Trader Joe's has notoriously rich dumpsters. There were many years when my whole house lived off bags of pizza dough and packaged vegetables. Once I found a whole case of wine. Seriously. One of the bottles broke and they just through the whole case away. It was awesome.

But I would never in a million years actually pay them for food. That would be ridiculous. We already have the best coop in the world for crying out loud! 

 But not as a first, second or third choice.  I figure Bayview and Ralphs fill much of the same niche as a TJ would. 

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress." --Mark Twain

As illuminating as your comments were, they didn't answer my question:

I tend to lean toward the pro-Joe. But I'm willing to be educated. Tell me why TJ is a bad thing for Oly.

Wouldn't it be good if Ralph's/Bayview had some competition? 

I grew up in Southern California (yeah, I know) and there was a very small (and THE FIRST) TJ's walking distance from my high school. I loved ditching class, going to get a burger, then heading across the street for a herking chunk of chocolate from TJ's. Ahhhh, memories.

And like stevenl, I'm a little confused by the opposition to Trader Joe's. Why, exactly? "we already have Ralph's/Bayview" - I would kill to give them some competition. "we have the co-op" - their offerings don't completely overlap, and like others, I find it...challenging...sometimes to shop there.

Me, I'm thinking of it as an alternative to Albertson's, Safeway or Fred Meyer. Honestly? I spend most of my grocery dollars at Fred Meyer. I think Trader Joe's could be a pretty decent option for some of the things I buy there.

Look, another cookie-cutter big-box grocery store is opening every 3.8 minutes out in Lacey. (Okay, I exaggerate. But still.) This is something at least a little different, that gives people around here -- who can't afford/won't shop at the Stormans Thriftways; who can't find some of the things they want at the co-op -- another option. So why the hostility?

Also, check out the wikipedia article on Trader Joe's. (That's how I found out that the one I used to walk to was the very first!) There's definitely some interesting info there.

According to employees I know who work there, Trader Joes is actually a very good employer. I currently have a friend in Portland who worked up to TJ management and about four friends currently employed their in SoCal. When I lived near a TJ's, we tried to buy as large a % of our food there as we could, because it was both cheaper and higher quality than the supermarkets, and far less pretentious than Wild Oats and other "gourmet" natural foods stores which we couldn't afford to shop at.

For example: where else, in 1993, could you buy six kinds of granola at 1.29 a pound? Everywhere else it was 4.35 a pound. Same with raw nuts. The beer selection and pricing vector there is second to none. This is why their closet motto has always been, "For the over-educated and underemployed". People who know what's good and can't always afford to buy it flock to TJ's... Unless there is another local and even more compelling option like both Ralphs and the co-op might be.

Currently I shop at Ralphs and the co-op, and the things I'd primarily start buying at TJ's if one came into town aren't things that I'd normally find at the co-op: beer, frozen cream puffs, jars of roasted red peppers,  the kind of hummus I'd buy, etc.

I'll also point out that not everything at the co-op is "local". For example, coconut milk, jars of curry, and hundreds of other things that you are buying there just to support the fact that they also sell locally made products.

Dave Shackelford

and some good issues brought up to make me think. 

I'll add another ingredient. I know a few people who are die-hard TJ fans and will drive all the way up north to shop there. I wonder if a local TJ would be a good thing in terms of gas miles and traffic?

Personally, my fave place to shop for food is Grocery Outlet. Just going there is always entertaining and a trip. And the merchandise never fails to capture my interest in the bizarre. But then again I am not the world's healthiest eater.  

i just don't see what's so great about TJs. they don't really have anything that would make me want to shop there, regardless of their business practices.

people drive significant distances to shop at TJs? bizarre.

and would be unwilling to buy anything at TJ's that the Co-op also sells.  That said, I've heard that TJ's has really amazingly good deals on wine....

The Canaanite's Call

The last time I saw the progressive community this divided was during the height of the Native American whale hunt controversy in Neah Bay. Who would've thought the possibility of a local Trader Joe's could bring this sort of division out?

So let me pose yet another question. If TJ moves here, who would feel the greater impact, the local co-ops and farmers' markets, or, Bayview/Ralph's? My own feeling is that the latter would suffer more, as the former seem to have a more dedicated following.  

Let me say I really appreciate the civil tone of this discussion. I'm learning quite a bit here. Thanks OlyBloggers. 

I thought the selection was interesting, sort of global grocery store. I thought portions were a little small (that's a plus) and I thought quality was good. 

Prices didn't seem bad, but smaller portions, so pound for pound probably higher.  

I thought the working folks seemed happy and engaged.  

That's the upside. 

Downside:  I think there was way too much packaging of the grocery items.  Maybe that's the way it has to be with their global approach, but it turned me off because I don't like the idea of paying for packaging and then having the extra headache of recycling it.  

We shop the coop more often than Ralphs.  TJ in Olympia would not change our habits.  We would still shop primarily at the Coop.  

I was wondering where all of this started and tracked down Emmett's post.

Maybe TJ could purchase the deserted brewery in Tumwater and do something creative with it?