5 REASONS WHY WE LOVE TRADER JOE'S

While in Prescott we took the opportunity to visit Trader Joe's. It wasn't an accident that TJ's is there and that WE were there - I had checked our planned route against TJ's locations. Crazy - right?!

I KNOW that I go on and on about Trader Joe's - so I thought I would let you know exactly why!

Here's our TOP 5 REASONS WHY WE LOVE TRADER JOE'S STORES:

1. ATMOSPHERE
In a world of big box stores, TJ's is the little guy. Their stores are not large and that's the great thing about them. They are small, efficient and compact. They are laid out very well - with easy flow. The only tricky part is that because they are so popular it can be crowded at times but nothing that I'm going to complain about. Because the packaging is so interesting and colourful the interior store comes across that way as well.

2. INTERESTING PRODUCTS
You just gotta LOVE the food from TJ's. I mean SERIOUSLY L.O.V.E........ Right now they are featuring pumpkin products - yes, we've already done Thanksgiving and know it doesn't seem to fit in the hot weather but hey - we can do with more pumpkin stuff - right?! I love the olive oil popcorn - the only one in the family - which is another reason to buy it - right - FINALLY something that is all mine.

3. QUALITY PRODUCTS
A lot of the products have a fairly short ingredient list which we appreciate. We are not total health nuts but we like to eat well and healthy. We aren't big fans of products with a lot of stuff in them - particularly a lot of chemical stuff in them. We did really well this time purchasing some candy for Cassia.

Now - first - Cassia doesn't get much candy. We held off as long as we could and figured that at just over two years we had done well. We went ahead and bought two things for her at TJ's - coated sunflower seeds (hey - why tell her at this point that those are not real candy - don't you be telling her either!) and gummie bears.

Probably the best thing about both is that they use natural rather than artificial colours.

Cassia to the right pretty happy to be showing off her NEW favourite treat.

4. LOW PRICES

The most amazing thing of course is that you would expect with small stores, interesting and quality products you would pay MORE not pay LESS. But somehow that is exactly how it is. Not to get ahead of myself but Gerri from the Precott store was telling us that prices are about 25% less then other food stores. The reason? TJ's pays cash for all of their products. Imagine that! For us TJ's works very well with our frugal living - we can actually get fresh and great tasting products for less! LOVE IT!

We've recently replaced cows milk with coconut and almond milk - we are all thrilled with this decision. Much better for us and travels well in the tetra packs. We stocked up for Mexico.

5. FRIENDLY STAFF

It would be nice if I had some friendly TJ's folks smiling for you but - well - I didn't bring my camera into the store. But take it from us - REALLY nice - the ones we have met anyway. Not talking about every store and everyone working at the stores - I mean we all have our off days in the retail trade - right?! 

We spent some time talking with Gerri which she happily served us samples of cranberry/walnut bread with pumpkin cream cheese - guess it worked since we left with our own. The snack went great with our free coffee sample - hey - maybe #6 should be FREE SAMPLES! 

Strange I know - but before stopping in at the Bellingham TJ's, Derek and I had NEVER tried greek yogurt. We thought we'd give it a go with a few flavoured containers. We are all hooked now!

YUM!

 And so ends our shopping trips to Trader Joe's until the spring. We have all the way home to find a few to stop in at. We are in Buckeye now and seriously contemplated driving up to Surprise - the closest TJ's to here - but a 45 minute drive one way - nope - just can't do it!

And no - TJ's isn't giving us a thing for this - I know it comes off like a commercial - but hey - doesn't matter - we LOVE it and you should GO!

Teresa

TODAY'S INTERESTING LINK: Good to see that we are not the only ones. At least I haven't started a whole new blog about TJ's like Nathan has over at What's Good at Trader Joe's. Nathan and his wife Sonia LOVE TJ's too and offer their product reviews.

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