Open any fridge in San Francisco and you’ll find more than a dozen Trader Joe’s products. Everyone from Marina bros to your mom makes a weekly run, including the usual suspects:
1. Tech innovator closing a deal on his phone Iconic app ideas can strike at any moment—even in the cheap wine section of Trader Joe’s. While you’re busy trying to pick out a $5 bottle of cabernet that looks like a $25 bottle of cabernet, a technology titan on a Samsung is blocking the aisle and pitching an angel investor.
2. The lady that stole your parking space Be it the Bay Street location, SoMa or the dreaded Masonic Trader Joe’s, there’s always a fight over parking. (This is San Francisco, after all.) The fact that Trader Joe’s has a parking lot is more of a draw than its delicious, party-size meatballs. Inevitably, we’ve all gotten burned over a space, only to eventually make our way inside the store and immediately spot the thief.
3. Unwashed hipster buying bathing products Why is it that the only people who buy Trader Joe’s soap and shampoo are ones who look like they don’t use either? While the packaging is charmingly subtle, there is something about a Trader Joe’s beauty product that doesn’t sit right with us. It could also be that the folks buying TJ’s Lavender Salt Scrub do not smell like lavender. Not even close.
4. Organic mom with organic kids Trader Joe’s must not sell a line of birth control because inevitably, a mother and her offspring will be blocking the frozen section, arguing over which tub of cookie sticks to buy. (Why the cookies are kept in the frozen section is one of the many mysteries of Trader Joe’s.) The fight over treats lasts far longer than it did when we were kids: Organic mom and her ilk all have equal voices in the extended, thoughtfully considered discussion.
5. Grandparents Old people are on to everything these days: texting, blogs, Zip cars. But shoppers usually rest assured in the knowledge that Trader Joe’s is filled with quick-moving young folks. Not so. At any given location, usually in the middle of a week day, well-intentioned geriatrics filled with a wealth of knowledge will ask a Trader Joe’s employee 327 questions about a pre-packaged tomato. And of course, they’ll also be paying for everything by check.