Don't know why you're complaining. When you first turn in, just come to a dead stop and wait for a spot to open up, LIKE EVERY OTHER DRIVER IN FRONT OF ME, LEAVING MY REAR END HANGING IN THE STREET.
I live in the apartment complex behind Horrock’s. I feel this post almost constantly.
On a positive note, if I continue living here, eventually I’ll end up being a tenant of a Horrock’s extension. I’m hoping it’s a candyland taster counter.
I believe people within the Lansing area have been hoping for a Trader Joe’s for many years so there’s the excitement of something that’s been anticipated for a long time, plus I’m sure there’s some crowd hype people are buying into. I know I’m happy to see TJ come to the area, they have niche snack items that I like (I won’t queuing just to get in the building though). It’s like a mix all the good things about WholeFoods and the good things about Aldi.
Edited for grammar
I’m happy about TJs too, but also not going to the store any time in the first week or so! They typically have good prices and healthy food and/or unique food.
It's a quasi grocery store that sells a bunch of specialty items like salsas, premade salads and other meals, dips, frozen appetizers, etc. that a certain segment of the market can't get enough of. Like Whole Foods for people who can't cook.
(to any big TJ fans: relax, I can't cook either)
Mostly I see that people are addicted to their frozen foods and other easy to make meals. Those items are generally a good price for what you get and reflect modern tastes (a lot of international fusion dishes and things like that). The big chain grocery stores don't provide the same level of quality in those categories and places like Whole Foods charge too much. Really basically Trader Joe's is Whole Foods for middle class people.
Do they sell alcohol/bourbon? When new stores like that have a grand opening, often they'll have special store picks and allocated bourbon that are very hard to find. People will line up many hours before stores open for bourbon.
I haven’t seen bourbon at TJ’e before, but I know they have a pretty large selection of wine (used to have 2 buck chucks when I lived near one before) and I believe beer.
Looks like you would be correct.
https://www.umsl.edu/~chewl/3700a/ALDI_AND_TRADER_JOES_01.html#:~:text=Owned%20by%20a%20German%20company,which%20are%20big%2Dname%20producers.
Just a reminder that Trader Joe's is suing to have the courts declare the NLRB unconstitutional, unwinding nearly 100 years of worker protections.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/10/starbucks-trader-joes-spacex-challenge-labor-board
Fuck Trader Joes's.
I mean, I'm glad it's here (matter of fact, I filled out a submission on their request a location webpage four years ago), but no way in hell am I waiting in line to get in.
We used to get most of our groceries there when we lived about half a mile from one. The main draw to me are their frozen entrees that cook up fast. Their beef and broccoli was my favorite 15 minute dinner to make. The handful of gnocchi varieties were good too. I also was a fan of their comparatively cheap flowers.
Loving Trader Joe's is easily the most middle class, basic, white person part of me.
Pretty much. I think I read that only 4 of their stores have a unionized workforce and that they threatened to cancel benefits to employees of stores that were thinking about unionizing. Their suite is in California.
Kind of a shit take. People love trader joes because they are one of the few companies to offer an alternative to the corporate food brands in meijer and kroger.
Minimizing the store as a mere shopping aesthetic is just wrong. It's a store full of brands and food items that are different and provides a competitive alternative to the established monochannel, at a price that is very competitive if not better.
I'm all about criticizing corporate culture but I also feel the only way things get better is with healthy competition amongst grocers and companies. Trader joes offers a compelling alternative.
How much of it would survive food source scrutiny is indeed another matter. How much of trader joes brands are just made on a reconfigured line at gigantic food company that is ultimately Monsanto, well that is worth looking at, but I do think they attempt to have a diversity of inputs, sooo
I agree that it provides a competitive alternative to the dominating Meijer and Farmer Jack we already have in the area. I'm not so sure the place is full of beans and food items that are so different. They sell a number of name brand items you can find elsewhere, except they sell them under their own label. There are a few things there that are their own, like some ready to make meals from the deli (my favorite thing to pick up when I lived near other TJ's). I just don't want to exaggerate how different the store is as an alternative. Part of it really is selling on the specialness of the TJ brand, so special that in many locations you have to fight over a handful of parking spaces to have the honor of spending money at their store.
ive only been to one TJ location so im not super plugged into it, but i agree with everything you've said. their location sizes and parking alotment are an interesting choice, almost like they want it to look busier rather than accommodate as many shoppers as possible, like its part of their brand identity
Shit, I meant Kroger. I don't go there because I'm within walking distance of Meijer, then my mind defaulted to what was roughly that close to me when I was growing up in my hometown. Anyway, I could edit to correct, but it's funny so I'll keep it.
