Trader Joes

[stasu1213]

There is an Aldi on the eastside of Detroit on Mack and Alter. There is also a mini police station in the same mall. I believe in tougher law for these independent grocery stores in detroit. A law that will force the owners to keep their products up to date and sell good meats and dairy. Zaccaros would had worked in the Lafayette Town Center mall near the Lafayette Towers. A mini police station could had been in the same mall. Let's face it. Trader Joe's or any other major chain grocier would not want to move into an area where there are homeless shelters, riffraff, decay, and no continual police presence.

[Detroitnerd]

I don't know if it would have worked in the towers.They tried that with Signature Market in the Riverfront Towers and it tanked, didn't it?

[milesdriven]

With an overwhelming number of Detroit residents receiving food stamps, they could focus almost exclusively on food and possibly be successful. There's not much of an incentive to steal when you can just use your bridge card.

[swingline]

Over the last several years, many business and trade publications have written about Trader Joe's and its gowth nationally. To state the obvious, demographics drive its store placements [[as they do with any national retail/grocery chain). The chain usually limits its location studies to a 5 mile radius or less. For Trader Joe's business model, the single most important demographic impacting its store placements is the education level of residents within the study area. [[Yes, education level is more important to the equation than household income.) Simply put, more highly educated customers buy different kinds of groceries than less well educated customers. TJ's deliberately quirky product mix appeals much more to the former group. Some planners have suggested that TJ's only locates in areas where at least 50% of the households include a bachelor's degree or higher. Midtown/downtown Detroit has quite a way to go to reach that level.

[iheartthed]

I have yet to see what the fascination is with Trader Joe's. I see people literally lined up to enter their store near Union Square in NYC. In the rain!!! I can't imagine standing in a line to enter a grocery store. Just ain't happening...

Kroger seems to put more work into operational design and shopper experience than from what I have seen in TJ's. I'd personally choose to shop at the grocery chain with the wacky neo-conservative CEO rather than TJ's -- if only because they seem to appreciate their customer more -- but I usually opt to shop at neither.

Trader Joe's might do a bit to lift the perception of the Midtown area. But TJ's ain't coming there until the hipsters arrive en masse. TJ's chooses its locations based on proximity to the nearest American Apparel......

[Fury13]

I have yet to see what the fascination is with Trader Joe's...
Kroger seems to put more work into operational design and shopper experience than from what I have seen in TJ's. I'd personally choose to shop at the grocery chain....

If you have no problem with your "food" full of fillers, preservatives, HFCS, and Red Dye No. 40... and if you love your meat shot full of antibiotics and hormones... stay with Kroger's. It's just right for you.

[devman1983]

Aldi would thrive in that area. I wouldn't say the brands there are junk. You simply cannot beat the prices on a lot of their items. My milk is consistently the cheapest around and my cereal is around $1.50 a box compared to $3 or $4 at meijer. Apple juice at Aldi's cost $1.14 whereas the next cheapest store has been advertising on sale 2 for $4.

I don't need fancy aisles, customer service, plastic bags, or any other extra crap. I want the cheapest, quality groceries out there and Aldis has it.

Trader Joe's caters to the super libs. Goto any location and you see lib after lib shopping for their organic milks and cheeses. It would be interesting to see if a TJ's would work in that area. The $3 wine and cheap frozen seafood would sell well.

[ziggyselbin]

TJ's seems like the TJ Maxx of grocery stores. They always have new things coming in. I don't shop there much at all but I figure one would have to be there frequently to see what is new. It certainly is unlike a traditional grocery like Meijer & Kroger.

Here in A2 the Aldi is kitty corner from the Plum mkt and a 1/4 mi from one of the busiest Krogers [[was once the busiest)in the State. The Aldi is also very close to two public housing sights; South Maple and North Maple.

[iheartthed]

If you have no problem with your "food" full of fillers, preservatives, HFCS, and Red Dye No. 40... and if you love your meat shot full of antibiotics and hormones... stay with Kroger's. It's just right for you.

Oh man, there ain't nothin as American as an ad campaign.

I don't shop at Kroger because there are none near where I live... But still, Kroger's main business is to be a retailer, not a producer. Trader Joe's is a retailer too. So they don't actually control what goes into the food that you buy from them. They only control what they buy for the purpose of selling to you. If you care so much, you'd do yourself a great service by researching what additives are put into the products per producer, instead of putting blind faith into Trader Joe's to do it for you. I'm sure that you'd find that you could find similar products at Kroger.

