Trader Joe is easily my favorite supermarket chain. Good prices, great food, friendly workers, I've taken to doing the majority of my shopping there.

When I worked at TJs during Covid we had a hand wash break during register. I would ring the giant bell and announce “PREPARE FOR THE HOURLY CLEANSING! PRAISE JOE!” And we would all bow to the framed portrait of Joe at the front of the store. I wanted customers to think we were a real cult. Good times.

"Oh, is this Two Buck Chuck?" * sips * "Nope.. the Oerther one."

TJs has been my favorite store since FOREVER !!!! real food/drink you can afford !!! and it is GOOD, tasty, varied !!!!

About 15 years ago, I met Joe Coulombe at a party at Jones Coffee Roasters in Pasadena. Thank you Joe. You have our unwavering gratitude. Fun fact, a friend of mine lives in Joe’s former residence in San Marino CA.

I wonder how Weird History Food is coming up with these unimaginably odd questions that someone has never asked before yet still leaves us wondering.

My neighborhood has a small furniture store named Trader Joe's that was established before Trader Joe's opened up in the state. He was here first so he didn't have to change the name of his store.

H-Mart! I recently moved to a neighborhood that has one, and I'm a convert.

I like that they name their international brands different variations of Joe. Spanish food is Trader Jose and Italian food is Trader Giotto.

One of the Albrecht brothers owns what we call Aldi and the other has Trader Joe's. The brothers had an argument over the sale of cigarettes and split the company into Aldi Nord and Aldi Sud. Aldi Sud is what we now now as Aldi and Nord bought and operates Trader Joe's. There's some useless but hopefully interesting facts!

They also had a robust mail order catalog published in black and white, mostly. That was the first time I ever heard of the store.

These are the exact kind of videos I come here for. I'm constantly wikipedia'ing every company I can think of, to learn more, and have useless knowledge of. Thanks for the great upload.

You don't go to Trader Joe's looking for something; you go to Trader Joe's to find something.

I love trader Joe's. They have such unique items. It's a fun store to shop in.

My favorite TJ's products for a very long time have been their "Kettle Brewed" Unsweetened Black Iced Tea, and their TJ's Stevia. In the former case, I got used to drinking unsweetened iced tea all the time after living in Texas for a number of years, and completely cut all sweetened sodas and soft drinks from my diet. For a long time most other supermarkets didn't carry unsweetened tea -- they'd have "Diet Tea", which was tea with artificial sweetener, but I could never understand why tea+nothing was so hard to find anywhere else, and TJ's was the only game in town. Furthering the quest to cut down on sugar, a former co-worker from Central America introduced me to Stevia years ago. He said it used as a sweetener for ages in central and south American countries, just called "sweet plant". Completely natural, unlike the more common artificial sweeteners like saccharine or aspartame, but wasn't chemically absorbed by the body like sugar is. Unfortunately thanks to the efforts of the American sugar lobby on our Congress, enough Senators and Representatives were bought and paid for to keep the sale of stevia in the USA illegal -- as a sweetener. My co-worker explained that it could be sold instead as a "supplement", and that at the time TJ's carried it. I had used their stevia packets in my coffee for years. However, just my luck, both of these products have been discontinued over the last year or two! 😞Fortunately the laws changed so stevia can now be sold as a sweetener, so there are several brands available in regular supermarkets (FYI I buy the "Stevia in the Raw" brand, because it's the only widely available one I've found which does not contain the additive erythritol, which some recent studies suggest could be harmful) And although the Kettle Black Tea has been discontinued, TJ's now also sells a Kettle White Tea with Mint, which I really enjoy in the evenings, as well as Oolong Tea (exactly the same kind of bottles that you'd find in vending machines in Japan!), so these make up for the loss! 🙂

I love seeing that the very 1st Trader Joe's is still operating in Pasadena. _(Slightly off topic)_ I currently live in Seattle blocks away from Pike Place and will never never walk into the touristy "original" starbucks... I often scoff and sometimes cajole tourists that will stand in line up to an hour just to get into that store which is the only place that they sell (coffee) and specific mugs and t-shirts. BUT the original Trader Joe's!! I would actually make the trip if I still lived in California just to take selfies and maybe get another shopping bag!! Oh, and really great food for a picnic!

