Trader Joe's Opens Friday! (2-14-14) (Denver, Colorado Springs: home, construction, live)

[Snikt]

The Safeway flagship store has some of the best liquor prices I've seen, and a good selection too.

[Timmyy]

If you ever have time watch this movie. It kind of goes into the laws governing liquor sales and how devastating liquor sales in grocery stores would be to the thriving micro brew community.

Beer Culture the Movie Full Length - YouTube

[denverian]

The news was doing live shots from the Trader Joe's on Colorado this morning and they referred to that store as TJ's "flagship" store in Colorado. Maybe it's also bigger than the other TJs. It looks bigger than the one I shopped at in CA.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

No loophole.
The liquor stores are completely separate businesses.
You don't have to be a Costco member to buy at them.
They have no legal link to Costco.

Dave, thank you. Prices are pretty good in the liquor stores adjacent to Costcos.

[Prodigal Native]

Originally Posted by Timmyy

If you ever have time watch this movie. It kind of goes into the laws governing liquor sales and how devastating liquor sales in grocery stores would be to the thriving micro brew community.

Even through I don't have a spare hour to watch the video I can say your summary is dead-on. At first I thought liquor in the grocery store was the greatest thing I had ever seen; it is if you need the cheapest rum/vodka/whisky you can find.

If you are looking for something that isn't in the top 10 in a given category (beer or liquor) you are out of luck. If you are looking for a seasonal brew, you might find it once and never again. If you actually want to talk to someone that knows a thing or two and can give some advice other than, "Well, a lot of people report they really get buzzed off of this one" then grocery store liquor is not what you want.

That said, I do like the big-box liquor stores such as Bev-Mo or Total Wine. Great variety, good prices and some fairly knowledgeable people... but be glad they are kept in check with the one store law or they would drive all of the mom and pop places out of business AND you would have to go out of your way to get a six-pack.

[insahmniak]

Dang. The opening this morning sure messed up traffic on CO Blvd. Lots of ped traffic across CO Blvd and backed up turn lanes. This has been my main commute route for over the last year, so I know full-well that CO Blvd is nearly always on the brink of becoming snarled. But it's actually been pretty quick for me with only periodic jams. This one new store may have just pushed it over the edge, though. I can't imagine what it will be like once the new development happens in the old hospital complex. Yowza.

I am new to the idea of Trader Joes. Does everything in the store have their label on it? The whole concept they put forward would seem to make them the antithesis to local food and knowing your farmer. Do I have this wrong?

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by Timmyy

The liquor stores at Costco are privately owned. You are only allowed to have one liquor license that is why you will see only one Safeway or Costco in the entire state that will have liquor in the store. It is also why liquor store owners only own one store. I have no idea why the law was set up that way.

Before anyone starts wanting to change liquor laws, think back to the 1970s, when Colorado had laws against branch banking. There were plenty of nice locally owned banks everywhere. Then came branch banking that was supposed to make banking so much more better and more convenient. What do you have now? A limited number of chain banks, that screw the hell out of customers.

Liquor stores are one of the last businesses that "people" can still own. It should stay that way. We need more of that type of small business, not less. Otherwise it's just a matter of time before Walmart owns everything. You will stop by the Walmart gas station on the way to the Walmart bank to deposit some money, so you can shop at the Walmart grocery store, the Walmart liquor store, and the Walmart cheep Chinese prison labor store... How low do you think those low prices will be then?

[denverian]

Originally Posted by insahmniak

Dang. The opening this morning sure messed up traffic on CO Blvd. Lots of ped traffic across CO Blvd and backed up turn lanes. This has been my main commute route for over the last year, so I know full-well that CO Blvd is nearly always on the brink of becoming snarled. But it's actually been pretty quick for me with only periodic jams. This one new store may have just pushed it over the edge, though. I can't imagine what it will be like once the new development happens in the old hospital complex. Yowza.

I am new to the idea of Trader Joes. Does everything in the store have their label on it? The whole concept they put forward would seem to make them the antithesis to local food and knowing your farmer. Do I have this wrong?

Wow! Who'd have ever seen that traffic mess coming?

Not everything is their own brand. Probably most of their items are TJ label, but they have plenty of other brands of wine, a few brands of beer and other items throughout the store.

IIRC, the breads come from local bakeries. I would be they have some local items as well, but how much can you really get local? I believe they ship from a Ft. Worth distribution center.

One thing I miss about California was the year-round Farmer's markets. Fresh produce, locally grown, even in February

[Snikt]

It's funny though that people talk about these iconic things they can only get in certain places. Like 95% of the times those iconic items you can just buy online..

Like this famous "cookie butter" I keep hearing about.

Yep, it's on Amazon.

Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter: Amazon.com: Grocery & Gourmet Food

[KaaBoom]

I think those traffic problems were probably temporary. I just watched a couple of the noon reports, and the store appeared to be only moderately crowded at that time.

Here is an interesting quote from Channel 4.

Many of those in line were transplants to Colorado who are familiar with the grocery chain.

Then they interviewed a couple of girls with California accents who said that they live off of Trader Joe's.

Customers Wait In Long Lines For Trader Joe’s Opening « CBS Denver

Which makes me wonder. Do Colorado natives even really care about TJ's, or is it just for transplants? Just wondering.