Why Is Trader Joes Not Following Whole Foods In Prince George's County? (Silver Spring: lease, income)

[G1..]

Originally Posted by CBMD

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.

LOL , no .You make alot of assumptions in your post .

1)WF is their own brand but are having trouble filling there needs without going to a third party supplier (like C&S) where they would lose quality .

2)HT and Giant are almost twins and for that argument I'll add in Safeway .HT and Giant use to use the same adds as in their local produce and "That's My Harris Teeter" any independence they might have had is gone .

3) TJ is strictly living off an unearned reputation and are running into the same problems as WF,nether has mastered the art of expansions an keeping quality like Wegmans .

4)While I understand sales per sf ,it is a useless stat in the grocery business.Same sales numbers in existing store is more important.

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by selhars

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.

I pulled that from TJ's own statements in what they look for in a community. They believe educated people are more open to trying different foods. In other words, non-mainstream American brands. They are well-traveled and therefore have a greater appreciation of various foods. That's why I brought up the diversity in restaurants in the DC area. Our residents are used to foods from all over the world. Unlike some country town in Indiana, we can go down the street and try Pho, Korean, Japanese, Indian, Ethiopian, Mexican, Peruvian, etc. My wife grew up in Raleigh, NC and never had Indian. How many Pho or Jamaican restaurants will you see in the mid-west? Either it is sloppy research on their part or they go strictly by the numbers. WF started looking beyond the numbers and saw that they could enter the lower-income markets and still do okay.

If you locate within a food desert, I think people would get acclimated to different foods very quickly as the store would be the most convenient. That's just me. I have never been in an Aldi's. So, I don't know what they sell or how they are so different than TJs.

And Bowie doesn't need Trader Joe's...MOM's (based in MD) came and filled that spot -- and is doing GANGBUSTER business.

And MOM is more expensive than WF. Yes! Organic is in Hyattsville and is also more expensive than MOMs on some items as YES! doesn't have any store brand items. But hey, If TJ's feels that people aren't educated enough or wealthy enough for frozen chicken strips, that's on them. lol

[AeroGuyDC]

Originally Posted by Mos82

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.

Equivocation is a logical fallacy and a failed argument from the outset.

[CBMD]

Originally Posted by G1..

LOL , no .You make alot of assumptions in your post .

1)WF is their own brand but are having trouble filling there needs without going to a third party supplier (like C&S) where they would lose quality .

2)HT and Giant are almost twins and for that argument I'll add in Safeway .HT and Giant use to use the same adds as in their local produce and "That's My Harris Teeter" any independence they might have had is gone .

3) TJ is strictly living off an unearned reputation and are running into the same problems as WF,nether has mastered the art of expansions an keeping quality like Wegmans .

4)While I understand sales per sf ,it is a useless stat in the grocery business.Same sales numbers in existing store is more important.

[CBMD]

A price comparison/slide presentation.

How Aldi stacks up against Trader Joe's for your grocery dollars - MarketWatch MarketWatch
Aldi is a low-cost supermarket chain started in Germany by two Albrecht brothers — one of whom later bought Trader Joe's. While Aldi (a combination ..

Personal note. A tale of two yogurts. My other half buys Dannon Activia "culture added" yogurt at Giant etc. A 4 pack of 113 grams typically costs $5, or 1.1 cents per gram.

Every week I buy a 12 pack of Aldi's 170 gram "Fit and Active" brand, identical calories, fat, sugar etc, minus culture, for $4.68, or 39 cents each. She pays 1.1 cents per gram, I pay 0.23 less than a quarter of the price.Duh! That's not the only bargain to be found at Aldi.

[selhars]

And MOM is more expensive than WF. Yes! Organic is in Hyattsville and is also more expensive than MOMs on some items as YES! doesn't have any store brand items. But hey, If TJ's feels that people aren't educated enough or wealthy enough for frozen chicken strips, that's on them. lol

NO harm no foul meant. Bu if Trader Joes is the one talking about different foods, OK. I suppose a person in small town Hickville USA would see things in TJ they'd never seen or heard of before. I'm not saying I've never seen something I hadn't heard of before, but....I certainly don't see Trader Joe's as some NEW experience people would have to "get used to."

As for MOM's prices, I think they're LESS the WHole Foods, certainly. I've price compared and that's what I find. And there's also a very small chain of organic stores calls "David's Natural Market" in the Odenton/Gambrils, Columbia areas (and Bel Air but that's much farther away). MOM's is MUCH cheaper than they are. I think MOM"S prices are very competitive.

As we all have know Bowie and the other areas of PG can more than support a health food/organic type of store...HOW MANY of them I don't know...but like I said MOM"S is doing great business. They tapped a clientele that was bursting and ready. So Trader Joe's loss. Besides Mom's is more local. It's even got a new store on NY Ave in DC...now if THAT'S not thinking ahead I don't know what is. But that Bladensburg/NY Ave/Fort Lincoln area is clearly one that's coming up. We'll see what happens....

