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Trader Joe's founder Joe Coulombe has died
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- ketamine__ 7y agoWhat an empire. Can you imagine what it must feel like to accomplish so much?
- frogperson 7y agoWhat did it cost in terms of missed experiences? I always wonder if people like this thought it was worth it in the end.
- telesilla 7y agoHe sold the company in 1979 to Aldi and retired in 1988, according to the article. It doesn't speak anywhere about an overworked person. Maybe he had a great time and was energized by his work?
- ravenstine 7y agoIt's interesting because the experience between Aldi and Trader Joe's is very different. I personally find Aldi to be a depressing experience, and I don't know why people say such great things about it, whereas Trader Joe's is an excellent example of success created in large part by treating employees well. The culture of Trader Joe's doesn't seem to have been incorporated into Aldi in any way. Then again, maybe the Aldi locations in California are subpar compared to elsewhere?
- telesilla 7y agoAldi in Europe is just another budget supermarket, but carry a variety of goods that you can't get elsewhere, certain cosmetics and German bread. It's loved by many for this reason. Otherwise, I also find Trader Joe's much more satisfying. If it came to Europe I wouldn't protest!
- Tomte 7y agoAldi (in Germany) is a special discounter who optimized processes extremely early on and takes optimization much further than everyone else. For example, I'm usually shopping at Edeka (higher tier, more SKUs, more expensive; a full-sortimenter). Every time I shop there, there are several articles their bar code scanner does only recognize after two or three attempts, often the cashier has to try a handheld scanner, sometimes he must enter the digits by hand. Every five or so times I shop there, an article is not recognized by the system, and the cashier must phone the department and ask for the price. Aldi has larger bar codes on their packaging, often one on every side. Aldi barcodes are usually black on white, not black on transparent (with the content confusing the scanner). There is never an article missing in the system. That's why the cashiers handle your articles faster than you can bag them. Because scanning works on the first try, every time.
- prijks 7y agoThe Aldi that owns Trader Joe’s (Aldi Nord) is not the same Aldi that owns Aldi in the USA (Aldi Süd). The two companies split in 1960.
- anigbrowl 7y agoDid not know that - valuable insight. I was also perplexed by the dichotomy outlined above. Thanks.
- anonsivalley652 7y agoYeap. There's Trader Joe's (Aldi Nord) and Süd in Texas. I'm curious how similar are Aldi Nord in Europe and Trader Joe's, because I heard there's some resemblance.
- Tomte 7y agoThere are currently rumors they might re-unite.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- sethammons 7y agoThe cost of missed experiences? I think a great many (most? Nearly all?) people are missing out on a great deal. Working two jobs seems relatively normal. I'm of the impression that most people work so much to just get by and largely miss out on the category of "missed experiences." Missing their kids grow up, missing the scenery as it goes by, not having the time to keep friendships going. I think that someone who builds an empire like Trader Joe's likely led a more rich in experience life than most.
- TeMPOraL 7y agoEveryone regrets missed experiences. Whatever you're doing, you're not doing all these other things.
- whalesalad 7y agoHave you been to a TJ’s? I’d imagine no experiences were missed. The store is fun, so I’d imagine the founder had a pretty fun life too.
- wpietri 7y agoAnd for me what I really appreciate is that he accomplished it in a way that is humane and self-sustaining. I've had young friends work for TJs, and it seems like it's a much better employee experience than equivalent places. It's certainly a better customer experience. Somehow this culture has survived for decades, despite short-term thinking and too-narrow optimization destroying the staff and retail experience at other grocery stores. I'd be enormously proud to have achieved something that lasted like that. I wish I knew how they did it!
- king_panic 7y agoI hope it was pride in having added value to the lives of many and satisfaction with a life well lived. The best any of us can hope for.
- stevespang 7y agoTrader Joe's ain't a health food store, that's for sure . . . Miles of Aisles with processed sugar in everything . . .
- secondary 7y agoThat's actually the one thing I don't like about Trader Joe's. They still put sugar in things I don't want sugar in. I imagine the long term trend is away from this, but maybe that's wishful thinking.
- tartoran 7y agoNot a health food store but a decent alternative to everything else, esp. in NY. The prices are quite good too compared to other stores around.
- fourseventy 7y agoHN has turned into the obituary pages of the internet. Every day the top post is some random person who died.
- Stratoscope 7y agoThis wasn't some random person, it was Trader Joe himself. It's also a story about how a quirky startup created a culture of quality and value and treating their employees and customers well - and kept that culture after being acquired. I think there is a lot for all founders to learn from Trader Joe's. And who doesn't enjoy the Fearless Flyer?
- peter303 7y agoThe'anti-Walmart', where Walmart is the world leader of mediocrity.
- dang 7y agoRandomness involves streaks that don't feel random. That can make it feel like the system is going off the rails, even when it's stable. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=by%3Adang%20streaks&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
- anigbrowl 7y agoTrader Joe's is one of the few corporations I like and admire. Ave atque vale.
- chrisjarvis 7y agoI worked for Trader Joe's for seven years before I finished school. It was a great place to work and although I make a lot more money now I miss things about it. TJs and Costco were always in the same discussion about great places to work in retail and as such it seemed to attract "high performing misfits". By this I generally mean really smart and hardworking people who didn't or couldn't go to college. Joe Coulombe built a very good company that I'll continue to shop at for a long time!
- anonsivalley652 7y agoBasically, I won't live anywhere without a co-op or a Trader Joe's, and a Costco. WinCo (employee-owned) is a bonus.
- cwbrandsma 7y agoSo...Boise? (Winco is based in Boise...and I have no idea how widespread that store is actually)
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- plainOldText 7y agoTrader Joe’s is my favorite grocery store. Its size is not too small as to feel claustrophobic, nor too big as to feel overwhelming. But most important, they have a great selection of high quality and reasonably priced items. I wish more companies would be like this.
- mortenjorck 7y agoThere’s really an untold story in Coulombe’s career of how he managed to keep the soul of Trader Joe’s intact all this time, even through an exit and his retirement. Corporate cost-cutting and hyper-optimization should have turned Trader Joe’s into just another faceless grocery chain decades ago, yet somehow, it never did.
- 0x8BADF00D 7y agoWhen a founder creates a corporate culture based on strong values, it will last for hundreds of years.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- grrrrrrreat 7y agoFinding "Sunny" the toucan is always a fun activity for the kids at TJs. And the reward is an organic lollypop ! Even I get one sometimes :)
- 29athrowaway 7y agoHopefully now they stop sending me spam catalogs. Nobody reads them and they are bad for the environment.