So, one just opened a few weeks ago in Cary.

http://www.traderjoes.com/

It's one of those big city stores, it's based in Cali.

I went there today, and I noticed 99% of their brand products were their generic brands.

I'm wondering, if anyone could tell me a little about this store if they had one from their home city.

11/30/2006 9:36:12 PM

my coworker was talking it up like it was gold plated shit

11/30/2006 9:53:35 PM

It's pretty damn good.

11/30/2006 10:00:47 PM

TWO BUCK CHUCK!!!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

11/30/2006 10:27:18 PM

great store, unique and descent prices. Use to go to them in socal

11/30/2006 10:30:56 PM

kind of a poor-mans Whole Foods, i think

11/30/2006 10:33:56 PM

^a pretension-free Whole Foods, he means.

11/30/2006 10:35:24 PM

^ good call

11/30/2006 10:35:59 PM

it kicks ass

11/30/2006 10:46:21 PM

two buck chuck ftw

11/30/2006 10:48:23 PM

We just recently got one in the West End and it's probably one of my favorite places to shop (if only because the check-outs move so quickly). I'd agree with the characterization that it's a poor man's Whole Foods.

Pretty much all their products--sans wine and a few cereal brands, I think--are generic. It's the way they do business and keep their prices reasonable...they buy directly from suppliers, and avoid stocking fees, by packaging it themselves.

Another thing to keep in mind is to not get too comfortable with any of the products...if they don't sell well, TJs won't hesitate to pull it off the shelf and stick something else in its place.

Is the two buck chuck really two bucks there? I think it's like $4 here.

11/30/2006 11:19:54 PM

It's $2 out here in California. I know it was $4 in the DC area...

I like some of the pasta they have and they have a decent beer selection. Other then that it isn't worth the extra 5 minute drive over a store like Safeway or Albertson's...

11/30/2006 11:22:10 PM

^2.99 in the ad I got in the mail today

11/30/2006 11:22:29 PM

The newspaper described it as "Kind of like grocery shopping inside a PBS children's television show. In a good way."

11/30/2006 11:28:45 PM

its a great place, went there all the time out Cali last year

11/30/2006 11:32:15 PM

Trader Joe's is so 1997

11/30/2006 11:34:40 PM

soon to be a village deli a few doors down

12/1/2006 12:10:30 AM

my boss was siked about this place, she is from cali and talks like it is the second coming

12/1/2006 12:35:10 AM

it's a great place.

the $2.99 wine isn't bad at all. for large get togethers and cooking, it's the shit.

it's so cheap, i don't mind if some goes to waste.

decent selection, good prices. a non-snooty whole foods is great.

12/1/2006 1:27:51 AM

I don't know if I'm alone in this, but...most nights, I'm cooking for just one or two people and I've found that TJs has a lot of good options for that. Every thing's not all jumbo sized or whatever.

Their gelato, however, sucks.

12/1/2006 1:42:21 AM

Cary (741)
1393 Kildaire Farm Rd.
Cary, NC 27511
Phone: 919-465-5984
Store Hours: 9 am - 9 pm

I'll definitely be checking this out this weekend.

[Edited on December 1, 2006 at 2:03 AM. Reason : ]

12/1/2006 1:56:38 AM

I read about this yesterday and will definitely make a food run this weekend.

12/1/2006 2:00:27 AM

is this place like those Aldi stores?

12/1/2006 11:11:47 AM

the food is more boutiquish....i.e. you wont find the same type products that are on your harris teeter shelves....a little more nuanced and diverse like kay_yow said...they switch stuff up all the time

its sort of like if fresh market and harris teeter had babies

12/1/2006 11:13:28 AM

guy i play poker with was actually talkin bout this place on tuesday night... i have been meaning to go check it out- maybe today

12/1/2006 11:18:16 AM

They opened on up here in Union Square, but I haven't gone, no reason really.

12/1/2006 11:23:58 AM

they say it's a really good cheap place to get your veggies and such

12/1/2006 11:24:25 AM

I'd check it out, but its not close to me

12/1/2006 11:25:52 AM

The two buck chuck is three dollars now.

They also have bottles of wine for $3. From what I was told, the company that makes the wine just buys wine that other wineries didn't/couldn't sell, re-bottles it, and sticks their own label on it. So, you could buy two bottles of their Merlot and they could be from different parts of the world. I thought it was an interesting business model.

12/1/2006 11:38:31 AM

it hasnt really been called "two buck chuck" since it was 2 dollars.

the actual brand of wine is Charles Shaw

the reason they call it x-buck-chuck is beacuse of its low price

so these days its

three buck chuck

as a function of the price

[Edited on December 1, 2006 at 11:43 AM. Reason : not in reference to scack, but everyone who keeps refusing to call it anything but "two buck chuck"]

12/1/2006 11:43:05 AM

^ damn, you're anal

I'm making a special trip to Cary to check it out - I hope it's a good one. Now we just need an In-N-Out Burger.

