Trader Joe's, One Weekend Later
Doesn't it seem like the Brooklyn Trader Joe's opened eons ago?
I decided to check in on the Brooklyn's own Big Bank of Food this morning, one weekend after its official opening. A crowd of about two dozen was gathered outside, somewhat impatiently waiting for the doors to open at 9 AM. Once they did get in, however, everything was quite civilized, and there was none of the hurriedness and frenzy associated with the Union Square store (which, my sources tell me, is the busiest Trader Joe's in the nation).
Each of the dozen registers was manned was a willing, waiting clerk, some yearningly waving small American flags to signal the dispatcher to send a customer their way. I suspect the number of working registers will dwindle considerable in the next few days if this keeps up. Or maybe crowds will pick up when everyone realizes the store is open. Could go either way. I'm betting on the former, though. Witness the example of IKEA.
I was cashed out by a little old lady, who was none too quick. But she was sweet, and I liked that Joe's had hired all sorts of people to work there.
Oh, and the steel drum band is gone. Thank God.
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3 comments:
I also feel like it opened forever ago, maybe that's why the turnout was so low. People forgot. Or stopped caring.
It doesn't surprise me to hear the Union Square store is the busiest in the nation. It's absolute insanity in there. But they've made great improvements with their check out lines. I've been snaked around 3 aisles (approximately 60th in line) and still gotten out of their pretty quickly.
I was surprise at how simply they outfitted it considering it took so long. Metal shelves in the middle, freezers on the side.
Remember to get your olives, cheese, coffee and pita bread & hummus over at Sahadi's folks.
I like Trader Joe's deals on pet food, soap & wine mostly. Too bad they don't have the wine.
It's a clean, well-lighted place, suitable for indulgences. It was pretty action-packed at 4:30pm today, so we took a look-see and left for Sahadi's, which rules the neighborhood. The smoked almonds are to die. If it's less crowded I'll return to Joe's for some of those tasty-looking chocolate peanut butter maltballs...
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