This may sound like the lamest thing in the world to be asking for considering all of the unrest in our world these days, but this is a subject near and dear to my heart.......and if anyone feels the same, this might provide you with some happy thoughts as well. I've recently discovered Trader Joe's, and I've fallen in love with the store. This year alone I've visited stores in six different stores across the country. Unfortunately, I can't visit a store in Texas because there aren't any. Therefore, I'm starting a petition to bring them here. Surely they HAVE to be planning to expand here, but I'd like to spur them on a bit. I'd like to request your help in four ways: 1) Look at what I've written below for the petition. There's several paragraphs for the actual petition and then a (required) paragraph describing me (as the organizer). It's almost two in the morning; I'm tired but couldn't sleep, so it is probably poorly written. Feel free to critique the petition to help make it as effective as possible. 2) I was going to use www.ipetitions.com. If you feel their might be something better I should be using, please let me know. 3) If you like Trader Joe's, please give a brief description of one or two of your favorite products. If you're passionate about the place like I am, feel free to describe as many as you like. This may encourage those who've never been to sign the petition. 4) Last but not least; unless you for some reason just hate the place (what is wrong with you!?!), please sign the petition when I put it up....probably sometime tomorrow. Anyway, here is what I've written: Because Trader Joe's is such a special store and Texas is such a special place, I'm hereby petitioning to bring the two together. Trader Joe's has a presence on both coasts and several spots in between, but not in Texas. Texas has FIVE of the 20 largest cities in the nation including three in the top 10; so we certainly have a large enough market. Texas also has a coast with a port that is ranked first in the United States in foreign waterborne commerce, second in total tonnage, and sixth in the world. This would be the perfect area to set up a distribution center for additional Trader Joe's stores to service the many large metropolitan areas in Texas as well as to other wonderful cities in our great neighboring states. The people are friendly, the cost of living is low, the land is relatively cheap, and there is no state income tax. What a wonderful place to start a new business. Trader Joe’s is a great store that offers many unique products for the food lover in all of us. Their quality is unsurpassed, their prices are superb, and their employees always seem ecstatic to be working there. I could go on and on about all of their wonderful high quality products, but it would take a book. Do yourself a favor and visit their website (www.traderjoes.com) and look at some of their flyers for the cities they do serve. You’ll be able to get a feel for what a great store they are, but you really have to taste or use their products to understand. If you’ve experienced the store, you’ll know what I mean. Please take a moment to sign this petition to get Trader Joe’s in Texas as soon as possible. _______________________ My name is Robert, and I'm just an ordinary guy who really likes to eat, drink and be merry. Trader Joe's makes it easier to do all three. They may not stock everything you might find at a grocery store, but what they do have is well worth the extra trip. I've visited both coasts and Las Vegas this year alone, and each time I'm near a city that has a Trader Joe's, I make the special trip to visit them. I'll happily continue to do so, but what I'd really like is to be able to visit one near my own neighborhood.
Call me selfish, but I'd rather they put a Trader Joe's in the Sahuarita/Green Valley, AZ area first. Gas is sort of expensive to be traveling all the way to Tucson for a Joe's run. My wife seems to like Sunflower Market. I can't say I frequent either enough to say what is better.
Oh yeah.....I guess I should describe some of my favorite items: The number one item and the reason I stopped by so many stores is their dryed, un-sugared, un-sulphured mangos. It may not sound like much, but I must not be the only one because several of the stores were sold out, and I met other people in the stores who were also looking for them. They have no added sugar, so all you taste is concentrated mango. They flippin rock! Their spicy candied pecans are the best I've ever tasted; excellent on a salad. Their fruit and nut mixes are the best I've ever had. Their half-sour deli pickles are better than any pickle I've ever had.....NY delis included. Their banana crisps taste darn near like potato chips. Their wonderful and very healthy. Their peanut (and cashew, almond, etc.) butters are wonderful. Crap.....I'm starting to go on and on. Anyway, let me know what you like there.
Not sure what plundering pete is. Trader Joe's is the store that got famous (well, judging by the responses here, "famous" is a bit of a stretch) selling Charles Shaw wine. I've yet to taste it because.........well..........I'm a bit of a wine snob, but apparantly it is a decent everyday table wine. It sells (or sold) for $1.99 a bottle, and somebody affectionately dubbed the wine "two buck chuck." The name stuck, and it got to be quite popular. People who had never heard of Trader Joe's would seek them out just to try out this wine.
I've got a Trader Joe's about 3 blocks from where I work in Baltimore. The place does rock pretty hard. I love the frozen mandarin oarnge chicken.
The two buck chuck in New York is three bucks! They just opened one here in New York a couple months ago. It's a madhouse just trying to get into the store. It's cool, but I still like Whole Paycheck better.
It’s going to be hard to get a Trader Joe’s in Texas. Their main competition would be the locally owned Whole Earth Foods, which has a lock on that specific market. Trader Joe's is going to have to get a little bigger before they can go into WEF's backyard.
although Whole Foods was started in austin, it is now a global-wide grocery chain. they (Whole Foods Market) exist in virtually every market that has a Trader Joe's. i don't think they would necessarily compete directly. i'm sure the market (at least in austin or houston) could support both of them. however, in Texas (unlike california and other states) grocery stores cannot sell liquor (alc. >17% .) therefore, trader joe's would have to somehow divide itself into two different stores with two different entrances and have two different TABC licenses. i remember Fiesta Market experimented with that sometime in the early 90s in houston (the south I-45 store, i believe.) it's actually much more of a pain in the a$$ than T_J's wishes to tackle (i would guess.) also, because of the TABC laws in Texas, giant (and powerful) liquor store chains rule the land: Twin/Reuben in austin, Spec's in houston, and Centennial/Majestic in dallas/fort worth. it's the nature of the laws, not the nature of the consumer that has kept chains like Trader Joe's out of Texas. carry on...
I went to a Trader Joes in St Louis and it was a pretty cool store. If they put one up here in The Woodlands, I'd definitely go. I figure they would do well here. The no liquor at the grocery store law is horrible.
I'm not sure if that is the case though. Trader Joe's doesn't sell alcohol in all of their stores. For instance, only three of the 16 stores in Massachusettes sell booze.
You're a good man Pole, and I wish this endeavor much success. Never been to TJ's, but I've heard nothing but good things. Will definitely check it out when I'm up east July 4th week.
I can't believe I've never been to one of these. IIRC, they opened one in Santa Cruz. Are there any in Phoenix? We're heading that way 4th of July week.
that's interesting. the only experience i've had with trader joe's is in california. the stores i visited sold liquor. i still think there are specifics within the TABC code that prevent chains like trader joe's from coming into Texas.
