F I R S TP R E V710NEXTLAST

Mini Series, California Dreaming, Day 2 of 3
Trader Joe's is another California company that has begun to spread to the East Coast with plans on filling in the rest of the country. Started in Monrovia, California in 1958 by Joe Coulombe, the unique grocery is hard to appreciate until you've shopped there. For starters all the items stocked are hand -picked for taste, quality and nutrition. Along with the selection, Trader Joe's offers these items at very low prices. Trader Joe's is the exclusive home to Charles Shaw wine, known as Two Buck Chuck who offers delicious wines for the unbelievable price of $1.99.

The friendly Hawaiian shirt-clad staff is knowledgeable and a food station in the back always offers free samples of their ever-changing products. In 2006 Trader Joe's was Consumer Reports second-best ranked supermarket chain in the entire nation. A recent NPR radio program talked of the near riot when Trader Joe's open their first store in Manhattan. Hey, what other grocery store chain do you know of that has their own fan site?