Why Is Trader Joes Not Following Whole Foods In Prince George's County? (Columbia: low income, fit in)

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by uggabugga

seems like I recall the city of bowie website used to have a link where you could sign a petition begging TJ's to open a store there. or maybe i just imagined that..

no doubt they could rake in the cash hand over fist. as it is, i just hit 'em up in Annapolis ever month or so.

I read an article where Bowie had been petitioning TJ's for about ten years. I'm like if it takes that much, move on. Find another retailer or start a co-op.

[ledabout]

I live in LA, considering a move to the DC 'burbs. We have TJs everywhere here, and it's cheaper than local grocery stores in part because their prices do not vary by region for the most part.

A TJs was supposed to open in my hometown in IL, but then I heard they backtracked on that. The reason I remember reading somewhere was that they base their store openings on the college-educated population of an area. ??

Why a Whole Foods would move there first is beyond me, though.

[AeroGuyDC]

Whole Foods is not interested in urban settings any more than any other retailer who has came, seen, and picked up camp and moved after years of shoplifting, poor sales, etc. (Boulevard at the Capital Center anyone??) Whole Foods has merely succumbed to the demagoguery by minority community leaders that the chain is seen as a "rich white person's grocery store" and thus by implication racist.

Trader Joe's isn't stupid. They know there's no future in the ghetto. They'll show up .....only after they've been demagogued to death like Whole Foods.

[richrf]

Whole Foods has many stores right in Chicago though all have an affluent population nearby that can afford the food. I understand Whole Foods is going to introduce smaller stores under the 365 brand which will probably compete directly with Trader Joe's.

I was in TJ yesterday and picked up some fresh blueberries and strawberries but besides that I see little too get excited about. $5.00 for frozen rice or pasta isn't for me and probably isn't for most of the country. There is really a very limited demographic for prepared frozen foods, which TJ is counting on for their big profits. O actually find more in Costco than TJ though Whole Foods is ours primary source of grocery items.

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by richrf

Whole Foods has many stores right in Chicago though all have an affluent population nearby that can afford the food. I understand Whole Foods is going to introduce smaller stores under the 365 brand which will probably compete directly with Trader Joe's.

I was in TJ yesterday and picked up some fresh blueberries and strawberries but besides that I see little too get excited about. $5.00 for frozen rice or pasta isn't for me and probably isn't for most of the country. There is really a very limited demographic for prepared frozen foods, which TJ is counting on for their big profits. O actually find more in Costco than TJ though Whole Foods is ours primary source of grocery items.

Where did TJ get such a cult following though? It's like Harris Teeter; from North Carolina. My wife grew up with them and feel they are just the same as Giant and Safeway. But people up here get exited about Harris Teeter as if it is a Wegmans or Whole Foods. Is it because of TJ's frozen food selection or their quirky outfits and cheery dispositions? I'm not too excited about the $2 wine.

[CBMD]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

Where did TJ get such a cult following though? It's like Harris Teeter; from North Carolina. My wife grew up with them and feel they are just the same as Giant and Safeway. But people up here get exited about Harris Teeter as if it is a Wegmans or Whole Foods. Is it because of TJ's frozen food selection or their quirky outfits and cheery dispositions? I'm not too excited about the $2 wine.

TJ is nothing like HT. Unique among grocery chains it's 100% own brand, for a start.
HT is a somewhat upscale regular grocery store, one of many "banners" that Kroger trades under. It operates in a space above Giant Safeway etc, and below Whole Foods.

TJ got its cult following by filling a need, and then limiting the supply. It has by far the highest sales per sf of any grocery chain. Three times a regular store, and almost double WFM.

[richrf]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

Where did TJ get such a cult following though? It's like Harris Teeter; from North Carolina. My wife grew up with them and feel they are just the same as Giant and Safeway. But people up here get exited about Harris Teeter as if it is a Wegmans or Whole Foods. Is it because of TJ's frozen food selection or their quirky outfits and cheery dispositions? I'm not too excited about the $2 wine.

