Trader Joe’s

Although, I am a loyal Sprouts shopper. I decided to try Trader Joe’s as I have been wanting to for a while now. This location is small, and was crowded when I visited. The store is clean and well organized. I liked that right when you walk in the door there are a variety of fresh, fragrant, colorful flowers to greet you. I thought the produce section was well stocked with fresh produce, and I found some things there I can’t find at Sprouts. The selection of frozen foods, and boxed health foods are ample. The prices are reasonable for organic food. The staff is friendly and helpful, and I will supplement my Sprouts trip with Trader Joe’s. I am a fan!

Love Trader Joes! Every employee is so helpful and goes out of their way if you need help. The store is very well kept. It’s just soooo small. It’s frustrating that it was built so small. It’s the only one around for a long time so I’m forced to go to this one that is always overly crowded.

I saw something at my latest visit to Joe’s that made my heart sink. The storefront right next to this store that used to be an arts-​crafts-​hobby store is being remodeled into a Sprout’s. How will a Trader Joe’s and Sprouts do as neighbors? I think TJ’s will most likely not survive. I will not go to Sprouts since they sell the same wax coated veggies you buy at Food City, and I’ve purchased meats at Sprouts that could not be used, once they got home and opened, almost the entire side of a cut of meat was a shiny sheet of gristle. Sprouts ripped me off for the last time but I think they’ll run TJ’s out of business as neighbors.
I learned something about Trader Joe’s: The frozen food truck arrives late in the morning. If there is something you need from that aisle that is important for you to go home with, consider waiting until after 1pm before you go there, gives them time to stock the freezer display units.
The new electronic debit-​credit terminals are SLOW! It adds almost a minute to each transaction regardless if your card as a chip or not. I understand why so many other retailers have delayed or halted deploying these terminals. When I was there today it was failing everyone, not able to access the network or something so transactions had to be repeated over and over. The person ahead of me at the checkout had to re-​swipe and touch buttons three times before it would work.
I like Trader Joe’s. It seems to be optimized to manipulate women into impulse buys with chocolate and other sugary goodies all over the store and stacked high at the check-​outs. I do like their selection of veggies, meats, and wines. I just wish the overall grocery selection was bigger. Being a regular here forces me to also be a regular at Fry’s to buy all the stuff TJ’s doesn’t carry.
From my experience as a 10 year customer of a few different TJ stores, if you buy organic veggies at Fry’s and something similar at TJ, the stuff at TJ will be the first to start to spoil by many days. I prefer to buy most veggies at other stores than TJ due to this problem.
FYI, if you like their Charles Shaw brand of wines, they’re made by Bronco Wine Company in the central valleys of north-​central California. There’s a nice article on Wikipedia about that company.

Have visited this location a few times. Each visit it’s virtually the same.
The employees are laid back but helpful, and are welcoming.
We come here for just a handful of specific items. And they have it in stock every single time we are here :)
The parking is ample.
Registers open up as it gets busier.
We will continue shopping here.

Trader Joe’s is always a fun place to go with their assortment of items. This place has been crowded each time I came, but that is due to it being the only one around (live in east mesa). People are friendly and the food has always been fresh.

Trader Joe’s is my favorite place for grocery shopping. I have been a customer for many years and they get better every year.
Products are fresh and they stand behind everything they sell.
The staff is outstanding. I get so many meal ideas from the tastings they have. They make it easy when they have a tasting with all of the ingredients right there for you to grab. No matter what your question is, the staff has an answer. If that person does not have the answer they find someone that does. There is always a staff member available.
The prices are great and they have many organic, gluten free and other options as well.

You have to try the barbecue chicken pizza and the Mochi ice cream! I haven’t found anything at trader joes that I do not like! Great selection of unique items. Yum!!! Double yummmm!!!

Trader Joes from east coast (we used to live in the DC area) to the west (we now live in AZ) has alway been the most reliable, friendly, unique and fun grocery store. The end caps are the best! You never know what «weird, I gotta try that» stuff you’ll find. Don’t forget to tell the kids to look for Ziggy the lizard. The employees hid this stuffed animal around the store and if the kids find it, they get a prize… so cute!

I love this place, been shopping here for years. Love the people and the samples!

Hands down favorite place for our groceries. I love all the unique items that change, and the solid ones that I always go for! Prices are great! The sample area always has great ideas for meals. The frozen Indian food is bomb. All the staff has always been so friendly and helpful.

I thought I was just unlucky. Bad check out experiences every time I come here. But today was exceptionally bad. No line control. No awareness of people waiting. As a grocery store I like it but I lose the will to live while waiting to pay.

I want to commend Sue & Jeannette for their outstanding customer service. They made our shopping experience pleasant and fun. They both deserve a raise… We look forward to shopping there again because we are from Los Angeles.

The store is very small and it feels really crammed. I have been to lots of other locations and this one is by far one of the smaller locations.
Also, the fruit and veggie selection was quite disappointing. Maybe my expectations were a bit too high but I will be sticking to Sprouts from now on.

