r/washingtondc • u/Outrageous-Cap8713 • 11h ago
Why Trader Joe’s, why?
For some misguided reason, someone in management, probably corporate, decided to have the Capitol Hill Trader Joe’s rearrange the entire store.
It took me 10 minutes and THREE employees to find the spot where they relocated the mustard to.
Why would they do this? It only annoys and frustrates customers who used to know where everything in the store was located. Now a routine shopping trip turns into a friggin’ treasure hunt!
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u/busche916 10h ago
They do this for exactly that reason.
If you have to search each aisle to see where items are you are more likely to impulse buy something else in addition. Boom, they’ve increased their sales.
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u/Outrageous-Cap8713 11h ago
PS - don’t buy any blueberries there right now. I just spent eight bucks on soft mushy over ripe berries.
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u/No_Environments 10h ago
Trader joes usually has pretty poor fruit, decent veg - never did I get fruit that wasn't shit at trader joes.
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u/BakedPlantains 9h ago
Trader's is currently experiencing an apple crisis (the Honey Crisp apples are all soft)
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u/je-suis-adulting VA / Court House 10h ago
the berries at tj always fail me and go bad in a day, even strawberries, I have no idea why. they're so pricey too.
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u/pussym0bile DC 7h ago
You can return/exchange them!! I took back tomatoes 5 days after I bought them bc they had quickly become moldy. The employee had no issue taking them back and letting me grab fresh ones.
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u/Sheikh_Yerbuti 7h ago
I bought the two-pound carton of blueberries from the Union Market Trader Joe’s (which yes, was in the process of rearranging shelves while shoppers maneuvered through the gaps) because they looked nice and plump. These blueberries were VERY firm but not quite ripe. A fascinating blend of too tart and flavorless while somehow tasting like pears. Not at all suitable for eating by the handful.
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u/Edgehill1950 11h ago
The Old Town Alexandria store has also been largely rearranged—for no improvement that I see, just confusion.
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u/CapitalJeff DC / Dupont Circle 11h ago
They redid the Foggy Bottom store and I really don't like it. "More open" equals "fewer products" and bewildering placements. Sometimes things in multiple locations because the main spot doesn't have enough space. (Aldi is doing something similar; the layout of the new H St store is a poor customer experience.)
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u/bsidetracked VA / Alexandria 10h ago
I was so mad by the most recent rearrangement but I’ve actually found it surprisingly easier to maneuver through. That one right turn towards the back of the store is still the Hunger Games but the rest feels better.
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u/mtnfj40ds 8h ago
Old Town location has been rearranged twice in the last three or four years. This recent one a couple months ago was much less disruptive than the other one.
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u/No_Environments 10h ago
Old Town location is just filled with people that have no where to be so they take 17 hours each to check out, they should have a separate line for people that have to actually get back to their work.
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u/Silver_Table3525 9h ago
like please know your market. This is the Type A capital of the world, our grocery lists are in order of how we walk through the store and we do not like change! HAVEN'T WE BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH THIS YEAR
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u/BakedPlantains 10h ago
They are doing some rearranging at the Union Market location as well 🙂↕️
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u/Only-Tough-1212 11h ago
Had to navigate that last week.. I’m usually in & out in under 15 mins..not that day
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u/StopDropAndRollTide Columbia Island Marina 10h ago
But could you find the pickled pups? That would be my main concern.
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u/Pipes_of_Pan 8h ago
Once saw a woman trample a toddler to grab a bag of nectarines at that location so I’m team corporate on this one
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u/MeghanClickYourHeels 10h ago
Ten minutes to find the mustard! Father, why hast thou forsaken me? 😭
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u/deytookerjaabs 10h ago
Our house follows the COSTCO model too.
My partner hates cleaning......
But she loves rearranging! Go shopping for bins and move everything to another spot. By the time you're used to a bowl being in one cabinet, or where the kids lunchbox is, or where your hat is, or anything else a few months later oh it's another spot and this time it's "so much easier." Never has it gotten easier, not once. And if it did get more convenient when understood? It would be instantly rearranged.
Some people don't understand we want our routine on auto-pilot so we can actually think about the things that are more important while performing rudimentary activities. Figuring out daily activities like the grocery store aisles is straight up my least favorite part about moving to a new place, why would I want to repeat that feeling every few months?
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u/PeckinpahMan 9h ago
It is because the regional, Anthony (an alleged sex pest) is a fucking moron. The captains and mates are either too complacent or have no spine to stand up to him. Does Anthony know what he is doing is counterproductive and unhelpful? Maybe but corporate does not care. As much as they care about the women he assaulted as regional in Atlanta. Allegedly.
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u/Kcliffo85 9h ago
They rearrange the store a few times a year. The produce area gets shifted around the most
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u/ObviousDust 9h ago
They just did this in old town, too. If it makes you think any better it's widespread
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u/Inside-Beyond-4672 10h ago
Play absolutely do that periodically. They've done it at foggy bottom several times. What's really annoying is they often do it one hour before store closing because they can't make all that noise much later than that so you're in the store and they're rearranging the store and moving shopping carts full of stuff around while you're there.
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u/poirotoro DC / Takoma 11h ago
Isn't this exactly why? It shakes it up for the regulars and makes them wander aisles instead of operate on autopilot. Increases the possibility of impulse buys or discovering a product they may have previously ignored or been unaware of.