Want A Trader Joe's In Your City? Well...Now You Can Do Something About It

 Someone on Facebook posted a link to this page...

I got excited.

Then, I thought about it a bit.

I've been a fan of Trader Joe's Markets ever since I first set foot inside their store in Salt Lake City. I even blogged about it in September, 2019. The title of that particular blog post was "Oh, How I wish Trader Joe's were closer...but that would be dangerous." Little did I know a year later I would live much farther away.

That's why the Facebook post today excited me. It led to a webpage with a survey, and the survey asked one question--would you like a Trader Joe's in your city?

The answer, at least for me, is a resounding, YES!

Of course, they're not coming to where I live, even if all 10,000 people in my small town answered their survey. Our best hope is if enough people in the big town to the east, Logan, Utah, somehow convince the powers that be to choose them. 

The reason my excitement waned was because I wondered just how much good it would do to fill out the survey. Or, would the answers just be used for market research--and not in a good way. Yes, I'm showing my cynical side...hard to trust anyone anymore. 

I am going to answer the survey and hopefully, anyone who reads this and would like a Trader Joe's in their city will do the same. You can access the webpage by clicking: HERE. Because the world would be a better place if there were more Trader Joe's out there...

Especially one closer to us.

Oh, How I Wish Trader Joe's Were Closer...But That Would Be Dangerous

Saturday, my daughter and I stopped by Trader Joe's--one of only three in our state. Each time I set foot in that store I wish--dare I say daydream--of a world in which one of their stores weren't twenty miles away from where we live.

What a wonderful world it would be.

But, would it really?

For us, the store is dangerous. Because of dietary needs and budgets, we don't buy a lot of food "luxuries." Maybe you're thinking, "I'm not sure if what they sell at Trader Joe's can be considered luxuries." I get it. I understand. What I mean by "luxuries," is this--food we don't have to buy and most likely shouldn't buy, but love to buy. For example, cookies, nacho corn chips, jellybeans, and dark chocolate orange sticks, just to name a few.

No, we shouldn't be buying those things. But when we find ourselves at Trader Joe's, they end up in our shopping cart. And we bring them home. And we eat them.

With gusto. 

It's a good thing we don't shop at the store more often.

Of course, if there were a Trader Joe's closer to us, I'm sure we would visit it more...like weekly, or daily, or hourly. Okay, not hourly, but you get the idea. We'd be there a lot more than we are now. Even though food at Trader Joe's is, for the most part, acceptable to our dietary needs, it's still a budget buster.

I suppose it's good they only have three stores in the state, the closest being half a dozen towns to the south. But when I dive into the Maple Leaf Cookies, I seriously re-think that opinion.

A Tale Of A Christmas Fox, A Scarf...And Chocolate

Three days after Christmas I found a story of a fox and a scarf, and had I paid more attention, I would have discovered the story on December 1st.

You see, the story was printed on the Advent Calendar we picked up at Trader Joe's--didn't expect I'd be treated to a tale of discovery...and advertising. Last year we picked up Advent Calendars. I took mine to work and every day I opened the little paper door, thus earning my chocolate prize left exposed. This year, I set mine on the chest of drawers and basically forgot about it.

Until tonight, that is.

It was then I noticed there was more to this box of chocolates than I first thought. Each of our calendars were different. The kids chose theirs and I got what was left. My calendar showed an adventure of a "Fearless Fox and His Tangled-Up Scarf." As the calendar owner follows the scarf's trail, they would open up another window each day, gobbling up the chocolate, and moving the Fearless Fox one step closer to the end of the scarf, where it will naturally meet up with a turtle.

I had a coupe of thoughts as I looked at the adventure presented before me. It's not very Christmasy. I don't associate foxes and turtles (or even scarfs, for that matter...) with Christmas. It does say there are "24 chocolate days 'til Christmas," but that's it. Also, I found out this particular fearsome fox loves Trader Joe's more than his scarf and that he also loves Trader Joe's World's puffiest white cheddar corn puffs. I've gone my whole life not knowing these interesting bits of nature trivia. And once the fox passes beyond the twenty-fourth day, the turtle exclaims, "You did it!! Now, it's off to Trader Joe's!" I suppose eating all the chocolate is not reward enough--they get to go to Trader Joe's.

As far as adventures go, the fearsome fox tale is not very exciting. It lacks an adequate (or meaningful...) beginning, middle, and/or ending. I suppose it might be different for a child--you know, its intended audience. To be honest, I only wish it had more to do with Christmas. The chocolate pieces were shaped in Christmas themes, stars, drums, bells, and the like.

Funny, there were no chocolate foxes or turtles. I guess we'll just have to go back to Trader Joe's.

A Trader Joe's Theory...But Does It Hold Up?

I came across a story on Yahoo's homepage today. I usually scan the headlines, but rarely do I fall for their catchy headlines. But this click-bate story hooked me, and I bit. It had to do with something bizarre at Trader Joe's.

You can access the Yahoo story: HERE.

It's an interesting theory. According to the article, Actor Daniel Spenser noticed that things found in Traders Joe's have five syllables in their names. Several items were identified to prove his point.

Harvest whole wheat bread 

Mini beef tacos 

Super burrito

Pita bite crackers 

Three seed beet crackers 

Pesto and quinoa

From those examples, Daniel's theory holds true. But I wanted more proof. We had a few Trader Joe's items left over from Christmas. Did the names follow the five-syllable rule?

First item:

Candy Cane Joe-Joe's.

Boom! Works!

Second item:

Mini Dark Chocolate Mint Stars.

Um...maybe? To fit into the five-syllable rule, I have to fudge things. I have to remove "mini" and count chocolate as a two-syllable name, not a three-syllable one.

Last item:

Organic Hot Cocoa Mix.

Nope. Fail.

I can't even fudge this to make this a five-syllable name. If I take off "organic," we're left with hot cocoa mix--that's four. Add organic and we're up to seven.

I still like the theory. I'm sure many people who read the article did what I did, either by thinking of Trader Joe's things, or by rifling through their pantry for Trader Joe's originals. I think when we again visit our state's one and only Trader Joe's, I'm going to see just how many things follow this rule. I'm sure it's more the rule than the exception.

Trader Joe's--A Swell Place...

"You gotta go to Trader Joe's!" we'd hear from our California and Washington State relatives. "If you want natural food that doesn't cost a ton, you need to go."

Well, that's nice if you happen to live close to a Trader Joe's, closer than a few hundred miles. But last year prayers were answered when the company announced plans to open Utah's first Trader Joe's. 

The first time I set foot in the place was earlier this year. I must say, it's no Whole Foods. In fact, the atmosphere felt a little "rustic," and not in the best way. The store wasn't dirty or run down or neglected. It was very clean and the employees could not have been nicer. I guess I was expecting something else.

We visited a Trader Joe's in Camarillo, California and it looked just like the one in Salt Lake. The employees were just as friendly, too.

Tonight we shopped, visited, and spotted the seagull (I'd post a picture where it is, but that wouldn't be fair...). I'm pretty sure we'll be back.