The one I went to in San Diego was the shit - had tons of good beer, all kinds of frozen food, and Kashi cereal for $2. The one in Seattle wasn't all that impressive though.

12/1/2006 1:07:47 PM

My friend in boston goes on and on about Trader Joes, I"ll have to go check it out when i have some $$

12/1/2006 1:20:50 PM

the frozen food is the bomb

12/1/2006 1:25:48 PM

Quote :

"It's the way they do business and keep their prices reasonable...they buy directly from suppliers, and avoid stocking fees, by packaging it themselves. "

You know, they claim cutting out the middleman saves them mola. So, this might be their method.

Anyways they have some fucking spankass bbq chips. Taste a bit too much like kettle brand chips if you know what I mean vern

The store is before whole foods too on kildare coming from main yard, competitions going to be tight, yo!

12/1/2006 2:16:24 PM

they are building one close to my house. this sounds encouraging since the other local grocery store sucks ass.

12/1/2006 2:30:27 PM

Quote :

"it hasnt really been called "two buck chuck" since it was 2 dollars. "

Bob, for someone so picky about what it is called, you certainly don't know much about it.

Charles Shaw wines is still available in California and a few other states for said $2 price.

Thus, the nickname's persistence is practical, not merely nostalgic.

12/1/2006 2:48:52 PM

really?

and they sell it where you can buy it for 2 bucks?

exactly.

12/1/2006 2:49:48 PM

i just got home from the one in cary my god was that place crowded

picked up some 3 buck chuck... 2005 charles shaw sauvignon blanc

will report back as to how it was

12/1/2006 3:04:45 PM

Whole Foods was packed today at 2:00

don't those people have jobs

12/1/2006 3:09:44 PM

They are all over the place up here.

I had never been in, was pretty misled as to what it actually was.

Here all this time I thought it was a damn camping supplies store, after what a coworker told me he had bought there one time.

12/1/2006 3:12:24 PM

I love this place up in Maryland - It has elements of the Whole Foods type crowd, but it doesn't have the prices.

The real reason I love it though is the large quantity of unique, delicious, healthy, and easy to prepare frozen meals. I think at least 60% of the dinner food I eat now is something I take out of the freezer, throw in a skillet for 5 minutes, and eat. Mostly the unique aspect probably comes from them bringing their own brand products to the east coast from Cali. I'm sure more grocery chains out there probably carry comparable products, but none of the chains out east do.

12/1/2006 3:14:39 PM

Well, Two Buck Chuck is pretty decent for what it is competing against. IMO, you hardly ever find good wine under $10 and it is on par with many <=10 wines. At least for the Syrah/Cab. I can't drink the whites unless I'm just drinking to get drunk.

12/1/2006 3:32:58 PM

they can't sell wine in the maryland stores.

12/1/2006 3:33:53 PM

you cant really say anything about it no matter what you call it

but i have noticed a slight sweet-n-low type taste for whatever reason, btu after a bottle you dont really notice

12/1/2006 3:35:18 PM

In which varietal/blend?

12/1/2006 3:41:10 PM

any of the reds

12/1/2006 3:42:26 PM

Quote :

"and they sell it where you can buy it for 2 bucks?"

it was still $1.99 within the last month or so in san diego (la jolla actually)

i like trader joe's, though i can't really do all of my grocery shopping there

i prefer to get my produce at henry's market (also called wild oats, i believe) where it's really cheap but with a better selection than TJs

i really wouldn't compare trader joe's to whole foods, it's a lot less expensive and without the 'organic' emphasis -- the TJs in la jolla is right across the street from whole foods (and right next door to ralphs, a big grocery chain like harris teeter) -- they each seem to have their own niche in the grocery world

12/1/2006 3:52:54 PM

there were a few in tucson, there were at least twice as many in the seattle area. i guess its already been noted how "widespread" they are out west though. its really not THAT big a deal, i guess everyone is interested cause its "new" - which is understandable.

its like when all the hardees turn into carls jr. then they all get the bonus shop: THE GREEN BURRITO!!!1

go if you want, but its really just another new thing. thats why everyone in raleigh is like OMFG!!!!!1

[Edited on December 1, 2006 at 3:55 PM. Reason : ;]

12/1/2006 3:54:53 PM

Quote :

""and they sell it where you can buy it for 2 bucks?""

you're not bdgimms

12/1/2006 3:57:02 PM

I'm not bdgimms either, but yes, they do sell it where you can purchase it for $2.

12/1/2006 4:04:38 PM