the Bags Resell for $1,000 and Cause Chaos in Stores

The long-lasting system is one that both team members are proud of. Miller still finds it “fascinating” that Trader Joe’s has continued to use this communication method over the years as it “grew and became a national chain of neighborhood stores."

"It's something that connects us to our past, but also keeps us very much in the present,” she said. “Like anyone at any cash register can ring that bell and say, ‘Hey, I need help. I need a specific kind of help.’ It's an interesting little bit of language that when you're Trader Joe's, it makes perfect sense."

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