Originally published at: Anyone who shops at Trader Joes will relate to this hilarious TJs "ad" | Boing Boing
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Yeah. This is correct.
Why can’t trader joes replace walmart and NOT change other than overall size (make bigger) and parkinglot size maybe (also make biggerer)
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I’m with the parking lot complaint, but the small stores are a feature. Pre-covid, I could get in and out of there consistently in less than 20 minutes with a full week’s groceries. Post-covid, there’s a wait to get in, but that’s only because my local TJs is doing a pretty good job of minimizing occupancy.
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At least everywhere I’ve lived, Whole Foods has given them a run for their money. Although my old local WF in SF built a parking garage, where I swear that they marked out the spaces by drawing the outline of a Prius.
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Yeah, I’ve seen couples have one spouse get out of the car and go stand in a spot on another aisle and get into arguments with the people trying to turn into the spot.
Parking at busy grocery stores is always a weird issue. If it’s crowded and you see someone go to their car, you wait rather than continue to circle and miss out on the spot, but then people pile up behind you while the person you’re waiting for takes their time. They start honking behind you, but if you submit to the pressure and move on, then someone behind you who just drove into the lot gets the spot and you continue circling. Either you’re the asshole for making others wait (even though it’s really the person you’re waiting on) or you’re the chump who just circles until lucking out.
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The pandemic has actually made the one in Brooklyn sort of tolerable to shop in. Instead of checkout line that snakes down ever aisle almost back to the entrance, they’re forcing people to queue up around the block instead.
I mean not that I shop there. Life’s too short to spend that much time in line for cookie butter.
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Don’t pass the blame on to the person already in the spot. They can take as long as they damn well please. The only time you’re not the asshole for stopping and holding up other people is if the person with the spot is actively vacating it. Stop being concerned about losing out on a parking spot. you’re life won’t end if you don’t get it.
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Just FYI, the San Diego MTS stops either directly in front of — or very near — more than one Trader Joe’s. There’s even designated seating for those using a portable foldable shopping cart.
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I don’t trade with Joe.
Fuck him.
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It’s not real parking hell unless you get people (in their car) stalking you from the exit as you walk back to your car.
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The only TJ’s I’ve been to that has decent parking is the one at the Westfield Culver City mall in L.A. It shares a parking lot with the mall. Otherwise, the “ad” is accurate, and not by co-incidence.
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strip away all the Trader Joes hyperbola, whad’ya left? Aldi
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Funny cause it’s true.
It’s a do not go zone M-F between 11:30-1:00 and 4-7, and on weekends.
Seriously miss the samples though.
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I remember the TJ’s in union square Manhattan being it’s own kind of crazy… There was basically a line which snaked all the way through the store so theoretically you could just get in line and do all your shopping on the way to the till.
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I can relate to TJ parking… but the SoCal supermarket strike in late 2003 proved to be a benefit for the customers… and for the TJ local to me.
The strike pushed shoppers with little to no experience with TJ to seek them out (it being one of the very few markets open for business then). Before the strike, our TJ’s parking was microscopic – perhaps 30 dedicated spots – and with the adjacent dead end street being the de facto lot. Bad enough… but the massive increase in TJ business allowed it to relocate into a building previously used by a furniture outlet. The lot there is huge, and TJ kept many of the new shoppers from the time of the strike, so, happiness for all.
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I have yet to make it to the local TJ’s because they picked a spot in South Tampa with the tiniest parking lot and worst traffic ever.
It’s a shame because I love their stuff.
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The parking lot for the TJ in Capitol Hill (Seattle) on Madison St is a vertical lot (3ish story death spiral) above the store with the most awkward angles I have ever seen in a parking structure with multiple choke points that require drivers to not only negotiate the difficult space but also interact with other drivers (or be stuck in a mutual stand off).
I never really had any problems there myself but often when we went there I stayed in the car just to watch people be people. Architecture students should travel there from far and wide to see and watch this space.
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Yeah, there was one place I used to shop at that was really known for the park sharks (circling the lot looking for a spot). They never actually ran anyone over while hunting (at least that I saw) but it was a close thing several times.
I used to walk down the wrong aisle, pull out my keys as I walked in-between two cars, and then dart over to where I was really parked.
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