So you can’t take shortcuts between the aisles? No, that’s rather uncommon in the whole of Europe, I think. What’s rather common is that, if you enter the shop on the wrong day at the wrong time, your average queue runs deep into the aisles. And , in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, if an additional till opens, there’s some quietish commotion, usually.
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Not really, not with making things even more unpleasant by squeezing past a bunch of surly New Yorkers who suspect you’re trying to jump the queue. The stores are crowded and the aisles are narrow because of a combination of NYC rents per SQF, the city’ population density, and TJ’s general drive to squeeze out the most revenue per SQF (which also explains the tiny parking lots in locations outside NYC).
At other TJs it’s a more typical supermarket layout, with multiple tills and short queues that don’t extend into the main aisles even at busy times. At those locations the parking becomes the main hassle TJ throws at its customers.
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They are owned by members of the same family, also connected somehow to Lidl.
Well that’s what it literally is, right? It’s owned by Aldi (Nord) after all, while Aldi (Süd) is beginning to build actual Aldis in the US.
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I gathered it was something like that. Before I moved to Germany, I knew of Aldi from the commercials on WGN when I watched Cubs games in the 1980s – Harry Carey’s announcing made me a fan back then. Cubs and Red Sox, I was a glutton for punishment… but I digress.
It does seem that Trader Joe’s has more weird foodstuffs than their German counterparts have. I personally live in Aldi Süd territory, so maybe Aldi Nord is different here as well. I just am amused in a juvenile way when I visit my parents at the name of the local supermarket: HEB. Hermann E Butts.
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Honestly, I find this to be an issue at all of them and I know exactly what you mean. I go to two different ones in fairly modest-rent areas, yet still the stores are half the size they should be. The checkout lines all blur together and clog up the entire store. It’s one of the things that keeps me from going often. I find the stores (and the parking) exhausting instantly. They are a crush of chaos and cranky humanity.
And of course, I haven’t gone anywhere near one since COVID. Talk about a high risk space. 
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One of the most dangerous experiences I’ve ever had as a pedestrian was cutting across the Wegmans lot in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard. Would not recommend.
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I have no problems parking at TJs. Or, most anywhere within a few miles of my home. Ride your bike. Walk. Take the bus. Better for you. Better for the folks that can’t do one of the above, and need to drive there.
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Very much so, but with slightly worse selection. Also, they bring products in that you might like and then discontinue them semi-randomly.
Oh, and their prepared food tends to be spicier than some people like. It’s right on the edge of my tolerance and often too much for my family. The Sicilian-style pizza stands out. If you put the pepper-infused olive oil on the pie, you better have high spice tolerance or be ready with bread and milk.
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