I had a chance to hold on my hands the advance reader copy of this book. The story is interesting and provides a lot of insights on how Trader Joe started and grew. Engaging story gives ideas and thinking points in how to drive your own business forward.

Fun view into the world of Trader Joe’s. I really appreciated learning more about how the company was built out. They were definitely ahead of the trends in many ways. For instance, producing almond butter from leftover almond scraps before most other retailers and introducing many imported wines into the California market (ultimately becoming the #1 retailer for imported wine in California at the time).

My biggest complaint is that the book feels a little scatterbrained at times - jumping across time frames and alluding to elements that we learn about later on. Additionally, while I liked it overall, I didn’t find all the chapters necessary - for instance those that covered Joe’s career outside of TJ’s.

I’m a huge fan of Trader Joe’s and was excited when I heard about this book. Unfortunately, the book falls flat. The structure of it is elementary. How many times is it necessary to put in parenthesis a reference to go read a different chapter for more info? If I’m already reading the book, surely I read (or will read) those other chapters as well! While I did appreciate some tidbits such as info on how they started their unique pricing, and well known premium wages and benefits, I was left wanting to know more about one of my favorite places. This book also doesn’t cover more recent changes as ownership changed. Since I enjoy shopping at Trader Joe’s so much, I will round up for my 2.5 star rating for the purpose of this review.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

It was really intriguing to hear all of the background behind Trader Joe's and how Coulombe decided to run his businesses. His approach to retail is refreshing and clearly effective, and I think more business owners could benefit from reading about his approach. That said, the book itself did not feel cohesive. It seemed to jump around and refer to other chapters frequently, and some seemingly important topics seemed brushed over in just a sentence or two. I know that this is being published after the author's death, so perhaps it is, in fact, a compilation of incomplete segments of a book, because that is exactly what it felt like. Considering there is a co-author, I think a little more care could have been taken to fill in the gaps that Coulombe left to help the book read more smoothly. The book was also full of references that I did not understand, perhaps because of my age, but I think that a slightly more universal appeal would only benefit the book. Overall I would recommend this book to fans of Trader Joe's who have an interest in the business aspect of the store, but caution them that it's not the most seamless read.

As a massive Trader Joe's fan I was really excited to read this book. Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I felt like so much of it went over my head and it was really hard to follow. The topics and years referenced kept jumping around, which made it confusing. I also had trouble keeping track of the variety of people mentioned. Sometimes it read like a textbook and other times it read like a memoir. I think those who are interested specifically in business and retail may get something out of the book, but if you are a Trader Joe's fan only I don't recommend this book.

We all have our favorite Trader Joe’s products, right? Mine are the Speculoos Cookie Butter, Conte di Bregonzo Amarone red wine (under $20!!!), and the Dark Chocolate Bar with Caramel and Black Sea Salt.

Sadly, this particular Trader Joe’s product, Becoming Trader Joe by Joe Coulombe, doesn’t make the cut. The best way I can describe it is to borrow the famous phrase from Anne Lamott. It reads like a $hitty First Draft.

Coulombe’s story is undoubtedly a fascinating one for people interested in business, and his book is chock-full of detail on pricing, real estate, supply chain, marketing, and human resource strategies. It’s important to note though that he left TJ’s in 1989, about 10 years after he sold it to the German brothers who also own Aldi. The chain’s explosive growth since then is obviously not covered.

Alas, Becoming Trader Joe is not well written or well structured. Grammatical errors abound, and there are a lot of clunky bits like ‘make sure to read such and such chapter.’ It’s surprising to me that a co-writer is credited, since the book is still in need of a big polish. Without it, the reading experience is like trying to find a space in the TJ’s parking lot. You circle in frustration but remain determined to get to all the good stuff inside.

Joe has a great sense of humor.

1. Product Knowledge

He also has great product knowledge which helped him in doing unparalleled deals. Breaking the mold of existing product category and being able to sell has the same advantage as making a new product category.
Great statement about being steeped in brands. Personally I love brands too, which you can probably tell.

2. Customer Zone

If your customers get you that the value is in the product and not the packaging, you have found your right customer zone. He calls it helping the "public buy it right". Sometimes like with maple syrup, he got a better product and other times, even when labelled second quality butter, he could still make it sell like premium.

3. Creative Marketing

You can see it with his toolset as chapters of the book.

So much to learn from this book. All those who shop at Traders Joe or have seen the Fearless Flyer would probably know and regale at the stories of the products.