[English]

I don't shop at Kroger because there are none near where I live... But still, Kroger's main business is to be a retailer, not a producer. Trader Joe's is a retailer too. So they don't actually control what goes into the food that you buy from them. They only control what they buy for the purpose of selling to you. If you care so much, you'd do yourself a great service by researching what additives are put into the products per producer, instead of putting blind faith into Trader Joe's to do it for you. I'm sure that you'd find that you could find similar products at Kroger.

You said it before I could. Michael Pollan and others have a lot to say about corporate organic outfits like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods:

http://www.michaelpollan.com/article.php?id=80

The ideal would be to have full-service, mom and pop grocery stores that sell small-w whole foods that are mostly grown locally. However, there are reasons why we have evolved away from that ideal. Under current agricultural models, we do not have the capacity to feed everyone in the nation [[let alone the world) organically AND locally. I'm sure that's the next great frontier in food production. What that might look like is anyone's guess. But we'll get it right eventually... hopefully.

Until then, I think eating more fresh foods, more whole foods, and more organic foods is important. But not even the most wealthy individuals can do this perfectly in the current market. Also, it has been my experience that certain foods are an acquired taste. Things are moving in the right direction, slowly but surely. It would be nice if Detroit looked at its status as what sustainable-organic types term a "food desert", look at its available land, put two and two together, and at least begin piloting what folks in other cities can only do on a more limited scale.

Since that is more than five years away, and I am plotting my return this spring or early summer, I'll shop at Aldi's and supplement that with Eastern Market produce until we can get something better going. We shouldn't let the perfect become the enemy of the good -- one of my favorite sayings.

[casscorridor]

I have yet to see what the fascination is with Trader Joe's. I see people literally lined up to enter their store near Union Square in NYC. In the rain!!! I can't imagine standing in a line to enter a grocery store. Just ain't happening...

Kroger seems to put more work into operational design and shopper experience than from what I have seen in TJ's. I'd personally choose to shop at the grocery chain with the wacky neo-conservative CEO rather than TJ's -- if only because they seem to appreciate their customer more -- but I usually opt to shop at neither.

Trader Joe's might do a bit to lift the perception of the Midtown area. But TJ's ain't coming there until the hipsters arrive en masse. TJ's chooses its locations based on proximity to the nearest American Apparel......

I dont think that is true. Trader Joes chooses their store locations based on education level of surrounding area... hense locations in Royal Oak, Grosse Pointe and Northville. But this does absolutely not mean a TJs could not survive in Midtown or Downtown. I stongly feel it could. But do I want one? Frankly I dont care, and I dont get what all the fuss is about. They arent that great.

As far as Hipsters, you must not be a Midtown resident or you'd know they have already made their accendency. The American Apparrel follows after, not before, the hipsters come. I'm suprised their isnt one already planned for Cass Ave or Woodward Ave.

[Bearinabox]

You said it before I could. Michael Pollan and others have a lot to say about corporate organic outfits like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods:

http://www.michaelpollan.com/article.php?id=80

If, as you say, Mr. Pollan "has a lot to say" about Trader Joe's, perhaps you could link us to a source where he actually says something about them. The link you posted is very specifically directed at Whole Foods, and it's a mistake to lump the two of them together [[I've shopped at both, and they are very, very different). Come to think of it, that's probably where that "on the pricey side" stuff got started.

[Boo Stinking Boo]

"Kroger seems to put more work into operational design and shopper experience than from what I have seen in TJ's. I'd personally choose to shop at the grocery chain with the wacky neo-conservative CEO rather than TJ's -- if only because they seem to appreciate their customer more -- but I usually opt to shop at neither."

Really????? I seem to be more appreciated in TJ's than the mega food chains any day, est Krogers, etc. The cashiers are always friendly and knowledgble.

[English]

If, as you say, Mr. Pollan "has a lot to say" about Trader Joe's, perhaps you could link us to a source where he actually says something about them. The link you posted is very specifically directed at Whole Foods, and it's a mistake to lump the two of them together [[I've shopped at both, and they are very, very different). Come to think of it, that's probably where that "on the pricey side" stuff got started.