I haven't decided yet whether I'll leave Giant for Harris Teeter when it comes... I might!

[G1..]

Originally Posted by CBMD

A price comparison/slide presentation.

How Aldi stacks up against Trader Joe's for your grocery dollars - MarketWatch MarketWatch
Aldi is a low-cost supermarket chain started in Germany by two Albrecht brothers — one of whom later bought Trader Joe's. While Aldi (a combination ..

Personal note. A tale of two yogurts. My other half buys Dannon Activia "culture added" yogurt at Giant etc. A 4 pack of 113 grams typically costs $5, or 1.1 cents per gram.

Every week I buy a 12 pack of Aldi's 170 gram "Fit and Active" brand, identical calories, fat, sugar etc, minus culture, for $4.68, or 39 cents each. She pays 1.1 cents per gram, I pay 0.23 less than a quarter of the price.Duh! That's not the only bargain to be found at Aldi.

If you have to breakdown to price per gram then you are reaching to hard to prove your point.I really doubt there brand and the name brand are the exact same yogurt but I understand.I bet I can find things cheaper at Giant or Safeway and not have to go "store brand",is it on all items no and as you said I'm sure you can find other things less expensive ,to me Aldi isn't a good store, sorry.

[EducatedBro82]

My question is where would TJ go in PG.. Bowie and Laurel are wealthier areas and have Harris Teeter. And to someone saying Aldi has low income people, what about the Aldi in Bowie?? Is Race Track Road and the Y, M, and S sections lower income?? Or Beltsville/Calverton??

[CBMD]

Originally Posted by EducatedBro82

My question is where would TJ go in PG.. Bowie and Laurel are wealthier areas and have Harris Teeter. And to someone saying Aldi has low income people, what about the Aldi in Bowie?? Is Race Track Road and the Y, M, and S sections lower income?? Or Beltsville/Calverton??

New Greenbelt/FBI development, Konterra, Westphalia, maybe. But I still wouldn't be surprised if in 10 years there is still no TJ in PGC. HT or any trad grocery store is not a deterrent to TJ.

[selhars]

My question is....as things stand now in PG. Given that there already IS a MOM"s in Bowie, a Wegman's near the Glenarden/Largo area, and a Yes Organic and Whole Foods in CP/Hyattsville....
.....where do you think a Trader Joes would fit?.....Bowie, CP, Hyattsville, don't need a Trader Joe's now. So NOW if one were to come I'm not sure how well it would do. Where would it go? TJ's missed it's chance.

I don't know other areas of PG....IF TJ had no interest in the areas mentioned above I SURE AS HECK don't see it being interested in any other areas. MAYBE the Greenbelt area could support one with all the Goddard people around there. But I don't see lower PG being -- let's say -- "on TJ's radar." But JT isn't interested in PG so the entire discussion is moot.

How Aldi stacks up against Trader Joe's for your grocery dollars - MarketWatch MarketWatch
Aldi is a low-cost supermarket chain started in Germany by two Albrecht brothers — one of whom later bought Trader Joe's. While Aldi (a combination ..

But while Trader Joe’s has a cultlike following, Aldi has a somewhat down-market image in some areas. But it appears it is trying to change that, as it has done in the U.K., where it and rival Lidl have been remarkably successful in gaining market share from the country’s main supermarkets.

“If you were to shop at Aldi today, you would find almond milk, organic coconut oil and chia seeds because that’s what our customers are looking for,” Joan Kavanaugh, vice president of Aldi corporate buying, told MarketWatch.

I suppose we could do a price comparison of how Kia stacks up against Buick, too. And it would just as much sense as comparing Aldi to Trade Joe’s – in MY mind anyway. They’re not the same kind of store, and don’t go after the same market customer, or didn’t until recently...so I wouldn’t expect them to be comparable.

No doubt that's the image thing.
To me Aldi’s just doesn’t have the breadth of selection I want. I went a couple of times and felt like I wasted my time because they really don't have anything. But I know friends who LOVE it...one is elderly and thrives on stretching her limited senior citizen income -- the other is married with three kids (one being a son who can eat like a horse) so she’s trying to save money too.

Basically If I shopped at Aldi I’d have to shop somewhere else ALSO to get everything I need. So I’d rather just stick with Giant and sometimes Mom’s, no need to add Aldi to the mix ALSO. I’ve been through periods where I tried to shop sales....and some weeks would end up going to five stores. It took hours. All the stops ate up my time – and the gas I burned probably ate up the dollars I saved. So Aldi doen’st fit into my shopping routine, the kind of shopper I am and what I’m looking for. But clearly lots of people love it. If Whole Foods were closer to me I’d shop there all the time and probably drop Giant.