Trader Joes
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Trader Joe 's is a privately owned grocery store that sells a variety of natural and healthy food and beverage options. Their headquarters is located in Monrovia, California and they have about 350 stores in roughly 25 states. It was started by Joe Coulombe as a Los Angeles convenience store chain in 1958, and then the company was bought in 1979 by German billionaires Karl and Theo Albrecht, who founded the ALDI food chain. Trader Joe’s competes within their niche market of organic and health food grocery stores with stores like Wild Oats and Whole Foods, as well as big grocery stores such as Hannaford, Roche Bros, and Market Basket. To keep costs down, its stores have no service departments and average about 10,000-15,000 sq. ft. The company 's specialty is its line of more than 2,000 private-label products (70% of sales), including beverages, soup, snacks, and frozen items. Some observers think that sales per square foot at Trader Joe 's are hovering at about $1,000 -- twice the level of typical supermarkets. Sales last year were roughly $8 billion, the same size as Whole Foods and bigger than those of Bed Bath and Beyond.
Their goal is to offer value and a dedication to quality service through warm, friendly, committed employees along with a pledge to offer quality products. Their mission is to “bring customers the best food and beverage values and the information to make informed buying decisions. There are more than 2,000 unique grocery items in our label, all at honest everyday low prices. We work hard at buying things right: Our buyers travel the world searching for new items and we work with a variety of suppliers who make interesting products for us, many of them exclusive to Trader Joe’s. All our private label products have their own "angle," i.e., vegetarian, Kosher, organic or just plain decadent, and all have minimally processed ingredients.” This mission requires a culture that supports loyalty and customer service through personal contact
Trader Joe 's is a privately owned grocery store that sells a variety of natural and healthy food and beverage options. Their headquarters is located in Monrovia, California and they have about 350 stores in roughly 25 states. It was started by Joe Coulombe as a Los Angeles convenience store chain in 1958, and then the company was bought in 1979 by German billionaires Karl and Theo Albrecht, who founded the ALDI food chain. Trader Joe’s competes within their niche market of organic and health food grocery stores with stores like Wild Oats and Whole Foods, as well as big grocery stores such as Hannaford, Roche Bros, and Market Basket. To keep costs down, its stores have no service departments and average about 10,000-15,000 sq. ft. The company 's specialty is its line of more than 2,000 private-label products (70% of sales), including beverages, soup, snacks, and frozen items. Some observers think that sales per square foot at Trader Joe 's are hovering at about $1,000 -- twice the level of typical supermarkets. Sales last year were roughly $8 billion, the same size as Whole Foods and bigger than those of Bed Bath and Beyond.
Their goal is to offer value and a dedication to quality service through warm, friendly, committed employees along with a pledge to offer quality products. Their mission is to “bring customers the best food and beverage values and the information to make informed buying decisions. There are more than 2,000 unique grocery items in our label, all at honest everyday low prices. We work hard at buying things right: Our buyers travel the world searching for new items and we work with a variety of suppliers who make interesting products for us, many of them exclusive to Trader Joe’s. All our private label products have their own "angle," i.e., vegetarian, Kosher, organic or just plain decadent, and all have minimally processed ingredients.” This mission requires a culture that supports loyalty and customer service through personal contact
Bibliography: Kowitt, Beth. “Inside the Secret World of Trader Joe’s” CNNMoney.com, August 23, 2010. <http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/20/news/companies/inside_trader_joes_full_version.fortune/index.htm> Trader Joe’s webpage <www.Trader Joes.com> “Trader Joe’s Secret Plan for World Domination” Vegan.com, August 23, 2010 http://vegan.com/blog/2010/08/23/trader-joes-secret-plan-for-world-domination Trader Joe’s Company Profile, Answers.com < http://www.answers.com/topic/trader-joe-s-company> Mallinger, Mark & Rossy, Gerry, “Trader Joe’s Experience The Impact of Corporate Culture on Business Strategy”. TheManager.Org, 2007 Volume 10, Issue 2. <http://www.themanager.org/Strategy/Trader_Joe_Corporate_Culture_Strategy.htm>