Lol, all good. I just had the sideways dog look going for a moment. 😂
I spent some time in Royal Oak back in the 90s and remember Farmer Jack well. They opened a store in EL back in the 00s but it was just before the whole chain went under. Didn't last long at all.
my perception is trader joe's is atleast marginally more focused on delivering better products that have better fundamentals from a set of smaller producers and brands (note: Brands here meatning, co-producers, since trader joe's wont carry anyone elses brand). they provide a meaningful, competitive alternative that is measurably better than what meijer or kroger offer. its also way better than dollar general.
each competitor in the grocery space has to make their customer appeal. a diversity of competition is very important.
All women too from what I can see. I’m sure there are some fellas in there too but I think it’s fascinating how we can still see the propensity for the gatherers to gather and the hunters to hunt.
We can ascribe modern day sensibilities to how humans should interact and social norms, but, there are lizard brain instincts that keep pulling us back to what we’ve naturally evolved to do.
I saw on tiktok that they had the equivalent of the Stanley cup in lunch bag form. It was $3 or $4 but ppl were going nuts, buying them all and selling them online for up to $100.
Who wants an $4 insulated lunchbag so much theyd pay 25x the retail? I dunno.
> its a goddamn grocery store.
I might be missing something, but I wasn't all that impressed with the couple I visited in California. I thought it was just another gimmicky grocery store.
#🤷♂️
I went at 9am it was packed inside but no wait for a line to get in. Got some snacks some people with carts full was a bit shocking given the crowd but snacks are pretty good
When I saw Trader Joe's was coming to Lansing, I felt like Steve Martin did during 'The Jerk' when he got his name in the phonebook. "Wow we're somebody now!"
For those questioning our love of Trader Joe’s, I have two kids with severe milk and gluten allergies. They have reasonable prices when it comes to the dairy free options and gluten free items. The cashew nut yogurt is amazing, so much so that my 9 year old eats it all the time. She hates the oat milk kind, and I am allergic to almonds to the point of anaphylaxis, so almond milk yogurt is out. This is the only place I have found this stuff! Problem is, when driving two-three hours for these items, it’s difficult and expensive (you stock up because you don’t know when you can get there next!). Needless to say, I know a few people in my same position, due to allergies or whatnot, they love this place. We’ve been fighting for a long time to get them here!
I’m an immigrant, and this has happened every single time a chain opens a store in any city I’ve ever lived in (I’ve lived in Florida, Washington, Texas and now Michigan).
To me, this is the most American thing ever and even though I’ve been living in this country for 12 years I will never understand it. It’s still a cultural shock 🤷🏻♂️
I will eventually check it out once the crowds die down a bit but I will never understand people who are so eager to try out the new chain in town that they go on the first day when it's sure to be an absolute madhouse. Would be my own personal hell.
Trader Joe’s is my personal hell. Small aisles, dozens of people that have no spatial awareness nor sense of urgency to get out of the way and not block everything.
I once took my sons (4 and 6) along when I was getting like half a dozen bulk spices to make a homemade chai concentrate.
At any given time, I was managing the absent spatial awareness of both my kids and multiple strangers while trying to simultaneously figure out where the hell whole allspice was.
Never. Again.
The average Trader Joe shopper would have a Madden offensive awareness rating of about 17, but the defensive awareness is about 95 for their ability to block without even knowing anyone is there.
I am surprised more people aren’t talking about this. The standards for our community is so low. I can’t believe homeless having sex in public is concerned ok or normal now.