Trader Joe's is my weekly destination. 5 aisles instead of 20, grab my favorites, look around at anything new and the customers. It's always an uplifting event. Unique. 👍🙏

Aldi is an interesting piece of trivia since its not the same Aldi we have in the US which is Aldi Sud, Trader Joes is Aldi Nord.

Trader Joe's is not so cheap anymore. I don't buy much wine, but I swear the "two buck chuck" was over $5. I went to TJ's and then swung by Aldi. TJ's was always a little more expensive, but now it feels like everything costs nearly twice as much as Aldi. FYI, the cheapest wine at Aldi was $4.99. But their staples are still super cheap, which is what matters. Aldi, never change.

I've always joked that the one major criteria for any new TJ's store is that the parking lot needs to be horribly laid out with nowhere near enough spaces for the demand hahahaha

I was genuinely shocked by how cheap the prices were when I went into Trader Joe's. For the higher-quality food (like grass-fed milk or beef, good dark chocolate, etc) or things like electrolyte water, the Trader Joe's in my town is actually cheaper than the Wal-mart less than a mile away. I kind of always thought of Trader Joe's as a smaller, more alcohol-focused Whole Foods, but they have really good deals. Oh, and I don't drink, but I can understand why my sisters like Trader Joe's, being high-functioning alcoholics.

A+ video! LOVE IT! Such a fascinating history about this cool store!

Good video! I live in northern Washington State and the Bellingham Trader Joes attracts a lot of Canadian shoppers. Its a zoo near Christmas, with half the cars in the lot from Canada. Id never heard of Pirate Joes though. Ive shopped at TJs for more than 20 years and still love it! 🌺🌺🌺

When I was younger I worked at two of the three original stores. The original idea was to serve the "over educated and under paid." The first 3 stores are located in Northeast Los Angeles where there are several colleges: CalTech, Occidental College, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena City College, and Glendale Community College.

I love Trader Joe's. When I lived in Illinois, my apartment was less than 20 from two, and a half hour from another. Now that I live in Alabama, the nearest TJ is over an hour away. 😢 My favourite product is the Orange Chicken, and chicken fried rice. I also love their line of frozen Indian foods.

the "Joe" is actually Joe Mam- 💀

Always appreciate you're videos

WHF, keep up the awesome work!! I have been binging your videos over the last couple days and have been loving it! Please do a video on Schlotsky's.... I'm very surprised you guys haven't done a "Surprising History" on them!

Ready for the next Timeline series!

Thanks for this! 🛒

The trader joes maple cookies are amazing

They are not an upscale grocer, but they do cater to some cosmopolitan tastes. They have great snack products, but their produce is so poor, and they need to do more to lose all the plastic packaging. Good video, thanks.

I just went to Trader Joe's yesterday so perfect timing lol

Unfortunately I’ll never step foot in one as they don’t really have stores in lower income neighborhoods and I’m not driving two hours to go to one

Awesome video

The biggest problem with Trader Joes is that they discontinue items fast and on a very regular basis. Don't let an item become your favorite - it will be gone without a suitable replacement.

The music at the end always gets me lol I have to do a little dance to it!

Fav grocery store ever! Thank u Joe!! And my local store is the original in Pasadena, am in there 2-4 times a week

(8:55) Madeleine cookies predate Trader Joe’s. It just may be a coincidence that his daughter was also named Madeleine.

Best narrator on the Interwebs!!!

Always thought trader’s Joe was pretty neat place whenever I go there .

Trader Joe's holds a very, very special place in my heart, for multiple reasons.

5:58 Those Vishnu-like arm movements remind me of the music video "Mickey" by Toni Basil. That is one of my favorite music videos of all-time.

love it

My favorite narrator is back!! His voice is awesome, and his sarcasm is perfect in both tone and timing. 🙃

Watching this living in the Uk makes me want to go to a traders joes so bad

As an American citizen resident of Vancouver, I'd like to point out the city is actually located in Washington State and was established in 1825. Part of the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area, it has a population of 2.5 million residents and there are MANY Trader's Joes locations in the area. Vancouver, British Columbia, located in Canada and the one referenced in this video, was established 37 years later in 1862 and only has a population of 631,000 residents. I know many people hear "Vancouver" and think Canada just like most hear "Portland" and think Oregon, not Maine, but it's always worth mentioning the country or state just to be clear. 😉 Love the content! Please keep it coming! 😀👍

i love this narrator so much!

