Joe's here! And he's open!

[Jenise]

Trader Joe's, that is. And today's the grand opening. Life just got better, because I love these stores. Slab apricots, raw nuts of all varieties, and the best olive oil canned tuna, among other things.

And the worst parking lots and store hours (for working people) on the planet. By design.

[Robin Garr]

We're still lacking a TJ's around here, although a lot of people know about it and there's constant gossip about one Coming Soon. Should I be hopeful? Bear in mind that when we belatedly got our Costco, I was kind of disappointed because of over-anticipation. Also, since we have such great indie stores here, am I going to face the same moral dilemma as when Whole Foods came, torn between checking out the exciting new place and supporting my old buddies so the corporate megalith won't run 'em out of business?

Nah. TJ's is specialty stuff; you'll still go to farmers for produce. In fact, that's my rounds this morning- Parker Farms for tomatoes, Larry's for fruit, staple vegetables, and herbs, then over to TJ's for bufala, olive oil, and bread.

[Jenise]

We're still lacking a TJ's around here, although a lot of people know about it and there's constant gossip about one Coming Soon. Should I be hopeful? Bear in mind that when we belatedly got our Costco, I was kind of disappointed because of over-anticipation. Also, since we have such great indie stores here, am I going to face the same moral dilemma as when Whole Foods came, torn between checking out the exciting new place and supporting my old buddies so the corporate megalith won't run 'em out of business?

I hear you, Robin, and I go out of my way to support the independents who are, after all, essentially my neighbors, and the people who have been here meeting local needs, usually for decades. Although we oddly have one Albertson's here in town and two Fred Meyers which are large format everything stores that provide a full grocery plus clothing, paint and hardware and which are now part of the Kroger empire, all the other grocery stores belong to two family owned Bellingham-based chains, and nobody wants to see either of them get hurt. TJs is the first new outsider to come here in eons.

It's undeniable that TJ's will pull business away from the others, but we'll probably all continue to do most of our shopping at our usual grocer and use TJ's as kind of a high end 7/11 for those who live nearby--a place you stop and buy salad makings, a steak or ready-made dinner item and bottle of wine at for those who live or work nearby--or a once-a-month cartload indulgence for those of us who don't. Kind of like a Costco, without the industrial-sized packaging.

[Robin Garr]

over to TJ's for bufala, olive oil, and bread.

Okay, but I can get all that at Lotsa Pasta. Harrumph ...

Well, in theory, I could drive an extra 60 miles and get them at Cheese Board and Acme, but I'm a sensitive, ecological kinda guy who likes to wipe the carbon off his feet before leaving footprints.

[Robin Garr]

Well, in theory, I could drive an extra 60 miles and get them at Cheese Board and Acme, but I'm a sensitive, ecological kinda guy who likes to wipe the carbon off his feet before leaving footprints.

Yah, yah, right. But as an urbanite, I would have to go right past Lotsa Pasta to get out to the 'burbs, where any likely TJ would surely be situated on acres of parking lots.

We recently had one open in town and it saved a trip to another city for nitrite-free stuff for the kids, has much cheaper goats milk, etc.

Plus I think I wiped them out of a Santa Cruz Mountains Winery cab that was outstanding for the price.

I've never been a huge TJs fan. I tend to wander around in there with one or two things in my cart. I do think it's a great place for people who like decent and somewhat adventurous food, but who don't enjoy the process of cooking. Lots of "bake and serve" and "thaw and serve."
However, my husband and I won $150 worth of TJ gift cards in a golf tournament, so I've been using them up little by little. One thing I found I love and will go back for is their "Trader Giotto's" Sicilian EV Olive Oil (my favorite EVOO region). Stuart, do you buy this one? The flavor is sublime.

I think so, too- it's a very nice oil for not a lot of $$$. I always have some on hand.

