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Comment by senkora | Hacker News Reader

Trader Joe's is probably closest to what you want. It targets single shoppers with small quantities and low prices, and it rotates products frequently to keep things interesting.

Anecdotally I feel like a lot of TJ's shoppers shift into Costco shoppers as they age up.

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The nice thing about Trader Joe's is that you can be in and out in 5-10 minutes if you're just buying weekly food items. The store is modestly sized and the checkout lines are short. I'm in there about once a week.

I go to Costco once every three months or so and buy paper towels, detergent, and other consumables that have long shelf lives. I don't feel drawn to it; it's just the warehouse for boring items to buy in bulk. Their hot dog is OK. But a lifestyle? No.

at what volume is the membership worth it?

4 shops/year I wouldn't have thought would justify the cost

We only shop regularly at three stores: Costco (every 2 weeks), TJs (random stuff that we don't need as much of or that is cheaper/better at TJs, like organic peanut butter, or sometimes their cheeses and marinated meats, oh, and the kids love TJ takis, also wine), and our local grocer (makes fresh bread daily, and we get meat, milk and eggs there because they source locally).

I'm reminded of a comedian's bit I heard recently (he does a lot of "crowd work")

> So, what do you guys want to do? Feel like pooling all the cash we have and going to Trader Joe's to buy an apple?

(TBH, I think he said "whole foods" there, but the sentiment is the same.)

Maybe it varies by location, but in my experience, Whole Foods is significantly more expensive than Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's is pretty affordable. It may not be Walmart cheap, but it's no worse than Target.

My wife and I shop at both Costco and TJs. They are our favorite stores...

We're a bit odd though. Highly budget conscious, 4 kidsto feed (including 2 teenagers), and European tastes in food.

I don't think this is abnormal. I think every family in my (middle class+) neighborhood does both Costco and Trader Joes. We don't have a convenient Whole Foods though.

Or vice versa as kids move out and you don't need all that food. We will shop at Costco monthly but TJ is way more common.

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