inStorebuyer - November 2012 - (Page 22)

5 Annual Sales: $9.5 billion Total Number of Stores: 372 Store Banners: Trader Joe’s Address: 800 Shamrock Avenue, Monrovia, CA 91016 Phone: (626) 599-3700 Web: www.traderjoes.com Key Personnel: Lori Latta, vice president of product development Trader Joe’s Trader Joe’s accelerated its US growth strategy in 2012, gaining $1 billion in sales from a year ago at a time when most large supermarket chains are scaling back. Texas became the newest hotbed for Trader Joe’s, which opened its first stores in the Lone Star State in Fort Worth, Plano and Houston during the summer. At least a dozen more Texas locations are expected within the next two years. The Sept. 7 grand opening in Plano, a north Dallas suburb, attracted thousands of loyal fans looking to get their hands on the store’s famous private label products ranging from pumpkin spice cake to sprouted whole wheat fiber bread. The Southern California chain is now projecting a growth pace of 30 new stores a year — up from 14 new openings in 2011. Trader Joe’s opened seven stores in November 2012 alone, including Brookfield, WI, Clifton, NJ, State College, PA, San Antonio, TX, and Wilmington, NC. Florida is the next big dive for Trader Joe’s. The chain opened its first Florida store in 2012, picking the retirement mecca of Naples for its first location. Then a Sarasota store opened in September, and a Gainesville location is coming soon. The Miami area will welcome a new Trader Joe’s in 2013. Trader Joe’s is proving that smaller stores (14,000 sq ft in Plano and 13,000 sq ft in Sarasota) with a more fine-tuned product selection (4,000 SKUs, compared with the industry average of 38,718) may work better in today’s economy. Trader Joe’s founder Joe Coulombe started the company in 1958 on the principle of serving the “newly educated, but strapped” consumer, and that mission still holds true today. Simply looking at the fact that Trader Joe’s is catching up with Whole Foods Market is a sign that more and more of today’s shoppers crave affordable luxuries, but don’t want to pay too stiff a price. In the cake category, for example, Trader Joe’s sells hard-to-find varieties of cakes ranging from $2.99 to $6.99. A 4-inch, three-layer cake from Whole Foods starts at $6.99, while a 9-inch goes for $23.99. Annual estimated sales at Trader Joe’s are now $9.5 billion, and Trader Joe’s has catapulted into the top 20 of North America’s largest food retailers. The average Trader Joe’s store does about $23 million in annual sales. | 22 | inStorebuyer | November 2012 | http://www.traderjoes.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of inStorebuyer - November 2012

inStorebuyer - November 2012
Editor's Note - Innovation & Information
Table of Contents
Front line news - RBA Roadshow in Chicago
Cedar’s Launches T.G.I.FRIDAY’S Dips
Meiko Launches Unique Washer
Stop & Shop Opens LEED Store
The Innovators
Profiles - Ahold USA
Profiles - Walmart
Profiles - Safeway
Profiles - H-E-B
Profiles - Trader Joe's
Profiles - Wegmans
Profiles - Whole Foods Market
Profiles - Giant Eagle
Profiles - Hy-Vee
Profiles - Target
Profiles - Publix
Profiles - Kroger
Profiles - Schnucks
Profiles - Fresh & Easy
Profiles - Kings Food Markets
Profiles - The Fresh Market
Profiles - Harris Teeter
Profiles - Roundy's
Profiles - Meijer
Profiles - Fairway Market
Profiles - United Supermarkets
Profiles - Brookshire Grocery
Profiles - Cavier & Bananas
Product Trends
Product Showcase
Marketplace Network

inStorebuyer - November 2012