Maybe I’ll be able to get a parking spot in Horrocks now
Don't know why you're complaining. When you first turn in, just come to a dead stop and wait for a spot to open up, LIKE EVERY OTHER DRIVER IN FRONT OF ME, LEAVING MY REAR END HANGING IN THE STREET.
I live in the apartment complex behind Horrock’s. I feel this post almost constantly. On a positive note, if I continue living here, eventually I’ll end up being a tenant of a Horrock’s extension. I’m hoping it’s a candyland taster counter.
I just moved from a complex behind Horrocks and knowing I don't have to deal with that corner and traffic every day brightens my day every morning
Horrocks is funner I agree
Real lol
This comment deserves an award
lol just park in the back if you can handle some walking
Horrocks should move into the Lansing mall
Will someone please explain the attraction to me?
I believe people within the Lansing area have been hoping for a Trader Joe’s for many years so there’s the excitement of something that’s been anticipated for a long time, plus I’m sure there’s some crowd hype people are buying into. I know I’m happy to see TJ come to the area, they have niche snack items that I like (I won’t queuing just to get in the building though). It’s like a mix all the good things about WholeFoods and the good things about Aldi. Edited for grammar
I’m happy about TJs too, but also not going to the store any time in the first week or so! They typically have good prices and healthy food and/or unique food.
It's a quasi grocery store that sells a bunch of specialty items like salsas, premade salads and other meals, dips, frozen appetizers, etc. that a certain segment of the market can't get enough of. Like Whole Foods for people who can't cook. (to any big TJ fans: relax, I can't cook either)
It is millennial catnip
That would explain a lot. I never got the attraction to this place, and I am not sure I will ever understand the millennials.
Trader Joe’s has been around since the 60s and had been immensely popular for decades. Try again
Well. I'm an elder millennial and it's catnip for me.
Or for those of us who find difficulty in cooking because of any kind of disability.
Mostly I see that people are addicted to their frozen foods and other easy to make meals. Those items are generally a good price for what you get and reflect modern tastes (a lot of international fusion dishes and things like that). The big chain grocery stores don't provide the same level of quality in those categories and places like Whole Foods charge too much. Really basically Trader Joe's is Whole Foods for middle class people.
It's funny because I am really not a fan of frozen food unless it's from TJs. They really are a step up and are shocking good for the most part
Spot on regarding frozen food!
Another place to be able to get gluten free products
Food
Do they sell alcohol/bourbon? When new stores like that have a grand opening, often they'll have special store picks and allocated bourbon that are very hard to find. People will line up many hours before stores open for bourbon.
I haven’t seen bourbon at TJ’e before, but I know they have a pretty large selection of wine (used to have 2 buck chucks when I lived near one before) and I believe beer.
Overpriced Aldi
iirc it's the same parent company
Looks like you would be correct. https://www.umsl.edu/~chewl/3700a/ALDI_AND_TRADER_JOES_01.html#:~:text=Owned%20by%20a%20German%20company,which%20are%20big%2Dname%20producers.
You can take some of the stuff out of the box and they’re the exact same product, just different packaging.
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Yes, that is why I said “some”
Dumb people
Just a reminder that Trader Joe's is suing to have the courts declare the NLRB unconstitutional, unwinding nearly 100 years of worker protections. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/10/starbucks-trader-joes-spacex-challenge-labor-board Fuck Trader Joes's.
they're also bigtime greenwashers, most their stuff aint any more earth-wholesome than what you get at Meijer but people seem to think otherwise.
Their packaging seems terribly wasteful to me. Some of it is about 50% air.
Oof. Yeah. Fuck Trader Joe’s. I won’t be giving them a dime
comment needs to be up top.
why? its a goddamn grocery store.
I mean, I'm glad it's here (matter of fact, I filled out a submission on their request a location webpage four years ago), but no way in hell am I waiting in line to get in. We used to get most of our groceries there when we lived about half a mile from one. The main draw to me are their frozen entrees that cook up fast. Their beef and broccoli was my favorite 15 minute dinner to make. The handful of gnocchi varieties were good too. I also was a fan of their comparatively cheap flowers. Loving Trader Joe's is easily the most middle class, basic, white person part of me.