Smaller than the one I have back home but still had the garlic bbq Sriracha sauce that I told my brother he needed to try. Their wine/​beer selection is nicely labeled. I do think TJ’s needs to incorporate U. S made wine, such as from Long Island or Cali, it would definitely help their sustainability image. I also didn’t see a very big cheese selection, may my eyes missed it?
All in all, there were no lines which I was thankful for and the same friendly service. The layout was orderly and it didn’t take long to find the special sauce.

I love TJ’s and have been going there in different cities for many years. This store in Mesa is smaller and older.
It is very crowded since it is the only one around the area. I am disappointed in their little produce selection.
This store does takes alot of patience with all the retires and snowbirds shipping there.
Great prices as always but I will only go there early mornings or late evenings from now on.
Bring your list so you can get in and out.
I think ol’ man Joe can afford to do some remodeling on this store!
Happy shopping!

We started doing most of our grocery shopping here. Everyone is super nice. Prices are fair. They have coffee for shoppers and always make sure they have a sample for my daughter who has multiple food allergies. They know me and they always talk to my kids. There are little shopping carts for children.
I think what really melted my heart though is when I was running into the store 3 minutes before they were closing and the manager in the front stopped me and told me not to worry and take my time. At the checkout the cashier double checked whether I had everything I needed and offered to wait if I needed to get a few more items. That’s customer service at its finest.

This is nice Trader Joe’s. I don’t love it as much as the Tempe one but it’s still good. This store just can feel a little cramped, probably because it’s a bit of a smaller location, and I feel like sometimes I have to dig for fresh produce behind the ones in front. If you can get here when they first open there are no lines at all and you still receive the same great friendly service.

What is not to love about Trader Joe’s! Customer service is stellar, products are fantastic and this location is very clean! I will say this location is always crazy busy, but generally shoppers and staff alike are very pleasant. The produce here is what keeps me coming back, but i am also a sucker for their little frozen dishes too. My secret love from the frozen department are their Mac’n cheese balls. (SO GOOD!!!) They also have a non-​fat vanilla yogurt that i couldn’t live without.
I would 100% recommend Trader Joe’s, I love this place!

I don’t know how they manage to find such pleasant and helpful employees at every location I’ve been to but I never have a problem getting help, never get an attitude when I ask a question even if they are in the middle of stocking shelves etc. They always stop what they’re doing to answer my question and usually walk me to the section where the item would be if they have it. They are more congenial than Disneyland employees!
On top of that, the prices are unbelievabley reasonable on most products and the quality is exellent. I love that it is a manageable sized store where I’m not exhausted when I leave, even if I have to backtrack to find something. They may not have the multitude of samples of a Costco, but what they offer is fun to try and many times I’ve gone to buy the product after tasting it.
And they have some if the prettiest, sturdiest, most colorful tote bags of any store so I almost always buy one, often as gifts for my kids. I now have bags from three states.
I got started shopping more often at my local TJ’s and other smaller stores in San Diego years ago when there was a grocery store union strike and just never went back to the big chains except when I needed products not available at TJ’s. I love it when I find one when I travel as I’m already familiar with their products and layout.

Let me start out by saying that I’m not a Trader Joe’s fan, but after a recent debate about grocery stores where a friend really stood her ground about it having such great prices, I figured I would suck it up and give this location a try. It’s located in a strip mall (surprise!!) with the worst parking lot ever, so I didn’t really know what to expect. My only other TJ experiences have been in Center City Philadelphia (gross) and a stand-​alone in a suburban Seattle neighborhood.
This store is really clean. I went on a Sunday afternoon so it was fairly crowded, but the shelves were stocked and it was pretty easy to maneuver around. If I had a cart it might be another story but I grabbed a basket and went up and down each aisle a couple times. The only messy area was the bathroom but I probably just caught it in between cleaning shifts.
Not knowing what I was looking for, I picked up a couple items for dinner and snacks for the kids. Yogurt tubes — good price. English muffins — good price and probably the best I have ever had. Orange Chicken (frozen) — could have been spicier but the kids loved it. Meat dept — expensive… better prices at Sprouts. Frozen blueberries — cheapest around. All-​in-​all it was a good experience, I was pleasantly surprised, and I started drafting my «okay, you win» text to my friend who stood her ground and I headed to the register.
I stood in line and when I was my turn, I told my cashier that I had a bag. This is where they get docked 2 stars. For the amount of time it takes to ring up the 7 items that I had, my cashier made not one, not two, but five smart-​ass comments about the fact that I had a Whole Foods bag. I know, I know, what a dumb thing to get bent over, but for me it has to do with service, and Roger (cashier), should just bite his tongue, keep his opinions to himself, and just be happy that I am contributing to his ability to receive a paycheck. I know the $ 22 I spent is just a teeny-​tiny percentage of what the store brings in on a normal day, but because of that interaction, I won’t go out of my way to shop there, even if it means saving a couple bucks.