I love Trader Joe’s Portuguese Custard Tarts

I love trader joe's Many years as a customer I enjoyed this video

TJs is the Poor man’s Whole Foods!!!!!🤗🤗🤗

I don't live in an area with a Trader Joe's, but I shop there every time I am in a place with one. We pretty much go there 6-8x a year, so we almost always have TJ products anyway. Closest one is over 2 hrs away.

My favorite grocery store.

There is nothing wrong with Two Buck Chuck. It tastes just fine. It's also good for sauces, etc. ALSO- The very easy return policy and scads of in-house brands is an Albrecht thing. You get the same deals at Aldi Süd or Nord, easy returns and in-house brands.

Oh man, I love their eggplant garlic spread…😋🥰

Maybe someday Wegmans will be big enough for a video.

Please do The History of The Kroger's Grocery Store Chain and The Meijer's Grocery Store Chain

3:59 Speaking of the Rose Bowl...tomorrow's National Championship game is a repeat of the 1992 Rose Bowl!

I lived less than 5 minutes from one in Florida. Now I have to drive 30 minutes to one and I never realized how much I’d miss having one that close. 😢

Yes , I like this narrator voice 😊👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼😀

That was the Trader Vic's at the Hilton Park Lane London, sadly closed New Year 2022.

as a Southern Ontario Canada guy who lived in L A County for over a decade ... I was pleased to find that the PRESIDENT'S CHOICE house brand products from the Canadian grocery giant LOBLAW were all over the shelves at Trader Joes. Also, the supplier of many "P C" products were from "Suncrest Foods" ... and Trader Joes' fine print on its house brand were from the same source. The Vancouver Pirate Joe ??? was unaware of how many TJ products were Canadian to begin with .. or from the same suppliers. That is weird.

2:34 On the channel Suzan Hall, she is a big fan of the musical duo Captain & Tennile.

Ever since the popcorn video I’ve been eating Orville Redenbacher’s lmao

0:36 We watched G.I. Joe: The Movie at a sleepover for one of my friend's birthdays in elementary school.

0:04 I will never forget about the film Oh, God! (1977) I remember the court scene where he wasn't on their recorder.

I was introduced to them in the early 90s when there were only a few here and there outside my city! I was hooked but no longer owned a car after 1991. But whenever I rented a car for other things I took advantage of it and usually made a trip to one! They were great for inexpensive party supplies! A then roommate came along on one of those trips and had the wrong mindset of "taking a specific list" and expecting to fulfill it! The stores finally moved in to the city limits in the mid 90s and I couldn't have been happier!

9:50 That octopus reminds me of the tv series The OA (2016).

I met Joe Colombe in his Culver City, CA. store back in the 1980s.

I live right next to the original trader joes in Pasadena… wish they stayed only in SoCal 😂

Favorite product? The cheese department. Several individual fav items have been discontinued. I still miss the beef stew. But they have a great cheese selection and wonderful prices on them. Best selling product is their frozen mandarin orange chicken. Love the chocolate covered peanut butter filled pretzels.

11:02 “Pirate Joe’s scuttled their ship for good…” is this why the sign reads “Irate Joe’s”, cuz I think joe has cause to be angry 😂😂😂

Two Buck Chuck sounds like the name of a Las Vegas low roller.🎰🎲

The Korean food selection is amazing

4:34 My younger brother and his wife live in Arizona and they go to Trader Joe's all the time!

Im a fan and i love the vegetable fried rice

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Seeds still in the shells is my very favorite item.

Right now in the freezer I have TJ's Mandarin Orange Chicken, Beef Birria, Tamales, and Beef Bulgogi. My store is right around the corner. It's my personal adult playground. Mine is alcohol free though.

5:38 I used to ask the local bank for a stack of $2 bills, still do at times.

