Trader Joe’s

Excellent employees and customer service! The reason for 4 stars is due to the customers. I’ve never been there when there wasn’t small kids running around with mini grocery carts, blocking the isles, massive temper tantrums and clueless parents that apparently think it’s cute.
Parents, get a clue,
It’s not other people’s responsibility to watch your kids…

This is my go-​to for almost all of my grocery shopping. I have four guys at home to feed and this store gives me the best bang for my buck, all the while getting fresh, organic, local, excellent, and fair priced food. They have a huge variety of gluten free, dairy free, nut free, etc… to choose from –accommodating everyone in my household’s diet needs. And the people here are the cream of the crop. Friendly. Funny. Helpful. Kind. Trader Joes has not only saved my grocery budget, but I love the vibe of the store and its people.

The store is tiny and is cramped nearly every time I go there. In addition to adults, there are also kids with mini shopping carts to make sure you can’t get anywhere. Without fail they will be out of stock on at least one thing I go for and there aren’t that many things I can only get there. Being so small there is little variety. It seems to have this health food reputation which is silly, there are tons of junk compared to their healthy foods. The employees are really good for the most part but the store attracts too many «posture and pose» people with inflated egos. I’ve been shopping there for 5 years and it’s the same bad experience each time.

Man I love this store. The crew members are always very helpful and have great suggestions. I won’t buy flowers anywhere else, they are just a great value and they last a long time. I’m so glad Bend has a Trader Joes!

Usually go the TJs in Princeton NJ but am visiting in Oregon and had to get my coffee! In this land of coffee I still had to get my TJs decaf and gring it fresh at the store. Saw some interesting olive oils and nuts we dont have at home. Juts great consistent quality across the board and love their policy of accepting returns of NAY item you dont like, even if half gone, for a full refund.
Oh and the staff is always friendly and outgoing, and will even research an item for you if they dont know all the details. 5 stars!

This is our main grocery store, because we eat as organic and local as possible, and we cook a lot. Trader Joe’s is a lot more reasonably priced than Whole Foods since they brand food under their own label, but it’s all quality stuff. I happen to know that their facial cleanser is from a high end dermatology clinic in SoCal. It’s an amazing value!
They have certain things seasonally and not always in stock, but that’s how I like to shop. I only want things that are in season and not imported from a million miles away. That said, I don’t buy pork, lamb or beef at Trader Joe’s because it’s not local and the organic beef is not pasture raised (or its from New Zealand which uses insane amounts of energy to get here).
The things Trader Joe’s does well are it’s imitation products, such as their Joe Joe’s (natural Oreos), yogurts, bakery goods, local breads, inventive products like their condiments and marinades, their free range organic eggs (cheaper than anywhere else), nuts and trail mix, wild caught, sustainable skipjack tuna, local produce deals like their boxes of peaches and nectarines (seasonal, of course), and their cheeses, which are a great price and variety.
They also have a wonderful customer service policy and you can bring back anything that you don’t like, for a full refund. I’ve written to their corporate office a ton of times about different products and they love customer feedback, plus they’ll send you a gift card.

«Traitor Joe’s»… that’s funny Lex E.
Speaking of Traitor Joe’s… it would be great if TJ’s Customers would all ask TJ’s Bend why they are selling a gallon of organic whole milk for $ 1.00 more than Safeway’s store brand and Whole Foods store brand. TJ’s price was $ 5.99. TJ’s price as of March was: $ 6.49. Safeway & WF price: $ 5.49 PRICE GOUGING. TOTALLY!
I asked the local store in Bend and they had no comment. I was advised to call Corporate. I called Corporate and left a message. My call was never returned. I started emailing them. After sending several emails, I FINALLY GOT A RESPONSE:
«We appreciate you bringing your concerns to our attention. We only increase our prices when our costs increase. We evaluate our cost increases on a product by product basis. Unfortunately, with everything going on in the world, costs are increasing for a number of products.
There are a lot of factors at play, including labor costs for manufacturers, but the cost of raw materials. Especially with the increased demand for corn and wheat, which are two of the most common ingredients used in the world. Price increases are not just based on the costs of gas and there has been a shortage of organic milk overall causing this increase.
We do not raise our prices unless our costs increase, period. We are dedicated to being as efficient as possible, and negotiating strongly on behalf of our customers, because we do not like to raise prices. We are also dedicated to making sure we have great prices across the board, especially when compared to all other retailers.
We never raise prices to take advantage of popular items… never. We can also assure you that when our costs go down we will extend these savings on to our customers.»
SO I WROTE BACK:
«Your response about the price of milk makes no sense as milk at TJs is $ 1.00 more than Whole Foods and Safeway. Additionally the USDA has said that milk prices for the consumer should be down in 2015.
I feel that you did not research the milk prices in Bend and that your response — as it mentions things I didn’t — was a form letter response. I am very disappointed — I expected more from you.
I feel like there is some PRICE GOUGING going on and that the customer service regarding same has been very poor.»
TO WHICH THERE HAS BEEN NO RESPONSE!