So I Googled "Michael Pollan" and "Trader Joe's", and this came up at the top of the results:

http://pollan.blogs.nytimes.com/2006...ith-your-fork/

When Whole Foods planted its flag on 14th Street last year, setting up shop an heirloom tomato’s throw from one of the nation’s liveliest farmer’s markets, two crucial visions of an alternative American food chain — what I call, somewhat oxymoronically, Industrial Organic and Local — faced off. And then this spring Trader Joe’s opened in Union Square, further complicating the picture [[for both the farmer’s market and Whole Foods) with its discount take on both organic and artisanal food.

The shopping choices laid out so succinctly for New Yorkers in Union Square today neatly encapsulate the kinds of question we will all be grappling with over the next few years as we navigate an increasingly complex, politicized and ethically challenging food landscape. The organic strawberry or the conventional? The grass-fed or the organic beef? And, if the grass-fed, the Whole Foods steak from New Zealand or the Hudson Valley steak across the street? The organic tomato or the New Jersey beefsteak? The omega-3 fortified eggs or the cage-free eggs? [[That last phrase is one of my favorite snatches of recent supermarket prose: I mean, does an egg really care whether it’s caged or not?) The ultra-pasteurized milk or the raw? The farmed fish or the wild? In January, the jet-setting winter asparagus from Argentina or the rutabaga from Upstate? And how do you cook a rutabaga, anyway?

I’ve been doing a lot of food reporting over the past couple years and have discovered there are no simple, one-size-fits-all answers to these questions [[several of which I hope to take up in future columns). But it seems to me the crucial thing is that such questions about how we should eat, and how what we eat affects both our health and the health of the world, confront us today in a way they never before have. My explorations of the American food chain — or now, food chains — have convinced me that these questions [[except perhaps the one about rutabaga) are actually political questions, and much depends on how we choose to answer them. The market for alternative foods of all kinds — organic, local, pasture-based, humanely raised — represents the stirrings of a movement, or rather a novel hybrid: a market-as-movement. Over the next month I plan to use this column as a place to conduct a conversation with readers [[or “r-eaters,� as someone at a lecture proposed the other night) about the politics of food.

Union Square, which 75 years ago served as the red-hot center of the labor movement, is now, at least symbolically, ground zero of the food movement. And while much separates the various choices and philosophies on offer here, it’s important to recognize what unifies the Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s and the farmer’s market, and what has brought so many of us 21st century food foragers to Union Square and all places like it: the gathering sense that there is something very wrong with our conventional food system — what I call the industrial food chain, by which I mean typical supermarket and fast food.

Next time? Give me something hard to do.

[Bearinabox]

So I Googled "Michael Pollan" and "Trader Joe's", and this came up at the top of the results:

http://pollan.blogs.nytimes.com/2006...ith-your-fork/

Next time? Give me something hard to do.

I'm not trying to give you something hard to do, I'm trying to figure out whether or not you have a convincing point to make about Trader Joe's and the way they do business. If you do, I'm interested.

The article you posted does technically fulfil my request, in that it's an article in which Michael Pollan says something about Trader Joes, but what he says about them boils down to "they have a store in New York across from a Whole Foods." If there was any criticism of Trader Joe's business model or its effect on our culture in that article, I couldn't find it. Thus, my opinion of Trader Joe's remains exactly the same as it was before I read your posts in this thread, and if that's fine with you, it's fine with me.

[crawford]

As far as Hipsters, you must not be a Midtown resident or you'd know they have already made their accendency. The American Apparrel follows after, not before, the hipsters come. I'm suprised their isnt one already planned for Cass Ave or Woodward Ave.

You're right that there are a fair number of hipster types in Detroit Midtown, but Iheartthed is talking about NYC, and compared to NYC, there are almost no hipsters in Detroit. Have you ever walked down Bedford Ave. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn?

I mean, even the South Bronx and Jersey City have tons more hipsters, galleries, lofts and the like than Detroit Midtown. It isn't really comparable.

I would imagine that retail growth in Midtown Detroit would initially be nurtured by independents, not chains. If the area grows and matures [[an unknown prospect at this early stage) then chains like Trader Joes will eventually consider the area.

Keep in mind too that chains are considering Detroiters [[to some extent) in their site selection. Often chains are seeking Detroit consumers, but prefer to locate their stores just outside Detroit, where there are fewer headaches [[lower commercial taxes, better city services, more generous zoning, etc.)

[casscorridor]

You're right that there are a fair number of hipster types in Detroit Midtown, but Iheartthed is talking about NYC, and compared to NYC, there are almost no hipsters in Detroit. Have you ever walked down Bedford Ave. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn?

