I haven’t been able to shop at Trader Joe’s since we left California, because for some reason they have never opened up any in Florida (I’m guessing it has something to do with state laws — perhaps the restriction on hard liquor sales in groceries?). Anyway, here’s one more reason that I wish I could:
Very sadly, the tactic employed against Israeli products in Europe has now made its way to our own country, taking root in our own backyard and focusing its attention upon a grocery retailer that many of us patronize, Trader Joe’s. Only the difference is that in the United States there is a significantly larger Jewish population than there is in Europe and we now find ourselves in a position to make an immediate and very positive impact on Israel’s behalf.
I hope that this anti-semitic (and yes, sorry, that’s what it is) boycott helps them more than hurts.
Well, we have TJs here in Oregon, where you also can’t sell distilled spirits in grocery stores, so it’s not that.
I’ve been following the Trader Joe’s boycott flop at http://www.divestthis.com.
I shop in Trader Joe’s often (did so in both California and NM), for one key reason: they carry the only kind of coffee my wife agrees to drink. For some reason supermarket coffee in America is always burnt and greasy, even the “lighter” kinds. The “dark” roasts are just not suitable for human consumption, period.
This would also preclude their opening stores in Georgia — and there are stores in Georgia.
In fact California seems to be one of a very small number of states that does permit distilled-spirits sales in grocery stores (Nevada is another, IIRC). In Alaska the liquor department can be in the same building but must be on a separate sales floor with separate checkout.
Liquor in a grocery store??? Hah! Here in Missouri, not only can you purchase liquor in a grocery store, you can purchase it at a gas station!
Oh, there are gas station convenience stores with hard-liquor licenses in California too. One of the more notorious chains in northern Calif when I still lived there was even called “Liquor Cheaper!”
Its locations had been called “Stop ‘n’ Go” when I was a kid, then “ShortStop,” and then “Food & Liquor.” I have no clue what names they’ve adopted and dropped in the fifteen years since I left. Anyway the CEO of the then-Food & Liquor chain once put out paper shopping bags urging customers, “Don’t Vote! It Only Encourages Them.” Got his stores a lot of not-so-free publicity.
It took longer than I thought for the South African boycott technique to finally make it to Israel. Probably because this is the first time the US has had a President who will back it up.
Wasn’t the percentage of jewish folks who voted for Obama near 80?
@Hal Duston: A Kum N Go store, perhaps?
The Albrecht family that owns Trader Joe’s also owns ALDI which is in Florida. My guess is they aren’t in Florida because ALDI is already serving that market area.
None in Texas that I know of. Went to my first Trader Joe’s on a trip to Santa Fe. No liquor of any kind that I could see. Nice beer selection though. Found some cheap artisan pasta for my baked ziti recipe.
“For some reason supermarket coffee in America is always burnt and greasy”
+1 to that. I even roasted my own coffee for a while with a hot air popcorn popper just to get the right flavors. Big brand coffee mixes Robusta beans in with the Arabica to save money. Although, I will say the Maxwell house South Pacific blend is somewhat tolerable.
CGHill: Nearly any gas station in Missouri with a reasonably sized convience store sells beer at the least. The link on my name shows an article mentioning QuikTrip spending $3 million to move a store 100 ft from Kansas to Missouri here in they Kansas City, MO area. Also here is a story mentioning the theft of Mike’s Hard Lemonade from another QuikTrip in the area. http://www.csnews.com/csn/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003950663
OPEN A TRADER JOE’S IN SOUTH FLORIDA. THERE IS A MARKET THAT JUST WENT OUT BECAUSE THE PRICES WERE REDICULOUS. PLEASE OME INTO THE PLAZA DEL MAR IN MANALAPN. THIS IS IN PALM BEACH COUNTY, S OUTH PALM BEACH OR KNOWN AS LANTANA. I LOVE TH STORE FOOD IS FRESH AND PRICES GOOD. USED TO SHOP IN IT I BELIEVE ON LE BRAE IN LOS ANGELS WHEN I STOCKED UP FOR MY DAUGHTER.
Well fancy meeting you here, Iris!
A TJ’s in Plaza Del Mar would be PERFECT for this market, i think.
Classy and eclectic but not too pricey – that’s us in a nutshell!