Trader Joes

[indysteel]

Muirenn and I buy a lot of the same things at TJ's. I'll admit that I rarely get much that's perishable there, because it's a long drive from my house and the only time I'm in the area, I'm not usually going straight home.

I'll be honest that I think TJ's is overrated in a lot of ways. Yes, they have fresh bread, cheap booze, decent cheese, and an okay selection of organic veggies (but so does my regular supermarket), but a lot of them are packaged in such a way that you have to buy more than you might need. It seems to me that a lot of their food is just processed food or is labeled and packaged in such a way as to appear like a heathier option when it's really not. Plus, the don't have a lot of things--at least at our TJ's--like lentils or dry beans that I would expect a store like that to have. I end up buying more whole foods at my regular supermarket.

[Catrin]

I get some of their cheese, organic veggies (less expensive than my other sources and typically they are more fresh), coffee, and frozen fish/chicken. I have certain things I get from them, certain things from Whole Foods, and certain things from the regular supermarket. Back when I still used milk and cottage cheese I only bought it from them. It works for me since I am pretty close, but I doubt that I would drive across town on a regular basis.

One nice thing about TJ is if you don't like something, doesn't matter why, all you have to do is to tell them when you return and they will refund it or apply it to your purchase. No receipt required, and you don't have to return the item. I've done this a handful of times - they make it very easy to do. They will do this even if you simply didn't like how something tasted.

[Crankin]

I do go there, but for a limited # of things: nuts, dried fruits, cheeses, lox. I guess if you want/need some kind of prepared ethnic food, that looks good and is cheaper than in other places. The produce is pathetic looking and I can get meat at my regular market and fish at a real fish market. I live near an abundance of small family farms good for summer and fall, and 2 large gourmet farm markets, one of which has every imaginable item you might need for a recipe, awesome produce, bakery, meats. I pray sometimes for the fact that I no longer live only 5 miles from this store, as I used to buy all produce here.
Really, my grocery store has everything, just about that I need, and when that fails, I go to the farm market or the local natural foods store. My regular market has coconut oil and Ezekial bread, so what more do I need?

[Becky]

I buy my almond butter and coconut oil there, simply because they're cheaper than anywhere else.

[indysteel]

Most of their nuts are a really good deal, and that's largely what we stock up on when we go there. They also have individually sized bags of a trail mix with almonds, cranberries and cashews that we really like to carry when we bike and hike.

[emily_in_nc]

When we lived near a TJs, we tended to buy mostly their house-brand organic cereal (Golden Flax...yummy and inexpensive), light coconut milk (great price), organic tortilla chips, and (of course) WINE.

Oh -- they also had the lowest price on almond milk around.

I miss TJs!