Public Service Announcement: Found a new item there of great interest. Puff Pastry. The supermarket stuff is made from soy oil and is pretty mediocre. The "fancy" stuff (can't remember the brand, but it's widely distributed and comes in an aluminum foil tub) is butter-based, but ridiculously expensive. The new TJ's stuff is butter-based and under $5.

No Joe's here in SFlorida, either, as far as I know. I AM a big Costco fan, especially for specific things. I love their cheddar cheese (not theirs; the one they carry) and their parm...The organic chicken stock is top notch....

I like the wine prices and can usually browse enough to find some very decent, inexpensive wines to try.

Good seafood--fun to get U10 shrimp now and then for the wow factor. Although now I am trying to buy local shrimp, too...so I haven't eaten shrimp for a while...

I digress...Stuart, butter puff pastry is a great thing...I'd put that on my list if Costco carried it...

Oh, and Costco's roasted chickens (additive free) and their bulk-pack chix breasts and thighs: also additive free...

It's a good thing.

b

I like the wine prices and can usually browse enough to find some very decent, inexpensive wines to try......

Not an issue here in Ohio coz Costco has to charge the same minimum as everyone else.

Oh, and Costco's roasted chickens (additive free) and their bulk-pack chix breasts and thighs: also additive free...

Those pre-cooked chix are a great way to get a quick dinner. As is the pizza. And the pre-cooked chicken wings are very handy for a party!

Additionally, they do a great job on sheet cakes.

Recently, they have been carrying wild salmon for $10 per pound which is a deal here. And if you like the farm raised Atlantic stuff (we don't) its only $7 per pound.

Finally, they usually have the cheapest gas in the area. And tires and batteries are pretty competitive too.

[Jenise]

Well, in theory, I could drive an extra 60 miles and get them at Cheese Board and Acme, but I'm a sensitive, ecological kinda guy who likes to wipe the carbon off his feet before leaving footprints.

Yah, yah, right. But as an urbanite, I would have to go right past Lotsa Pasta to get out to the 'burbs, where any likely TJ would surely be situated on acres of parking lots.

Robin, mebbe not. Our new store is right downtown, it took over the space that once had another small local market in it that petered out. So small is our town that the TJ's opening was the banner headline and story on our local paper's front page today. It said that the company came here because they'd received more letters from here than anywhere else in the country sent by locals begging for a store (there are two in Seattle).

Carrie, you know what, my love for Trader Joe's may go back some time. When I was 19, my first serious boyfriend (and eventually, first husband), who was an accomplished professional ten years my senior, lived just down the hill from what was TJ's Location #2 in Southern California. It was tiny, about half the size of your average 7/11, and the walls were covered in dark wood. In the back was a fresh meat counter that had amazing prime beef and a real butcher. The walls either side were full of jars of all kinds of amazing imported things, there were cheeses I'd never seen before (my first Brie came from there) and crackers, nuts, sweets, liquers and jars of pickled things--most from Europe. In the middle were scattered stacks of boxes of wine, much of it also from Europe. For someone who grew up in an area completely absent of continental ethnic influence, TJ's offered an excitingly different kind of old world experience, and my heart would always beat a little faster before I walked in the door for I never knew what I'd find, but knew it would be wonderful. Although it's changed dramatically, I probably can't entirely divorce what it's become today from what it was then.

What will be interesting to see is how different it is from the ones I knew in Southern California. I believe the long grocers strike down there encouraged TJ to become more of an all around grocer, and I expect to see more cereal etc. They hopefully still draw the line at cat litter and baby diapers, but if it's food, they'll probably have something in that category.

I'll look for that Sicilian olive oil.

Mike, I have been getting reportedly fresh wild caught at Sam's Club, and at Meijers for $7.99 per pound. It is a couple dollars higher at Wild Oats. This is all Sockeye salmon, and it is really really good. The wild caught Alaskan salmon at Sam's is sold as Copper River, but I don't know how that could be this late in the year, even if it is, reportedly flown in unfrozen twice weekly. Somehow that doesn't jive with the public perception of Sam's/Wal-Mart.