Great quality groceries with some of the lowest prices in town! It’s always a bummer though when you go the night they are restocking though because there is literally nothing on their shelves. Love the variety of items they have, especially since I can’t find them anywhere else! Their frozen section is dangerous, I want to buy everything in that aisle!

From now on I’m calling this place «Traitor Joe’s» — why? Because they’ve turned traitor on their customers.
I’ve been shopping at TJ’s on and off for years… but I progressively notice a shift in their products towards items with MORE preservatives, additives, GMO’s and gluten in their products. Used to be I could just walk in, get a salad and a sandwich and know that, while I wasn’t buying organic, I didn’t have to worry about a bunch of bullsh*t ingredients and chemicals in my food. This is not the case anymore.
If you shop here you need to read the ingredient list of everything you buy. Especially the grab and go items. Might as well shop at Safeway.
I am also finding less and less organic options… Not that their «organic» label is anything more than a joke anyway. When you private label things organic the name is completely meaningless. It isn’t FDA approved. And the farm that it comes from and the practices on that farm are COMPLETELY HIDDEN. Sorry, but that is too much trust to place in your company. How about a little transparency?
Also as a last note, I find the quality of the produce deplorable. Their bagged salads last absolutely no more than one or two days in the fridge… and half the time I get home and my salad is already soggy and gross. I’ve had lemons and grapefruit mold in my fridge only a couple days after purchase. How long was it sitting in TJ’s?
My days shopping here are DONE.

I’ll be honest, I’ve never really understood the magic of Trader Joe’s and I’ve been trying to figure it out for almost 20 years. People rave about Trader Joe’s, I hear mostly good things from everyone I know that shops there. Some are even able to do all of their shopping there. I can’t do all my shopping there.
I do go there for coffee, pizza dough, granola bars and dried mangoes. I know, eclectic selection of items, but all of these are great and at a great price. The prices are good here, I can’t dispute that. They have a pretty amazing condiment selection, olive oil, vinegars, mustards, jams, etc. and I’ve tried a few over the years.
The staff is always helpful and available. They have a very limited warehouse space, so they get frequent (fresh) deliveries and staff is alway stocking the shelves.

I like TJ’s because of all the different types of food you cannot find at other grocery stores. The checkers are all usually nice and helpfull.
Multi vitamin is good and affordable, good supply of nuts and dried fruit, I am forgeting all the other great stuff you just have to stop by for yourself if you have never been there.

Unique food at a reasonable price. I love that you can get truffle oil cheese, movie theater popcorn, both inexpensive and Kendall Jackson wine and dark chocolate coated almonds.
Yum yum yum!
Unlike many older Trader Joes, this one has larger aisles and a huge, easy to navigate parking lot! What a concept!
Love me some Trader Joes

We do not have Trader Joe’s where we live, but we have heard SO many positive thins about the chain, so it was a treat to find one close to where we are staying here in Bend. After shopping there for dinner last night, I will not be looking for any more! As a starter, we were really surprised to find no fresh meat in the store. All the cuts of meat are prepackaged in little plastic cartons, and I am always suspicious of these things from a freshness standpoint. Nonetheless, we picked up a package of filet mignon that ended up being the least flavorful and toughest I have ever had! How do you have tough filet? We accompanied that with fingerling potatoes, which we prepared very simply with EVO and sea salt. One again, completely underwhelmed! I don’t ask a lot of fingerling potatoes but it would be nice if they tasted like potatoes. These had essentially no taste whatsoever, turning to a paste-​like substance in your mouth. We have never had such a bland potato before.
We were completely underwhelmed at the spice selection in the store — which meant we had to go to another grocery store close by — which turned out just fine because there were several other things on our shopping list unavailable at TJ’s, and while comparison shopping we also found out how much more expensive the basic things are at TJ’s. Then at the register, just before we got up to the line (I was taking extra time in the wine aisle) they closed up the only open checkout lane. A nice man reopened it quickly, but who shuts down all the checkout lanes in a grocery store? Even Walmart at two in the morning keeps at least ONE lane open!
The one positive thing was the wine we chose for dinner! We picked up a Trader Joe’s labeled Napa Cabernet reserve (which goes a little against my grain, but again, I had heard positive things about the TJ’S branded wines) and this time we scored! Dinner may have been a downer, but the wine almost made up for it… In fact, it did! We will just go back to Newport Avenue Market for everything else…

Now I’m a huge TJ’s fan– I shop at the one near my place about once a week.
This one seemed a bit off for me, not sure. It just seemed really crowded with stuff… like the space was too small for all the food/​goodies in the store. I almost felt a little claustrophobic in the aisles, but I could be crazy.

