Trader Joe's!

[cooltouch]

I was driving along Shepherd Drive here in Houston yesterday and had just passed the vacant Alabama Theater (used to be a Book Stop until that shut down in 2009) when I heard a bit of news on the radio. Apparently Trader Joe's is in discussions with Weingarten Realty over leasing (or buying?) the Alabama Theater to open one of their stores. The news guy said neither of them would confirm or deny.

I just about ran my car off the road. Talk about coincidence!

Okay, I lived in SoCal for 24 years -- most of my adult life, and I used to shop at TJ's on a regular basis. One of the things I missed most about SoCal when I moved to Houston was there were no TJs here.

You guys in CA know what I'm talking about. It's a great store. Dried fruits and nut assortments, cheeses, all sorts of interesting frozen foods (their New York style cheesecake is killer!), a BIG selection of beers and wines, most of which are reasonably priced, all sorts of coffees (their Bay Blend is my favorite) and in CA (but it won't be happening here in Tejas because of our quaint liquor laws), a good supply of liquors. Some TJs have fresh produce if they have room.

I'm trying to imagine the old Alabama Theater as a TJs -- I used to shop there pretty often when it was a Book Stop. All the multi-levels and that large sloping area that used to be the main theater. It could wind up being the coolest TJs ever.

Check it out:

Trader Joe's

If you like what you see, do like I'm about to do in one minute and shoot 'em an email telling them that it's about time!

[d2creative]

Ya, heard about this the other day.
So awesome.
Better than Whole Foods.
Especially for anyone who cares about eating clean and organic, and not paying out the ying yang to do it.

[cooltouch]

Yeah, I think it bears repeating that good deals are to be had at TJs. That's one of the things that's always made it so popular, IMO.

I read in one of their flyers back when I lived in SoCal how they managed to sell their stuff at such a discount. It was because TJs pays cash on the barrelhead for everything in their store. None of this net 30 crap (that often extends to 90 days before the vendor gets paid). And there's nothing quite like cash when you're driving for a bargain. So that's how they manage it, and they pass the good deals on to their customers.

[Photogdude]

great, more traffic.

Although Trader Joe's is cool

[Todd Lambert]

TJs can be cool.... the operative word is :can:, as there's a lot of crap there too. They buy unique, closeout type stuff, one-runs, etc.. and they do sell it for a reasonable price. However, a lot of the time, you have to weed through a bunch of crap to find a gem. Word of advice, when you find something you like, buy all of it. Chances are, it won't be around for long and probably won't come back.

I do miss TJ's $2 Buck Chuck though... cheap wine is the perfect example of the above.

Soon, Texas's turn to the dark side will be complete. California won't have much of anything that Texas does not anymore. First, In and Out, now Trader Joes... all we really need is Claimjumper and Wahoos Fish Tacos and the process will be complete. 8-)

[Some Idiot]

Originally Posted by cooltouch

I was driving along Shepherd Drive here in Houston yesterday and had just passed the vacant Alabama Theater (used to be a Book Stop until that shut down in 2009) when I heard a bit of news on the radio. Apparently Trader Joe's is in discussions with Weingarten Realty over leasing (or buying?) the Alabama Theater to open one of their stores. The news guy said neither of them would confirm or deny.

I just about ran my car off the road. Talk about coincidence!

Okay, I lived in SoCal for 24 years -- most of my adult life, and I used to shop at TJ's on a regular basis. One of the things I missed most about SoCal when I moved to Houston was there were no TJs here.

You guys in CA know what I'm talking about. It's a great store. Dried fruits and nut assortments, cheeses, all sorts of interesting frozen foods (their New York style cheesecake is killer!), a BIG selection of beers and wines, most of which are reasonably priced, all sorts of coffees (their Bay Blend is my favorite) and in CA (but it won't be happening here in Tejas because of our quaint liquor laws), a good supply of liquors. Some TJs have fresh produce if they have room.

I'm trying to imagine the old Alabama Theater as a TJs -- I used to shop there pretty often when it was a Book Stop. All the multi-levels and that large sloping area that used to be the main theater. It could wind up being the coolest TJs ever.

Check it out:

Trader Joe's

If you like what you see, do like I'm about to do in one minute and shoot 'em an email telling them that it's about time!