*This book was received as an Advanced Reviewer's copy from NetGalley.

It's always a treat to go shop at Trader Joe's. Interesting products, new stuff added, a fantastic cheese selection; there's not much more you could ask for (except for those horrible parking lots). So to find out the origin story was pretty appealing.

I learned a lot from this book. Both about Trader Joe's and the general running of a grocery type store. Coulombe talks a lot about supply and demand, the various regulations that were around and changed, how to handle inventory and employees. It kind of runs the gamut. About Trader Joe's itself I was surprised to find out how long they've been around. And the various changes they've made as a store to focus on different things before becoming what it is today (I wish they still sliced cheese in-house).

The narrative was very much what I'd call 'old man rambling'. Which is not a bad thing, but it's a meandering narrative that keeps referring back to other stories (or in this case other chapters). Some of it got a bit too technical for my taste; just because I don't have plans on ever running a grocery store like that and don't need to know all the intricacies of buying and selling. However, for a business major, that may be a key feature of this book. There were a few turn of phrases that had me groaning a bit too; his outlook is generally pretty good and progressive, but some of the comments about introducing women workers in the store or business as a whole (honestly it's just probably reflective of the time) or making a time-off bank because employees would prefer to use their days for vacation rather than sick time. But thankfully most of what was there was good; Coulombe is pretty progressive on wages, employee treatment, outlook on the store and changing demographics and needs.

An interesting book, but definitely don't go into it thinking it's a lighthearted read on your favorite grocery store; it's more that mixed up with a whole lot of business lore.

Review by M. Reynard 2021

Very good story about how Trader Joe's got it's start. It was very interesting to learn where all the ideas came from and to learn how long Trader Joe's has been around.

As a retail store owner, a book by Joe Coulombe has long been my holy grail, and this does not disappoint. The honesty with which this book is written is refreshing. Mr. Coulombe's unique mix of high intelligence comes through in this book and you can definitely see his unique touch in what Trader Joe's is today. One of the best business books I've read in year and years. Required reading for anyone involved in business.

I saw Trader Joe on the cover and immediately knew I needed this book. This was really informative without being boring and I learned a lot about one of my favorite stores. I can't wait to see if there will be an audiobook because I know my husband would love to listen to this as a business/numbers guy. I would also listen to it for that experience.

As an avid Trader Joe’s customer, I was immediate intrigued at this book title. This book leans heavily into the nuts and bolts of operating the Trader Joe’s company and how it evolved over time. There is a lengthy discussion on the wine industry and how Trader Joe’s started as more of a convenience store model with alcohol (in a wider range and quality)and some consumer goods and foods, which then evolved into its current reputation as a health food store with unique products and high quality alcohol at good prices. This book would appeal to people in the retail industry and those in other business fields, given the themes of lean business management, how to value employees, and strategies for keeping the business profitable. My key take-aways include an understanding of the phases of the Trader Joe’s brand and the context of that within the greater society (for example, increased interest in health foods, the wine industry and regulations) and understanding what continues to make Trader Joe’s unique.

Trader Joe's is the iconic upstart Southern California market that has for decades been a must-go for many of us from the discount wines to the unique specialty products you can't get anywhere else like the classic corn salsa to the gluten-free panettone. In the interests of full disclosure, we shop there all the time. The stores are smaller than regular supermarkets which often now are many times bigger than football fields. There are few brand names which you don't notice except when you look for specific sodas or cereals. And, perhaps because of the Hawaiian 🌺 shirts, the staff lacks the almost-universal surliness of standard markets.

Here, the founder of Trader Joe's, Joe Coulombe himself, tells the business story from its inauspicious beginnings to its iconic place in American culture. It's primarily a business story about buying and selling and dealing with truckloads of government regulations and anti-competitive brand names who have most retailers by the balls. Center to the story is the homogenization of brand name products through advertising and product placement. Joe started his upstart business to mimic the 7-Elevens which had not yet reached California. He paid his staff better than industry standard and found his niche in buying products such as wine and liquor. Eventually, the key became to sell products under the store brand, eschewing all the big name brands. Thus, began the quirky little store everyone loves.

Much of the book is about balance sheets and learning on the fly to operate the business. Chapters are spent on leases and store sites and shelving decisions. Chapters focus on how different some of the decisions were. Remarkable too is how the chain was sold four decades ago and still manages to echo the founder's ideals. This is a fascinating business story and a must-read fir fans of this unique enterprise.