Saturday, November 15, 2008

pasadena - original home of trader joe's


as this wikipedia article notes, the first trader joe's store was on arroyo parkway in pasadena. it is still in operation today, and coincidentally is featured in today's post. we like trader joe's a lot! we just wish there was one located a little closer that we could walk or ride our bikes to. oh, we also don't like that most of their "fresh" produce is wrapped in plastic.

but all in all, a great store. and really something we have grown to love about living in pasadena.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

the rub from my friends is that they are not a union shop, so their crew is not paid all that well, nor get the benefits most checkers have at other stores.

that being said, my family has been shopping at TJ's since day one. I always laugh when a crew memeber who is 1/2 my age asks me if I found everything okay...yeah, I've been finding things in TJ's since looong before you were born!

I too have noticed a lot of plastic involved. I've also found a lot of their foods now contain dairy products as fillers, unlike in days past.

ben wideman said...

Interesting insight! I didn't know about their worker issues. It seems like a happy place to work, but maybe that's not the case.

Laurie Allee said...

That's interesting, Trish. I was under the impression that they were union -- but maybe I'm conflating Trader Joes with Whole Foods.

I have always loved TJs -- but I agree about the plastic issues.

Anonymous said...

I have the same sentiments as far as walking distance, Ben. We are neighbors, after all.

Tish, you remember when that store had the middle island of cheese and pate's? There were torts of veggies ala supre gourmet for only a few bucks, all kinds of TJ specialities.

As far as the union goes-during the last union strike (Ralph's, Von's, etc.) TJ's was the only place I could shop. That was a good time for them. Friends who have worked are working there seem to love it.

Things have changed a bit when ownership went from the Franco-American to the German. Some good, some not.

(I had to add that last part 'cuz my password was "francoof")

Cafe Observer said...

"we just wish there was one located a little closer that we could walk or ride our bikes to."

Hey, what happened to BW? The original guy who ran this blog could ride his bike from Pasadena to Tujunga canyon, to Long Beach, & back! Like another Forest Gump.

But you can't ride down the block on Arroyo Pkway to feed yourself? I hope friend Tim doesn't find out about this.

ben wideman said...

ha ha, okay, I can ride my bike - in fact I've done so before. It's just not as convenient as going up the block to King Ranch, or even over to Ralphs or Vons. The closest TJ's is less than two miles away, but there are at least 3 other grocery stores that are closer to our house.

Anonymous said...

I'm late to this one, but I've been cured of the TJ cult. The cheese is seconds of some thirds and curds; they have almost monthly recalls of vegetables and seafood and meat, and who is this mysterious German family that owns them anyway? People think they're going to some kind of co-op or something, but they're not. There's nothing healthier here than at 99 cent store. I'm going to stay annon, because that family scares me. My word is "dinta", as in Dinta tell you so.