Trader Joe's is the stuff..... I hope you get one

[cooltouch]

Originally Posted by Todd Lambert

TJs can be cool.... the operative word is :can:, as there's a lot of crap there too. They buy unique, closeout type stuff, one-runs, etc.. and they do sell it for a reasonable price. However, a lot of the time, you have to weed through a bunch of crap to find a gem. Word of advice, when you find something you like, buy all of it. Chances are, it won't be around for long and probably won't come back.

I do miss TJ's $2 Buck Chuck though... cheap wine is the perfect example of the above.

Soon, Texas's turn to the dark side will be complete. California won't have much of anything that Texas does not anymore. First, In and Out, now Trader Joes... all we really need is Claimjumper and Wahoos Fish Tacos and the process will be complete. 8-)

Yep, we even have Carl's Jr. here in Houston, now.

As for the close-outs, I found that depends on what it was. For their more staple-type things, these are fairly constant. Like their nuts, dried fruits, cheeses, and quite a few of their frozen items. I found that a lot of the beers came and went. TJs was the only place I could find Aussie-brewed Sheaf's Stout, but even then supply was spotty. Haven't seen any of that in years. Missed out on the Two Buck Chuck, but I heard that was something.

[crbeveri]

the only thing that sucks is that it's gonna me located there in town. Living out in cypress it's almost a 1/2 day trip just to go there. With that said if I was to venture down there I would have to stock up as I wouldn't be back the next week.

Biggest thing I hate about Houston is how spread out it is. If there was a better public transportation system to connect the suburbs to the midtown/ inner-city areas I would enjoy it here so much more. I really wish America would wake up and take a note from Europe and Asia on public transportation!!!

[r0xikat]

saw this as an article on chron.com... excite!

[cooltouch]

Hey, when I lived down in the Los Angeles area, it seemed like wherever we had to go it was at least a half-hour drive, either streets or freeways. Not a whole lot of close-by stuff. We just got used to it. Now I find myself complaining about a quick 10-mile trip down the freeway. In LA that would have been next door.

I kinda feel for you guys out in Cypress though. I've only been out there a couple of times since I've moved back to Houston and I cannot believe the amount of growth that has occurred out there. And you guys all have that sucky 290 freeway to deal with to get into town, unless you want to drive way out of your way to the 10 or the 45.

So, yeah, if I were in your position, I'd do a once-a-week trip to TJs, and I'd plan it for the off-hours. Hrm . . . does the 290 even have off-hours?

[cooltouch]

Originally Posted by r0xikat

saw this as an article on chron.com... excite!

Just did a search at chron.com and couldn't find any article pertaining to TJs in Houston? Never mind, I found it.

[Howard Barlow]

Originally Posted by cooltouch

...a BIG selection of beers and wines, most of which are reasonably priced, all sorts of coffees (their Bay Blend is my favorite) and in CA (but it won't be happening here in Tejas because of our quaint liquor laws), a good supply of liquors...

How so? What do they sell in CA, that can't be sold here?

[cooltouch]

Originally Posted by Howard Barlow

How so? What do they sell in CA, that can't be sold here?

I'm not suggesting that liquor can't be sold here in Texas, it's that it can be sold only in liquor stores. Spec's here in Houston is somewhat like TJs in that respect in that they carry other stuff besides liquor. But all liquor stores in Texas close by 9pm and are closed on Sundays and holidays. So if TJs wants to sell liquor, those are the hours they'll be keeping. I suspect, rather than do that, they'll just stick to beer and wine. They don't need to hassle with the hard stuff.

In California, you can buy hard liquor at a grocery store, 7 days a week, up to 2 am. So you could go to a Kroger (if they had Kroger) at 1:30am and buy a 5th of Jack if you wanted, no problemo.

I can't complain too much about Texas's liquor laws, though. I imagine there are worse places. I hear Utah's are pretty restrictive, and I lived in Washington for a while when I was in the Army and found out that ALL of the liquor stores up there were owned and operated by the state, and as I recall their operating hours were rather short. Least that's the way it was back in the 70s.

[Howard Barlow]

Ok, Michael, I see what you mean. I thought you meant product selection availability.