On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:07:51 -0400, "jmcquown" >
wrote:

>Paul M. Cook wrote:

>> Memories of the old TJs. Sigh. Miss that store.
>>
>There isn't a TJ's near me in the Memphis area and certainly not one where I
>am now. But I've noticed a few people here comment the quality and product
>availability at TJ's has gone downhill. Do you find that to be the case?
>Or is it simply (as has also been mentioned) they'll stock something for a
>while, people love it, then it vanishes? (This seems to be true of many
>things I purchase, regardless of the store. Some things I can get the
>manager to order, other things were discontinued by the manufacturer.)

I first started shopping at Trader Joe's store on National Bl. in LA
in 1977 or so. The building was small (one of the original stores) but
packed with wine and cheeses and odd little items not available
elsewhere.

Even back then, though, the founder's modus operandi was to find
manufacturers that were discontinuing a product line or had an
overabundance of a product. He would make a deal with them to buy
their surplus at a steep discount and pass the savings on to his
customer. So that great wine you found last month was likely to be
sold out forever the next time you returned. We learned to return
quickly when we found something we liked and stock up.

It was only after TJ's was acquired by Aldi(?), a German company, that
TJ's began to contract with manufacturers to make products for them at
a reduced price. The founder stayed on as a consultant for a while and
kept things much as they were, but after he retired completely, we
began to see the evolution of Trader Joe's to what it is today.