This Trader Joe’s was packed the day we went. Wasn’t able to spend much time here but everything seemed pretty standard. They have done a great job at improving their gluten free labeling on their products and on signs within the store. Got lots of yummy Trader Joe’s snacks to take home.

I didn’t think I’d find such a spread among Trader Joe’s and how they are, but it really does matter where you go. We stopped here on our way back to California, since I have a tendancy to get a little fussy about the jam packed location in Alameda.
I loved the space in this TJ’s and maybe it is like eating out when your starving, its all fantastic. I just don’t care for the Trader Joe’s in the Bay area and this one seemed like it had more and way more space to move around. It was clean and well stocked when we went in on a Sunday afternoon. It is now a regular stop for my husband when he drives back down, as well.

Some of my favorite items: raw brazil nuts, unpasteurized orange and carrot juice, guacamole, unsalted tortilla chips, bronners soap, toilet paper, toothpaste, chuck shaw, granola bars, clif bars, bananas, romaine, mushrooms, carrots, garlic, spices, hashbrowns, ice cream cookie sandwiches, organic chocolate bars, thai cashews, coconut cream, vegetable broth, soups, noodles, pasta sauce, everything is low price and high value.

Ok, I’ve been in quite a few Trader Joe’s throughout Oregon, Nevada and California but NEVER have I experienced customer service like this. While vacationing in Bend, we stopped in today 4÷27÷12 and bought many groceries. My daughter and I looked for the lobster so she could claim her prize at the cash register (all TJ’s do this… the kid announces where Moto Monkey, Turtle Joe, Lobster, etc. is in the store and they get a piece of candy or stickers). We found the lobster near the yogurt section and made our way to the register to pay for over $ 100 of groceries. My daughter was so excited, but the checkout guy said we’d have to go tell the woman at the free food section about finding the lobster, as she did the prizes. So we get out of line, find the free food lady in the back and my daughter gleefully announces she found the lobster. The employee insisted there were 2 lobsters we had to find, not one. Geez… really? So now my daughter is upset and we set across the store to find 2^nd lobster for what seems like forever. Another little boy was looking for it, too, and his mom said they couldn’t find the second one either. We ended up leaving without finding it, but we still purchased the groceries. Thanks free food lady for dampening the spirits of my 5 year old… you suck.
Glad I’ve never experienced poor customer service at any of my local TJ locations in Portland. Must not be much competition in these parts :)

I’m definitely a fan of Trader Joe’s — — have been so for years. So I was happy when I saw the TJ’s on 97 when I was rollin’ into town.
The store was definitely not as busy as most TJ’s I’ve been to in CA.
My only gripe was that they were out of my unsweetened Almond Milk. In fact, they had no unsweetened Almond Milk.
Oh well. They had everything else though — — including a wall of the two-​buck (now three buck) chuck.

«Tis the season to be jolly…» sang the choir on the sound system at the Bend Trader Joe’s when we shopped there today. And it occurred to me that for the crew that work at Bend’s Trader Joe’s, every season is the season to provide jolly good customer service. Which is why, although I would give TJ’s four stars overall as concept stores, this one gets five BIG stars from me. The people who work there are always so helpful, so friendly and so upbeat for premium customer service that it makes me want to sing out loud myself while I shop.
Speaking of which, one of the guys that works there has a wicked good voice, and is known to sing as he stocks the shelves. He does a stellar rendition of Jason Mraz’s «I’m Yours». Not to mention he’s as cute as a bug’s ear. Ooops… did I just date myself with that compliment? Then again, I know Jason Mraz’s music. So maybe not THAT dated.
But I digress.
While I“m not the super fan of TJ’s stores overall that some are, there are some things that TJ’s offers that can’t be found elsewhere or can’t be beat for the price. Chariot Red wine (when it comes in once a year), great black olive tapenade made with real olive oil, California goat cheese blended with honey, gluten free granola with dried fruit and nuts, the freshest baby arugula, flatbread frozen pizza with the thinnest crust and yummiest roasted mushrooms, TJ’s own brand of vanilla ice cream and… well, the list goes on for those kinds of things.
But it really is the people, from stocking shelves and asking «what can I help you find», to providing food samples at the kitchen counter in the back (maybe the most popular counter in the store) to check-​out and asking «did you find everything you were looking for» that make the difference.
And here’s the almost unbelieveable customer satisfaction deal — if for any reason you do not like something you may return it for a refund. Not that we’ve ever done that, but talk about confidence in your store’s products and putting customer loyalty first!
Regardless, whatever it is they’re putting in the crew’s coffee in the break-​room ought to be passed around everywhere if it creates such happy people who translate customer service into customer loyalty. In fact, come to think of it, «I’ll have some of what they’re having»…as the saying goes. Well done, Bend Trader Joe’s!