I think the quaint (and extremely inefficient) check out lines, wood, and faux health marketing is a good part of it. They simply take cheap pre-cooked frozen food offerings, repackage it to give the feeling of healthfulness, and triple the price that others sell it for at standard grocers. Once in a while they'll offer some non-locally grown organic produce to add to the veneer they are trying to market, but basically they make their money by repackaging junk as healthy and quaint. Clever.

[Mos82]

Originally Posted by AeroGuyDC

Whole Foods is not interested in urban settings any more than any other retailer who has came, seen, and picked up camp and moved after years of shoplifting, poor sales, etc. (Boulevard at the Capital Center anyone??) Whole Foods has merely succumbed to the demagoguery by minority community leaders that the chain is seen as a "rich white person's grocery store" and thus by implication racist.

Trader Joe's isn't stupid. They know there's no future in the ghetto. They'll show up .....only after they've been demagogued to death like Whole Foods.

LMAO as someone who worked at TJ for seven years at foggy bottom and dealt with many issues of Theft by White people of all income brackets ur statement is hilarious. One group of white males try to steal 300 dollars worth of Wine. I dont know why everyone harps on the Boulevard, when Every other mall in PG, Bowie Town Center, to Woodmore Town Center, to even PG Plaza and the Tanger outlets ( in ghetto Oxon hill) are doing just fine. Your post is soo hilarious considering the complaints about the Trader Joes in your county from the employees, especially dealing with the Eastern European customers and their "Food Stamp" issues.

[selhars]

All three have the educational levels and are open to trying new foods. Now that I think about it, College Park has some of the most diverse dining options in the area. THere is everything from Pho, Korean, Peruvian, Jamaican/Caribbean, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Mexican, Greek, Italian, Vegan, etc. So, people in the area are naturally open to different foods.

Also, there is Hyattsville with its artsy population that would also be open to cooking different foods as well as vying for the quick and easy frozen dinner options.

You keep talking about "different food" what the heck does that have to do with Trader Joes. What "different foods" does Trader Joes sell?...it's a supermarket like any other ....sure it leans toward health/organic offerings, but it's not some "different" concept that people have seen before.

There's nothing really upscale about Trader Joe's ($2 wine?), but there location selection seems to baffle some people. Even in the more affluent parts of the county, they are non-existent. So is income and education doesn't seem to factor all that much.

I'll second that.

I sent a letter to Trader Joe's YEARS ago about coming to PG county...complete with clippings of letters to the editors of a local paper saying residents would like and support one. Didn't even get the courtesy of acknowledgment of receipt of my letter.

I feel guilty about it sometimes (shopping at store that won't locate in my county) but when I want something from Trader Joe's I just go to Annapolis.
And Bowie doesn't need Trader Joe's...MOM's (based in MD) came and filled that spot -- and is doing GANGBUSTER business.

[G1..]

Originally Posted by lanhvtnymd

So maybe Trader Joe's will come later. I know it's less expensive shopping at Trader Joe's, but that doesn't mean they want to open up in an area that's not high income.

When I lived in Albany, NY, I would drive to Amherst, Mass to go to the nearest Whole Foods. People would always talk about how they wanted a Trader Joe's over Whole Foods.....dig not get it, at all. Well now they have both, and they're literally right down and across the street from each other in a hellish high-traffic area in a suburb of Albany. Upstate NY is not really all that high end, I'm still scratching my head over Whole Foods there. Maybe it's a culture change for the company.

When I lived in Burlington, VT, there was no Whole Foods. There was this place called Healthy Living...now THAT was expensive. But you had your pick of organic, natural shopping places in Burlington. They fight chains like crazy in that state. There's a huge big box store shopping area not in Burlington but down 89 in Williston, all quarantined together! lol

You should have driven to Guido's in Great Barrington and Pittsfield Mass Mass from Albany on RT 7 .



http://guidosfreshmarketplace.com/