New Developments

Well, well. It's a different world around here.

Aldi is opening two Texas stores, in Ft. Worth (where my son lives) and Hurst, along with a distribution center in the Denton area. As one of the Chowhounds says, "Where Aldi is, Trader Joe's is sure to follow." Historically they tend to open Aldis and distribution to support them, then open TJs by piggybacking distribution.

In Washington, Whole Foods is using TJs in a snarky effort to monopolize the health food business. Nice going, guys. Their contention is that Wild Oats isn't the real competition, TJs is. Nonsense. That's like Daimler saying that bicycles are the real competition, not Chrysler. And it'd be instructive for WFMI to consider where that deal went after a few years.

No, Trader Joes is hardly a competitor to WFMI. TJs does private marketing, sure, but that's their genius--and they've been doing it since before WFMI started as a co-op here in Austin.

You'll only find ONE (usually private label) kind of green beans, unlike WFMI--where you'll find a wall of green beans, lots of brands, tasting pretty much the same. (Ditto for HEB, which I admire for their commitment to local issues and growers, something WFMI surely does well too.)

TJs keeps a lid on inventory by limiting the number of items they sell, and selling these items as private label whenever possible. They also--once distribution channels are worked out of course--benefit from eliminating a layer of suits from the food companies, suits who need to be fed and watered by the stores' margins.

TJs learned this lesson a decades ago when Joe set up the concept, back in the days when his Pronto Market was being threatened by the influx of 7-11 stores--a Texas export! It's all about the experience at TJs, and a big part of that is exploring the TJs private brands. I don't know anybody who hasn't found at least one replacement item for a brand name in their first visit to TJs, often better and cheaper.

People don't go to TJs because of the friendly staff in Hawaiian shirts, although that's a real asset. They go there to explore, to find something a little unique with a funny name that replaces another product from Big Food, Inc., and to save money. When was the last time you went to Whole Foods to save money? Here in Austin, home of their giant flagship store at 6th and Lamar, you go to Whole Foods on a different voyage of discovery, for Goji berries or some other exotic thing. See? Two different things.

So anyway, yesterday I was interviewed by Mose Buchele, intrepid reporter from the local NPR outlet, KUT. We talked about a lot, but what was broadcast was my well-established addiction (flying to gigs with an empty suitcase) and the good news about Aldi's move into Texas. Nice, intelligent young fellow, a native of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (me too). It's always weird to hear your disembodied voice coming through the radio, but I paced myself pretty well, good contrast to the spokeswoman for WFMI, who needs to switch to decaf. Here's the link.