I'm disappointed. I really thought that TJs was more like Costco. You look at the employees and they are always smiling, just like Costco. Guess not all things are equal.
The founder died, shit has changed drastically in the last 5 years or so
Gotcha. Too bad.
I looked this up and he hasn't been at the helm on the company since 1988, and had already sold it to the Aldi founder long before.
Trader Joe's is overpriced Aldi. Their employees are told to smile, just like everywhere else you go that employees are always smiling. Nobody's that happy at work, and that shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody at this point.
Trader Joe's is owned by Aldi
Different brother. There's Aldi Sud and Aldi Nord (I think that's right), who have common family history but are now separate companies. One operates the US chain called Aldi and the other owns TJ's.
Trader Joe's is owned by the OTHER Aldi, which is related historically but entirely separate from the Aldi stores in the US.
Interestingly the US is the only country to have both companies other than Germany itself, and even there one is in one half of the country and the other in the other.
Different aldis.
The frozen stuff is WAY better at TJs; my local Aldi has mostly stuff that’s cheap because it’s about to expire
Joe literally ate the motherfuckers who don't smile.
What the F, TJ? Want to make a loyal customer of 15+ years quit? This is how you do it. We’re a union family, we vote with our dollars too.
Where are you gonna shop that's better? Kroger? Safeway? Walmart? Whole foods? It's fucked up.
I used to shop at a kroger that had a UFCW sticker on the sliding doors out front. They represent 835,000 grocery workers. Unions have a strong foothold in American Grocery stores. Sounds like TJ's needs em.
Presumably union families have more dollars to vote with as well.
There has been a push to unionize some TJ locations.
Here is an interview with one of the organizers from MA.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-below/id1713434162?i=1000634877458
Not all locations, such as my local one, are unionized. Hopefully there is some good progress soon since some lawsuits against the unions were tossed out of court late last year.
Edit: Just want to clarify that the existence of unions doesn’t justify their anti-union rhetoric, I do believe that corporate is shitty. I recently learned about their union struggle and wanted to share the story
I know I'm in the minority likely, but Trader Joes is shit it isn't because it can't survive unionization. Just because your chips are organic doesn't make buying it from overly outgoing cashiers any healthier. Prepackaged junk food is prepackaged junk food and they sell a ton of it. Frozen dinners are still sodium bombs even though they don't have "preservatives". That said, fuck these two anti-union shitstains of companies.
They can survive it. Every company can survive it. They just don't want to give up their dictatorship.
I shop at union grocery stores. The boutique chains see this as a something to exploit instead of a feature. Many union chains are local too, most boutique ones are national.
I don't understand the trader Joe's love. It's a grocery store with a poor selection of fruits, vegetables, and fresh meats. They have a decent wine and beer selection. It's basically half frozen stuff, it's maybe higher quality than other places, but it's just frozen shit.
I was so disappointed the first time I went to Trader Joe's. It had been so hyped up and people made it sound like a mini Jungle Jim's. Then it opened and it was just a more expensive Aldi.
Edited to remove a mistyped word.
It was better back in the early 2000s, in my opinion for two main reasons. First, the prices and quality were better. Second, and biggest of all, they carried a wide variety of products that had a limited presence in many American supermarkets, namely vegan/vegetarian meals, organic crap, and eclectic snacks. Most major grocers have caught up with demand and now they don't stand out all that much.
Come on, the quality of food at Trader Joe's is FAR better than the brands you find at a Safeway.
Most of the food at Trader Joe's is just white label with fancy packaging. It's the same food you find at a Safeway.
There are a few specific items that Trader Joe's is notable for... but ditto for Safeway, Hannaford's, Food Lion, Star, Superstore, and SaveOn - I think two decades ago Trader Joe's was a trailblazer in high quality offerings but they've slowly compromised for profits and competitors have realized that high quality offerings are valued by consumers - not just price.
The no preservatives label needs better regulation. Every food that has it is loaded with either salt or sugar. The reason that they are loaded with salt and/or sugar is because salt and sugar are two of the oldest and most used preservatives. And that's my soapbox, thanks for listening.
If people don't have the right to decide what their labor is worth, then they are no better than slaves.
*Traitor Joe’s
Well played
Wow so that kinda fuckin sucks. Guess I’m down to market basket.
I guess labour has no choice but to go back to the old style of negotiating. Aka. Rocking up at the bosses house on mass and ‘asking nicely’ for a raise.
Don't forget bidding them "a very good day" if they see them in the streets.
Is this the Michael Scott defense? Instead of yelling “I declare bankruptcy” they yell “I declare this unconstitutional”?
I didn't realize 2024 was the year I was going to stop shopping at TJ's.
wow. Tjoes is just throwing its goodwill away by aligning with spaceX. Its to bad as I like them and aldis.
We can go back to mob violence if they don't like our mutually agreed upon legal framework???
Being in agreement with Elon Musk is a clear sign you're an idiot.
“The working class having a board that helps them is unconstitutional” for those who need a direct translation
Hey Trader Joe's owners,,,Don't be a dick! I'm not a large customer, but I can always stop shopping there. Very disappointing.
Hmm. I couldn't read the full article because of a paywall, but from what I understand, the constitutionality of the NLRB was upheld by the Supreme Court in NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. 301 U.S. 1 (1937). I'm not sure there is any foundation to contemporary claims that the NLRB is unconstitutional.
As with overturning Roe v. Wade, the legal foundation will be "our conservative cult says so".
"ThE NLRb isn'T in the cONSTITutIoN!!1!" - The Supreme Court, probably
Im about to declare corporations unconstitutional. Their heads are so big their thoughts need launch vectors to get to their lobbyists.
These companies trying to do away with civilized negotiations, you'd think they want to go back to the bad old days when Labor got the bosses to come to the bargaining table by blowing shit up.
Never spent a dollar there. Won’t start now, thanks
It used to be a good store, but I guess the owner died and they've gone anti-union. I have not been in one for a few years and won't ever now (unless they change their tune).
A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
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