I mean, even the South Bronx and Jersey City have tons more hipsters, galleries, lofts and the like than Detroit Midtown. It isn't really comparable.

I'm not trying to compare NYC with Detroit. I'm following the logic that if American Apparrel locates near hipsters and college campuses than Detroit is a good canidate. New York has like 10 American Apparrels. But New York is New York. Royal Oak i can safely say, has less hipsters than Detroit. Detroit neighborhoods are not as dense as Brooklyn's. You dont see a lot of people out period. But i know they're there. And yes, there are many galaries and lofts here as well. But remember, hipsters dont equal money. So retail isnt exactly attracted to them. When they do its at their parents expense.

I would imagine that retail growth in Midtown Detroit would initially be nurtured by independents, not chains. If the area grows and matures [[an unknown prospect at this early stage) then chains like Trader Joes will eventually consider the area.

Keep in mind too that chains are considering Detroiters [[to some extent) in their site selection. Often chains are seeking Detroit consumers, but prefer to locate their stores just outside Detroit, where there are fewer headaches [[lower commercial taxes, better city services, more generous zoning, etc.)

I agree with you on the independents coming first, but not at your subtle suggestion that this isnt happening. I think it is, in places like W Willis, E Grand River, Russell St, the soon to open Kresge Shops and the already sucesfull Russell Bazzar, E Canfield btwn John R and Woodward, Cass Ave near WSU, and Woodward in Midtown and Downtown, Vernor in SW Detroit... these are all growth areas. New Businesses continue to open.

[Fury13]

The ideal would be to have full-service, mom and pop grocery stores that sell small-w whole foods that are mostly grown locally. However, there are reasons why we have evolved away from that ideal. Under current agricultural models, we do not have the capacity to feed everyone in the nation [[let alone the world) organically AND locally... I think eating more fresh foods, more whole foods, and more organic foods is important...

In lieu of full-service mom-and-pop grocery stores that sell "real" food [[which, I agree, would be ideal), there is Eastern Market and the suburban farmers' markets, which I patronize in ADDITION to Trader Joe's. All of this falls within the scope of your statement, "... eating more fresh foods, more whole foods, more organic foods is important."

A lot of people are making three or four stops at various grocery stores to get what they feel is best nutritionally. One-stop shopping at a "basic" food store is fine for the struggling college student, but for many of us with full-blown households, we want more than that, and demand higher quality than that.

[iheartthed]

^Hey guys,

FYI, the Trader Joe's/American Apparel comparison was a joke.

[trotwood]

Aldi would thrive in that area. I wouldn't say the brands there are junk. You simply cannot beat the prices on a lot of their items. My milk is consistently the cheapest around and my cereal is around $1.50 a box compared to $3 or $4 at meijer. Apple juice at Aldi's cost $1.14 whereas the next cheapest store has been advertising on sale 2 for $4.

I don't need fancy aisles, customer service, plastic bags, or any other extra crap. I want the cheapest, quality groceries out there and Aldis has it.

Trader Joe's caters to the super libs. Goto any location and you see lib after lib shopping for their organic milks and cheeses. It would be interesting to see if a TJ's would work in that area. The $3 wine and cheap frozen seafood would sell well.

I couldn't agree with you more about Aldis. There's nothing fancy[[nor "ghetto" imo)about the stores. They are clean and well stocked with the basics most people shop for. It took me awhile to get used to buying bags[[or bringing my own)and packing my own groceries. Thanks to Food Basics I got the hang of it. I don't mind bagging my own food,paying 10 cents for a shopping bag,or renting a cart for a refundable quarter as long as I get fresh produce and meats. Fresh meat is a rarity it seems at some of the independent neighborhood stores. Aldis is a nice option that I appreciate! I hope to see a few more open in the city.

[DetroitPlanner]

I'll shop at Aldi's and supplement that with Eastern Market produce until we can get something better going. We shouldn't let the perfect become the enemy of the good -- one of my favorite sayings.

I would have to agree with we better be careful about what we wish for. We need stores that carry vast number of staples, but we don't want to do so at the expense of hurting places like the Eastern Market.

There are hundreds of TJ's out there. They are typically put up in strip malls or modified suburban areas next to the Walgreens and Mobil stations. These are not so unique, a TJ would not do any more for Detroit but to water down the base that keeps Eastern Market thriving.

