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Comment by msmillie | Hacker News Reader

That someone can innocently and unironically describe Trader Joe's as being "known for low prices" is really the crux of the problem here.

Perhaps you're not familiar with minimum wage?

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http://m.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article.asp?article_i...

http://thebillfold.com/2013/08/price-comparison-battle-safew...

http://www.checkbook.org/interactive/spmkt/other/t/article.c...

> Trader Joe’s received higher overall quality ratings than Dominick’s and Jewel-Osco, and charges similar prices.

I could go on, but I guess you can do your own research. Seriously, their prices are on average, lower than most.

Not sure what you are getting at. Trader's pays very well:

"...full-time crew members can start in the $40,000 to $60,000 a year range."

http://womensenews.org/story/labor/130722/cashier-the-deal-o...

Uneducated, inexperienced, poor people cannot compete for a job that pays that well. It would be trivial to staff the store with much higher quality candidates from farther away. Unless this specific TJ makes an explicit commitment to hire extremely local folks, then there will not be any working there.

My wife and I buy about 20 different items weekly from Trader Joes because it does have the cheapest prices on those 20 items.

Speaking of minimum wage... Trader Joe's pays substantially above it. My niece works there and as a stock clerk she gets paid substantially over minimum wage and has health benefits from them.

It's true and what's more, TJ's is not even close to a one-stop grocery store. They have a few general interest items and a bunch of foods specific only/mostly to their store. Only a nutritionally deficient person could shop solely at TJ, for everyone else I know it's supplemental shopping. There is a lower limit to your wealth before you get to the point where you're in the market for supplemental groceries.

*source: I lived above a TJ's in Berkeley for a few years.

> Only a nutritionally deficient person could shop solely at TJ.

I shop almost exclusively at Trader Joe's* and am not (to my knowledge at least) nutritionally deficient. I get fruits, vegetables, dairy, meats, eggs, bread/cereal, and the odd snack. What am I missing?

In my experience, while it's true that technically they have items for every section of the food pyramid, you're often limited to a very small selection within many of those categories. Maybe your store is better stocked than mine was, but I could only eat there if I had the same few meals repeatedly.

I'll admit to a small bit of hyperbole in calling that nutritional deficiency, I should have better called that a distinct lack of variety.

Trader Joe's can get meal costs really low. If you're past the stage on only eating rice, eggs, and chopped veggies, TJs is comparable to any other store. Having lived in relatively poor neighborhoods that are not at all hip, it's not like fresh fruit is super available otherwise.

Trader Joes has low prices but they don't have the dirt cheap junk food that you might find at some stores. But you can eat cheaply at a Trader Joes. You can also eat very expensively if you go into some their specialty stuff.

They put a Whole Foods (definitely not known for low prices) on a vacant lot in downtown Detroit and it's doing great.

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