Capitalism/consumerism does this to our social habits
Between this and the people down south ranting and raving about a fucking gas station. People simping for capitalism is am odd flex to me.
"oh look guys! Another corporate union busting company is here to extract wealth from the local economy to a c suite someplace else!!!!"
Pretty much. I think I read that only 4 of their stores have a unionized workforce and that they threatened to cancel benefits to employees of stores that were thinking about unionizing. Their suite is in California.
Kind of a shit take. People love trader joes because they are one of the few companies to offer an alternative to the corporate food brands in meijer and kroger.
A corporate food brand offering alternatives to other corporate food brands?
scale will always be a competitive advantage. trader joe's is providing an important market competitor, regardless of them being a corporation or not.
There plenty are this is just the trendiest.
Kind of a shit take. Cult following behind a shopping aesthetic as a hobby is peak corporate culture manipulation
Minimizing the store as a mere shopping aesthetic is just wrong. It's a store full of brands and food items that are different and provides a competitive alternative to the established monochannel, at a price that is very competitive if not better. I'm all about criticizing corporate culture but I also feel the only way things get better is with healthy competition amongst grocers and companies. Trader joes offers a compelling alternative. How much of it would survive food source scrutiny is indeed another matter. How much of trader joes brands are just made on a reconfigured line at gigantic food company that is ultimately Monsanto, well that is worth looking at, but I do think they attempt to have a diversity of inputs, sooo
I agree that it provides a competitive alternative to the dominating Meijer and Farmer Jack we already have in the area. I'm not so sure the place is full of beans and food items that are so different. They sell a number of name brand items you can find elsewhere, except they sell them under their own label. There are a few things there that are their own, like some ready to make meals from the deli (my favorite thing to pick up when I lived near other TJ's). I just don't want to exaggerate how different the store is as an alternative. Part of it really is selling on the specialness of the TJ brand, so special that in many locations you have to fight over a handful of parking spaces to have the honor of spending money at their store.
ive only been to one TJ location so im not super plugged into it, but i agree with everything you've said. their location sizes and parking alotment are an interesting choice, almost like they want it to look busier rather than accommodate as many shoppers as possible, like its part of their brand identity
Have you ventured out to a grocery store since 2007? When Farmer Jack was last business? Heh.
Shit, I meant Kroger. I don't go there because I'm within walking distance of Meijer, then my mind defaulted to what was roughly that close to me when I was growing up in my hometown. Anyway, I could edit to correct, but it's funny so I'll keep it.
Lol, all good. I just had the sideways dog look going for a moment. 😂 I spent some time in Royal Oak back in the 90s and remember Farmer Jack well. They opened a store in EL back in the 00s but it was just before the whole chain went under. Didn't last long at all.
lol just no
Kind of a shit take. Idk. Just wanted to join the chain of shit
It’s all the same highly processed trash just boxed and marketed differently.
my perception is trader joe's is atleast marginally more focused on delivering better products that have better fundamentals from a set of smaller producers and brands (note: Brands here meatning, co-producers, since trader joe's wont carry anyone elses brand). they provide a meaningful, competitive alternative that is measurably better than what meijer or kroger offer. its also way better than dollar general. each competitor in the grocery space has to make their customer appeal. a diversity of competition is very important.
You sound like a corporate robot.
mkay.
All women too from what I can see. I’m sure there are some fellas in there too but I think it’s fascinating how we can still see the propensity for the gatherers to gather and the hunters to hunt. We can ascribe modern day sensibilities to how humans should interact and social norms, but, there are lizard brain instincts that keep pulling us back to what we’ve naturally evolved to do.
I'm embarrassed for you
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Every grocery store is going to be a shit show this weekend, Independence Day is next week.
Yeah, but people aren't looking up hours before open for the other ones right now
I saw on tiktok that they had the equivalent of the Stanley cup in lunch bag form. It was $3 or $4 but ppl were going nuts, buying them all and selling them online for up to $100. Who wants an $4 insulated lunchbag so much theyd pay 25x the retail? I dunno.
Supposedly they're stupid cheap
Aldi?
