So now that we have gotten Whole Foods to come to Detroit, what is it going to take to get a Trader Joes in the city?
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So now that we have gotten Whole Foods to come to Detroit, what is it going to take to get a Trader Joes in the city?
They are dragging their feet putting locations in Kzoo & GR because of the economy so I can't imagine Detroit is high on their list. At least there are a few locations in SE Mich; my friends on the other side of the state are envious.
I shop at the Trader Joes's in Grosse Pointe on Kercheval...well at least it's in Wayne County....
I think the one on Kercheval is is pretty convenient to anybody living on the east side and downtown.
Won't happen anytime soon. TJ's has needed a second Ann Arbor location for years, because the one on Stadium is kinda nightmarish during peak times. According to the folks there, their corporate offices aren't really interested in expanding the way that WF has.
To be honest, I'd rather see a Plum Market downtown on Woodward near Campus Martius, but we're a good half decade away from that happening [[at the very least). Harbortown Market actually reminds me of a lower priced, Detroit version of Plum.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. With the influx of grocery stores we are seeing now in the Downtown and Midtown areas, they are only setting themselves up to fail. The areas can probably support one good grocery store, but we are seeing a bunch of decent ones. With the prospective clientele being spread amongst them, there is going to be no way that they can all do enough business to survive, and we will be at the risk of seeing them all close and be back at square one where we have been for a while, with people saying a grocery store can't survive in the city.
There are already grocery stores from that company within the City Limits.
you'll see another aldi in detroit before you see a trader joe's. which is fine by me; aldi is great for detroit -- and doesn't ask for millions of dollars before they open their doors!
they are one of the big draws to the mack-alter shopping center, which has been one of the most successful commercial ventures i've seen in detroit over the past decade. it has completely transformed that intersection -- for the better!
anyone else think trader joes is horribly overrated?
I often shop at Western Fruit Market in Ferndale.
I would love to see something like that on Woodward.
I used to like going there in my poorer days for cheese and wine. For the most part, though, Trader Joe's is heavy on prepackaged, heat-and-eat processed food-like edible substances. I'd rather go somewhere with fresh bread, local produce, and a butcher counter. But that's just my personal preference.
For some info on TJs:
http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/20/news...tune/index.htm
But I don't think one owns the other:
Quote:
Few customers realize the chain is owned by Germany's ultra-private Albrecht family, the people behind the Aldi Nord supermarket empire. [[A different branch of the family controls Aldi Süd, parent of the U.S. Aldi grocery chain.)
I'm not a Trader Joe fan or a WF fan [[still glad their coming). Personally, I'd like to see a Hollywood Market in Detroit – probably would have been a better fit for Detroit/Midtown. I think they originated in Detroit back in the 40’s or 50’s – but I could be wrong.
No. I showed the quote from Money, but since that wasn't clear.
From wikipedia:
So it is true that Trader Joes is owned by Aldi, but not by the Aldi that owns Aldi [[in the US, anyway).Quote:
"Theo Albrecht owns and was the CEO of the Aldi Nord discount supermarket chain. In the US he owns the Trader Joe's specialty grocery store chain. His brother Karl Albrecht owns the Aldi Süd discount supermarket chain. The two chains originally were a single family enterprise until a friendly division of assets in 1960. Aldi Süd operates the Aldi groceries in the United States. So Aldi and Trader Joe's, while owned by the brothers, have separate and distinct ownership and operations."
Also from Wikipedia:
Quote:
ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ALDI [[help·info), short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany. The chain is made up of two separate groups, ALDI Nord [[North - operating as ALDI MARKT), headquartered in Essen,[2] and ALDI Süd [[South - operating as Aldi Süd), headquartered in Mülheim an der Ruhr,[3] which operate independently from each other within specific market boundaries.
...
Both operate in the United States; Aldi Nord operates the Trader Joe's niche food stores, while Aldi Süd operates the main Aldi stores in the country.
It really depends on your interpretation of what it means to be a separate company. Here is the clearest description I could find of their structure, from Der Speigel
http://www.spiegel.de/international/...9937-2,00.html
I would say that in the usual sense of the word, these are two separate companies with separate ownership, and the one that own Aldi's in the US is not the one that owns TJ's. However, certainly their entanglements are not usual, and if someone wanted to view them as one entity, they would certainly have some justification.Quote:
Opaque Structure
But even though Aldi's business model is simple and clear, the structure of the company -- which is actually two separate groups -- is very opaque. The two brothers have succeeded in making not only themselves, but also their firms, virtually invisible.
In 1961, Karl and Theo separated their spheres of retail influence into Aldi South and Aldi North. The dividing line separates a more sober, poorer and Protestant north from a pleasure-loving, wealthy and Catholic south. The difference can even be seen on the supermarket shelves. Aldi North stores exude spartan sobriety, while Aldi South sells such delicacies as vitello tonnato, an Italian veal dish.
Aldi North, which has its headquarters in Essen, is currently divided into 35 regional companies that rule over 2,535 stores. The southern branch has its headquarters a few kilometers away in Mülheim an der Ruhr and consists of 31 companies with 1,760 outlets. Those totals are constantly growing.
Legally, the regional companies are independent entities. Strategic decisions, however, are made in tandem by the two groups via an executive board. Purchasing is also done centrally using two purchasing companies. Profits do not flow directly into the pockets of the Albrecht brothers, but into two separate foundations, one for Aldi North and one for Aldi South.
Hiller's originated in Detroit...the old Shopping Center Market on Michigan Ave. between Martin and Central.