That being said, I still think that a TJ could work there, but it would also be a hinderance to the market that is going in that general area already.

Too many times we look to other places and like Aesop's Dog, we drop our bone trying to get something we don't really need because it seems to be the cool thing. Eastern Market needs to be protected and nurtured to a certain extent. So we don't have chains, big deal, but we do have independant grocers and not all of them are terrible places. AND we do have something that can't be quantified in the food desert analysis, the Eastern Market. Our biggest issue is we do have however are plenty of people who spend too much of their money on crap like ho ho's or better mades at the liqour store, and not enough time walking or eating veggies.

p.s. I shopped at Food Basics and thought the shopping cart thing was pure genius. I never had to worry about parking lot scrapes or door dings due to lazy people not wanting to put their cart away [[unlike I had at other stores). It also gave the neighborhood kids a source of revenue because they would be right on top of you offering to take that cart out of your hands, some would even help you load the groceries so they could get the cart quicker!

[English]

I would have to agree with we better be careful about what we wish for. We need stores that carry vast number of staples, but we don't want to do so at the expense of hurting places like the Eastern Market.

There are hundreds of TJ's out there. They are typically put up in strip malls or modified suburban areas next to the Walgreens and Mobil stations. These are not so unique, a TJ would not do any more for Detroit but to water down the base that keeps Eastern Market thriving.

That being said, I still think that a TJ could work there, but it would also be a hinderance to the market that is going in that general area already.

Too many times we look to other places and like Aesop's Dog, we drop our bone trying to get something we don't really need because it seems to be the cool thing. Eastern Market needs to be protected and nurtured to a certain extent. So we don't have chains, big deal, but we do have independant grocers and not all of them are terrible places. AND we do have something that can't be quantified in the food desert analysis, the Eastern Market. Our biggest issue is we do have however are plenty of people who spend too much of their money on crap like ho ho's or better mades at the liqour store, and not enough time walking or eating veggies.

p.s. I shopped at Food Basics and thought the shopping cart thing was pure genius. I never had to worry about parking lot scrapes or door dings due to lazy people not wanting to put their cart away [[unlike I had at other stores). It also gave the neighborhood kids a source of revenue because they would be right on top of you offering to take that cart out of your hands, some would even help you load the groceries so they could get the cart quicker!

I agree with you about the Food Basics grocery carts! Thanks for the reminder -- I forgot about the quarter-per-basket thing they had going on!

I also agree that Detroit definitely isn't a food desert because of Eastern Market. It was a weekly pilgrimage growing up next door to my grandparents. When I moved back into the house where I grew up in 2004, I shopped at Food Basics, but when I lived in Midtown, I got used to shopping at University Foods or the Farmer Jack on Michigan in Dearborn. In fact, I can't really remember shopping at any other chain grocery stores during those years. Of course, since I was walking distance to Avalon, I went there every morning for breakfast, and for my bread. The cute little organic grocery only opened when I moved back to the old 'hood.

Of course, here in school in the maize and blue place, I live 5-10 minutes from the Trader Joe's in town, am equidistant to both of the Whole Foods, but I like shopping at Busch's or Hiller's. I find that the stuff I get from TJs is snack food that messes up my eating habits. The TJ addictions I've developed since starting grad school are things like their brand of chocolate covered pretzels, white cheddar popcorn, double cream brie, shrimp potstickers, etc. It's not the best place to get fresh fruits and veggies, freshly baked bread, or even many cuts of meat... Whole Paycheck does better on that score, but no grad student can afford to use WF/WP as a primary grocery store. [[I will admit that I'm addicted to Trader Joe's tomato and roasted red pepper soup... but their carrot soup is too sweet for my liking.)

I actually tested my TJ's theory twice last school year. Twice, I hosted a homecooked dinner in my home for the first year students. At the time, I'd recently read Pollan's stuff and seen *The Future of Food* [[can't escape it in the Deuce), and wanted to make a delicious meal from scratch that didn't have preservatives. So I thought I'd just go to TJ's for the stuff I couldn't get at the farmer's market in Kerrytown.

Both times, I had to drive somewhere else to complete the list. One random thing TJ's didn't have -- macaroni noodles. So if I wanted to make my famous baked mac and cheese, I'd have to buy boxes of the packaged TJ brand mac with cheese sauce, and repurpose the little packets of powdered cheese. You also can't get chicken noodle soup there. You can't really do a full-fledged barbecue, or a themed party. The only kind of entertaining I've done solely off TJ was finger foods.

