Trader Joe’s: Grocer to the Overeducated and Underpaid

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[00:03:16] - [First question] - Comparing and contrasting Trader Joe’s to conventional grocery stores and supermarkets 

[00:06:05] - Where Trade Joe’s fits into the food retail market and their size and scale

[00:09:36] - The different sections of a store layout and what it feels like to shop there

[00:11:47] - How many stores there are and how that compares to other large scale food retailers

[00:13:17] - Some of the most interesting parts of the history of Trader Joe’s

[00:15:15] - How Joe applied his market observations to building the company 

[00:21:12] - The evolution and success of Trader Joe’s private label brand

[00:24:31] - Differences between US and European grocery markets and overview of what a hard discounter is 

[00:28:25] - Unique and different strategies on slotting fees and trade spend

[00:31:23] - Reinvesting their overhead savings to offer lower prices to their customers

[00:33:04] - Success despite not being a store where one does a full basket shop

[00:34:08] - The way that the pandemic and delivery services impact grocery stores 

[00:37:17] - The crossroads many grocers face between physical and online stores

[00:41:43] - What makes Trader Joe’s defensible 

[00:44:51] - Trader Joe’s approach to shrinkage and having better margins than their peers

[00:47:05] - Self-distribution and what separates them from their competitors 

[00:48:30] - Lessons for builders and investors from Trader Joe’s story