Sunday, March 1, 2020

Thank you and RIP

Joe Coulombe, the founder of Trader Joe's, passed away last Friday at the age of 89.

Talk about someone who made the world a better place - this man did it. Trader Joe's is one of my absolute favorite stores. My world would certainly be a poorer place without this store and it's amazing array of food.

From Trader Joe's website:

The first Trader Joe's store opened in 1967 in Pasadena, California. (That store is still there. It's still operating. It still has the same parking lot.) The store had a nautical theme and it was run by people who were described as "traders on the high seas." At the time, Joe had been reading a book called "White Shadows in the South Seas," and he'd been to the Disneyland Jungle Trip ride, and it all just...coalesced. To this day, Trader Joe's Crew Members consider themselves "traders on the culinary seas" and are known for their bright, tropical-patterned shirts and for generally being nice, helpful, and well informed.

I read somewhere that TJ's purposely overstaffs their stores so that shoppers never have trouble finding someone to help them. Going into their stores is like going to In-N-Out Burger - the employees are so dang happy to be there and it's just fun doing business with them.

RIP sir, and thanks for all the yummy food and the awesome shopping experience.

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