I think that something like the Busch's or Hiller's we have up here would do well in the revitalizing 'hoods in the D... especially Busch's, which I think carries Spartan products anyway [[I grew up on those Detroit Spartan stores). You can get both conventional and organic stuff in the same store in a way that you can't at Kroger or TJ's.

[stasu1213]

I don't know if it would have worked in the towers.They tried that with Signature Market in the Riverfront Towers and it tanked, didn't it?

I didn't say that Trader Joes should open a store inside the towers. I had said that Zaccarros would had done better had the store opened up in the strip mall on Lafayette/Orleans area in front of Lafayette Towers. There are many parking spaces and a mini police station could had been planted in the same strip mall to assure customer's safety

[mwilbert]

I think English's description of TJs is spot-on. They do have a lot of interesting stuff, but a substantial part of the most popular stock is basically high-end junk food, and their selection isn't complete enough for it to be your go-to grocery.

The other extremely irritating thing about them is that they stop carrying items that you have become attached too. All stores do this sometimes, but it seems way more frequent at TJ's--presumably because they only have room for a limited selection.

That doesn't mean it isn't nice to have one around. They have particular specialties that are nice to have available, and their prices are not exorbitant, although I haven't found them to be the cheapest option very often.

In any case, based upon where I see them elsewhere, I don't think there is any part of Detroit proper that has the demographic that they are looking for. Midtown would seem the best bet, but there would need to be more people living there, because the surrounding area isn't going to supply enough additional customers.

[Zacha341]

Yeah, some basic things are missing from TJ's though I do go there for some of their branded items I love like their TJ Frozen potato pancakes! For putting together a gourmet home cooked meal with all the trimmings I'd say Holiday up on Main in Royal Oak would be more rounded out for stuff including macaroni and a regular bottle of barbecue sauce if you need that!

I agree with you about the Food Basics grocery carts! Thanks for the reminder -- I forgot about the quarter-per-basket thing they had going on!

I also agree that Detroit definitely isn't a food desert because of Eastern Market. It was a weekly pilgrimage growing up next door to my grandparents. When I moved back into the house where I grew up in 2004, I shopped at Food Basics, but when I lived in Midtown, I got used to shopping at University Foods or the Farmer Jack on Michigan in Dearborn. In fact, I can't really remember shopping at any other chain grocery stores during those years. Of course, since I was walking distance to Avalon, I went there every morning for breakfast, and for my bread. The cute little organic grocery only opened when I moved back to the old 'hood.

Of course, here in school in the maize and blue place, I live 5-10 minutes from the Trader Joe's in town, am equidistant to both of the Whole Foods, but I like shopping at Busch's or Hiller's. I find that the stuff I get from TJs is snack food that messes up my eating habits. The TJ addictions I've developed since starting grad school are things like their brand of chocolate covered pretzels, white cheddar popcorn, double cream brie, shrimp potstickers, etc. It's not the best place to get fresh fruits and veggies, freshly baked bread, or even many cuts of meat... Whole Paycheck does better on that score, but no grad student can afford to use WF/WP as a primary grocery store. [[I will admit that I'm addicted to Trader Joe's tomato and roasted red pepper soup... but their carrot soup is too sweet for my liking.)

I actually tested my TJ's theory twice last school year. Twice, I hosted a homecooked dinner in my home for the first year students. At the time, I'd recently read Pollan's stuff and seen *The Future of Food* [[can't escape it in the Deuce), and wanted to make a delicious meal from scratch that didn't have preservatives. So I thought I'd just go to TJ's for the stuff I couldn't get at the farmer's market in Kerrytown.

Both times, I had to drive somewhere else to complete the list. One random thing TJ's didn't have -- macaroni noodles. So if I wanted to make my famous baked mac and cheese, I'd have to buy boxes of the packaged TJ brand mac with cheese sauce, and repurpose the little packets of powdered cheese. You also can't get chicken noodle soup there. You can't really do a full-fledged barbecue, or a themed party. The only kind of entertaining I've done solely off TJ was finger foods.

I think that something like the Busch's or Hiller's we have up here would do well in the revitalizing 'hoods in the D... especially Busch's, which I think carries Spartan products anyway [[I grew up on those Detroit Spartan stores). You can get both conventional and organic stuff in the same store in a way that you can't at Kroger or TJ's.