Most of the stuff on Wierd History and Food orgins i read years ago in Uncle John's Bathroom reader's series of great books about unusual stories and odd facts.

3:39 My neighbor, who owns the "cat house" next door, gave me the DVD for the Disney film Dr. Syn (AKA The Scarecrow) and a book that tells the story. He is a lot like the character Wilson on the tv series Home Improvement.

I'd love to know the story of the Midwest grocery Dierbergs or Schnucks. I grew up in St. Louis MO, and through high school, mowed the lawn and did landscaping for the Dierbergs family house. Well one of them.

My fiancé has been begging for an Aldi history video

I accompany a friend when they go to Trader Joe’s. I never really thought they were very affordable. They seemed expensive, like New Seasons, but that’s just me.

Aldi here in the Netherlands has some Trader Joe's products so they do crossover a little bit

My favorite TJ's product is one they no longer carry: their "Habeas Salsas" potato chips. Not seeing the shelves restocked for awhile, I asked a manager of one the stores here in Low-Cal So.Cal. [where $ is plastic & people are too!] "What's the hold up, when is the next shipment due?" to which he answered "Oh, we no longer carry that: it didn't sell." Clearly, the buyers looked at the sales stats of shipment arrives Tuesday, and no sales of that item after Wednesday and concluded that *because they sold out the day after restocking EVERY SINGLE WEEK* that the item was unpopular! 🙄 This is the problem w/ hiring MBAs w/ zero actual experience working a real job, they tend to miss the forest for the trees... Anyway, I grew up in Pasadena, and am intimately familiar w/ all aspects of TJ's product history as a customer, altho' this video was very interesting from a corporate standpoint as I only recently learned about the Aldi's acquisition. I had no idea that we had Joe's successor to blame for the shift from being a quirky local chain that dealt in supplier overstocks, end of run & warehouse clearances for the shift to the extremely corporate banality of the current business model in the mid-90s. There was a time when you simply *had* to be on the mailing list for the TJ newsletter, as there was no way you would know about whatever new & wonderful discoveries were available that month. Now the Fearless Flyer has exactly the same content year over year, altho' they do shuffle the order in which they're presented and have slight changes to the graphics so the noobs never catch on... I barely go into Trader Joes any more, for tripping over all the yuppie scum who shop there exclusively. Grocery Outlet has some *slight* hint of what fun shopping at TJ's used to be. Back in the day, all the derelict winos would hang out in the alley behind the Pasadena store, because the people looking for a good deal on wine would go into the store, buy a bottle, go out back & sample it, then hand off the bottle to whichever wino seemed soberest. If it was any good, they'd go back into the store and buy enough to fill up their trunk, because you'd never see that deal again. Lather/rinse/repeat on a monthly basis. Ah, the good old days!

How about Woodmans a grocery store chain in Wisconsin and Illinois?

i knew it, it was Joe!!

The booze is good. All aspects - range, value, and quality

intrestingly here in germany trader joes is a brand that is exclusive to Aldi. Did not know that it is a own chain of markets in the USA.

When my mother was alive she'd ask me to go to TJs to pick her up some things before each visit. She loved the dunkers and hand lotion.

Could you do a Weird History Food on Aldi?

Since when is Trader Joe’s upscale?! I shop there weekly, in large part because of the good selection AND great prices.

"Who is the Joe?" JOE MAMA HAHAHAHAHA

The tamales and enchiladas are the best you can find anywhere. What blows my mind is how I live in Anaheim, a city of 350 thousand people with the world's premier resort area, and yet there is no Trader Joe's. I have to drive 8 mi to get to the closest one. There's no Sprouts market here either.

Howard E Butt If you don't do a video on the HEB in Texas I will be very disappointed.

Sadly, when TJ discontinued their Feta Cheese salad dressing many stopped shopping at TJ. It was the best salad dressing on the market!!!!!

The whole store. I have been shopping with Trader Joe's since 1989 in Burien, Washington> I will not trade or buy from any one else. What got me to start is that I have food allergies. I love Trader Joe's. G. Timm

I like how he keeps calling it upscale when it's much less expensive than most of the supermarkets in my area 🤣

Quebec Canada- is where is that -😁😁😁 Jpl- 5.00 easy wine-