Bay blending
Will Trader Joe's succeed in NYC? Of course it will.
Trader Joe's has supplied about half the food I've eaten over the past seven years. I wash my clothes in their detergent. I wash my dishes with their soap. I buy my Dr. Bronner's there. (All-One! Dilute! Dilute!) I patiently wait for the return of their enchilada sauce or meatballs when they're out. I'm happy to spend ten minutes waiting in line for a parking spot at the store on Masonic -- well, not that happy, but I don't complain when I have to.
I suppose the only question is whether the NYC store will be allowed to sell booze. I hear the stores in Massachusetts can't. TJ's just wouldn't be the same without a hundred different kinds of decent wine under $5. Those impatient New Yorkers will have to get used to the idea that a grocery store might stock an item for awhile, then suddenly not have it for weeks or even months, then have it again.
I've considered going rural a few times in the past couple of years. My job would allow me to telecommute from wherever I want to, and it's crossed my mind that if I lived somewhere woodsy in, say, Mendocino county, I could save several thousand dollars a year on rent. Do I really need SF nightlife that badly anymore? Well, not really. But I would have to live without:
∙The cultural variety, great cheap restaurants and intelligent discourse easily found in San Francisco
∙Playing ball in a decent league, from February to December
∙Nearby Trader Joe's
∙Amoeba Records
No way. I'm staying.
*
R.I.P. Ali Farka Touré, by the way. I've been enjoying the music of his countrymen Amadou et Mariam more and more lately.
posted by Elbo @ 11:52 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Trader Joe's is almost my exclusive grocery store, with the exception, of course, of produce. And you're correct - they are not allowed to sell alcohol at the TJ's here in Mass.
My favorites: their waffles, their White Corn chips, their SPicy Soy-Flaxseed chips and their Calamyrna Figs. I have also been known to enjoy their frozen fish on the grill.
Jeff
My brother, who does not have a Blogger account allowing him to post comments, says:
[T]his one will definitely have booze. The law in New York says that grocery stores can't sell wine, so this TJ isn't one store but two, with separate entrances and cashiers. They've been putting pictures up on Curbed.com, tracking the whole thing and counting down the days.
Per [Anthony's] question in the comments thread: And if he thinks it's not going to be a hit because it's too close to Whole Foods, he totally misunderstands the way upscale New Yorkers shop for food. People here don't care about making multiple stops; the urge to buy The Best dominates, and the fact that stores are clustered actually helps. Upper West Siders habitually go to Zabar's for coffee, Citarella for Fish, and Fairway for produce, all within about six blocks. It's the European-food-hall model rather than the supermarket model.
[Reprinted with permission.]
Anthony's deleted comment from above, restored:
thank you to the brothers B for the comment. as an upscale San Franciscan, i am sure i share a few traits with upscale New Yorkers, including making the rounds for goodies -- like Jeff above. (and if anyone knows where they stock harissa in a tube, please let me know.)
but knowing Union Square and its massive seasonal farmer's market and so on, do all the great grocery stores have to be right there? will Whole Foods or TJ's deliver?
separately, here's a local Examiner story on grocery stores *leaving* the city: http://tinyurl.com/zzo57
i'm still scratching my head over the quote that says, "Particularly for people who don’t have cars, for elderly folks and for families, we need something that’s close by and that has a parking lot.”
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