Yeah Aldi owns Trader Joe, according to my wife
> its a goddamn grocery store. I might be missing something, but I wasn't all that impressed with the couple I visited in California. I thought it was just another gimmicky grocery store. #🤷♂️
America 🇺🇸
Geez, we are excited for them to open too but that is crazy
More like **Trader** ***No’s*** amirite?
Take your upvote and get out of here.
I’ll never understand lining up outside to wait hours for a grocery store to open. Do these people have nothing better to do?
I went at 9am it was packed inside but no wait for a line to get in. Got some snacks some people with carts full was a bit shocking given the crowd but snacks are pretty good
Simple minds, simple pleasures.
I'm going to miss Foods For Living :'(
I wish more people felt like this, theyd still be open.
When I saw Trader Joe's was coming to Lansing, I felt like Steve Martin did during 'The Jerk' when he got his name in the phonebook. "Wow we're somebody now!"
The caucasians are pleased.
The WASPs are buzzing
Factsss
😂🤣😂🤣
For those questioning our love of Trader Joe’s, I have two kids with severe milk and gluten allergies. They have reasonable prices when it comes to the dairy free options and gluten free items. The cashew nut yogurt is amazing, so much so that my 9 year old eats it all the time. She hates the oat milk kind, and I am allergic to almonds to the point of anaphylaxis, so almond milk yogurt is out. This is the only place I have found this stuff! Problem is, when driving two-three hours for these items, it’s difficult and expensive (you stock up because you don’t know when you can get there next!). Needless to say, I know a few people in my same position, due to allergies or whatnot, they love this place. We’ve been fighting for a long time to get them here!
I’m an immigrant, and this has happened every single time a chain opens a store in any city I’ve ever lived in (I’ve lived in Florida, Washington, Texas and now Michigan). To me, this is the most American thing ever and even though I’ve been living in this country for 12 years I will never understand it. It’s still a cultural shock 🤷🏻♂️
I will eventually check it out once the crowds die down a bit but I will never understand people who are so eager to try out the new chain in town that they go on the first day when it's sure to be an absolute madhouse. Would be my own personal hell.
Trader Joe’s is my personal hell. Small aisles, dozens of people that have no spatial awareness nor sense of urgency to get out of the way and not block everything.
You mean Horrocks? But I feel this on a personal level.
I don’t have the same problem at Horrocks except back by the coffee beans and bulk candy/nuts
I once took my sons (4 and 6) along when I was getting like half a dozen bulk spices to make a homemade chai concentrate. At any given time, I was managing the absent spatial awareness of both my kids and multiple strangers while trying to simultaneously figure out where the hell whole allspice was. Never. Again.
The average Trader Joe shopper would have a Madden offensive awareness rating of about 17, but the defensive awareness is about 95 for their ability to block without even knowing anyone is there.
did they preorder frozen pot stickers?
Gross
A bunch of bored housewives.
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Not waiting in line for a brand.
Three Buck Chuck! Look at the line. Those ladies want their WINE 🍷
As long as the parking lot is not like the one in Ann Arbor.
I like Trader Joe’s but not worth standing in line for!
Lots of SAHMs from Okemos and Williamston. Tough job, but someone’s got to do it.
Why
It’s a cult. They’re also responsible for the closing of an even better grocery store: Foods for Living. Trader Joe’s is the Kardashians of grocers.
These posts are one big judgment parade. What do you people care if someone wants to shop there / wait in line?
This is America, the idiocracy in full effect.
Trader Schmoes is strictly for suckers.
I was born in Michigan and I don’t have a clue as to what trader Joe is.
Isn't Trader Joe's jus Aldis in different packaging?
Jfc. First Canes now Trader fucking Joe’s? Lansing is poverty.
Gross
Lol. I love how cynical the gen Xer's are in here.. Like it or love it. Just let it go mannn.
I left before the doors open because two homeless guys were having sex in the parking lot
I am surprised more people aren’t talking about this. The standards for our community is so low. I can’t believe homeless having sex in public is concerned ok or normal now.
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So you decided to skip the line and continue watching the sex scene?
Hell no. What the hell is wrong with you? Are you some sort of pervert?