[Jenise]

The wild caught Alaskan salmon at Sam's is sold as Copper River, but I don't know how that could be this late in the year, even if it is, reportedly flown in unfrozen twice weekly.

They lie. For one thing, sockeye runs early in the year. Even if they were still catching fish in that river, by August it would be pretty much kings, though frankly that river should be done by now.

They lie. For one thing, sockeye runs early in the year. Even if they were still catching fish in that river, by August it would be pretty much kings, though frankly that river should be done by now.

Like I said, I don't believe it either. still the size of the fillets is consistent with sockeye, and the flavor is so much better than that faintly pink stuff available at the regular supermarket. So, even if they do lie, I am eating good!

[Jenise]

They lie. For one thing, sockeye runs early in the year. Even if they were still catching fish in that river, by August it would be pretty much kings, though frankly that river should be done by now.

Like I said, I don't believe it either. still the size of the fillets is consistent with sockeye, and the flavor is so much better than that faintly pink stuff available at the regular supermarket. So, even if they do lie, I am eating good!

Well, that's all that matters. Btw, I think there's a typo in your previous post...$77 a pound for salmon?

Well, that's all that matters. Btw, I think there's a typo in your previous post...$77 a pound for salmon?

Yes that is a typo caused by one who can't type, plus fat fingers. The price should had read $7.99 per pound. It has been edited and fixed.

Jenise, say no more. I completely understand the nostalgia factor.
I must say, too, there isn't another store that generates as much excitement in a community (and surrounding communities) as a TJs coming to town--so there must be more to it than what I'm experiencing there. Maybe I need a TJs tutor to go in with me!

[Jenise]

Carrie, I went yesterday on my way to a friend's for dinner. I bought some of the Sicilian olive oil you reccomended (thank you), a few cheeses, fresh 2" thick NZ lamb chops, red artichokes, bucati!!, slab apricots, 10 cans of tuna packed in olive oil, thick corn tortillas (something I used to buy routinely at TJs and have missed), sugar pumpkins, and some lettuces, like an "artisan romaine" which sounds completely hyped but is a short (about 6"), fat, firm head of romaine which I've never seen before, and a carton of micro greens. Oh, and a gallon of fresh squeezed orange juice for $5.99. I haven't had fresh squeezed orange juice in four years.

As suspected, I found it to be more of a complete grocer than it used to be. Sure, it has all the take-it-home and heat-it-up ready made stuff TJ's is now known for, but there were lots of cereals, many more meats, and a more complete produce section including bulk/not pre-packaged things which I've not seen in a TJ's before. I have to say it was exciting to have so many new options. We're kind of landlocked up here, 100 miles from Seattle and up against the Puget Sound shoreline and the Canadian border, so whatever's on offer here in Bellingham, that's it. There's no bigger/better town half an hour away. And good as some of the stores we have are, the management is locally grown too and they're kind of in their own little ruts about what they think we need or want.

And of course the Charles Shaw wines were flying out the door.

Our cashier turned out to be the new store manager, a guy originally from Southern California too who has been with TJs for 14 years. He said they tapped him a year ago, and that they were deliberately looking for someone young, married, and "with small children who would go through the local school system". I asked if he was happy here and he said, "Are you kidding? This is paradise." We think so, too.

Jenise, say no more. I completely understand the nostalgia factor.
I must say, too, there isn't another store that generates as much excitement in a community (and surrounding communities) as a TJs coming to town--so there must be more to it than what I'm experiencing there. Maybe I need a TJs tutor to go in with me!

My cousin originally didn't think much of TJ's. I had been talking it up, so she went there and was unimpressed (she didn't understand it was a niche market). "People just go there for the booze."

Then her daughter started gushing to her how she stopped there every day to buy stuff for dinner. That prodded cousin to try it again (my word wasn't good enough). Now she buys all kinds of stuff there and talks it up all the time.