A new grocery store, a new way of life
Trader Joe’s, the largest and one of the most popular West Coast chain grocery stores opened on Oct. 6 in Coralville.
Homegrown Iowan
The newly opened Trader Joe’s in Coralville
Craving something sweet, yet spicy at the same time? How about sweet and spicy pecans? This new grocery store in Coralville offers many products not found in other grocery stores. Let’s first take a look down memory lane about how this all started.
According to the official Trader Joe’s website, the store was first called Pronto Markets when it opened its doors to customers in the ‘50s. However, it was not only until 1967 was the first Trader Joe’s officially opened in Pasadena, California. Surprisingly, opening a Trader Joe’s is a lot more work than you would expect.
Mitch Gross, a social studies teacher at West High, who is also a member of the Coralville City Council said, “I think it’s going to be a great addition to Coralville…[Opening a Trader Joe’s here] would give people a lot more choice.” He also thinks that it would give people the opportunity to try new foods, especially healthier foods for a much cheaper price.
Although there are 466 Trader Joe’s open in 36 different states, this is only the second one open in Iowa, after the first store location in Des Moines. However, this is not a surprise considering the amount of competition there is to open a Trader Joe’s store.
Gross said, “[Trader Joe’s] is one of the sought-after names in all of American retail, so you are competing with every other city across the country…[We] lost out to cities we were most surprised about…The time we got notified of the deal, it was kinda off the radar a little bit.”
Many of us have probably seen the construction happening earlier on this year, but the work put behind the opening of Trader Joe’s actually started 5 years ago. Gross said, “Trader Joe’s has an interesting process in deciding where they locate and there will be times we thought we made the final cut, and then we hadn’t.”
In this process, Gross had to met with Trader Joe’s officials to sell the idea of opening a Trader Joe’s here.
But the construction of Trader Joe’s was actually the quick part. “The deal got signed in maybe August or November, and it opened in November, so they actually opened really fast,” said Gross.
Despite the lack of amount of time there was to build a Trader Joe’s here, Gross confessed, “It’s probably the nicest Trader Joe’s in America. A lot of times, they go into strip malls, and this is a stand-alone brick store, it’s pretty nice.”
Aside from Gross, Todd Gibson, the head manager of the Coralville store also has a passionate opinion on Trader Joe’s. He claimed that he chose to work there because he wanted to be challenged and work with a team. “It has continued to be the best professional decision of my life, 15 years later,” he admits. “I have learned that communication is an art and supporting people is super rewarding.”
Two freshmen at West High School, Amy Liao and Caitlyn Hill have not personally been to this newly opened grocery store yet, but they have already developed strong opinions on it.
Apart from the positive views on this store, Hill, said, “A lot of people seemed to be really hyped up about. I don’t really get what it is. I hate how much people are making a big deal out of it, there are other grocery stores, like, what’s the big deal? I’m that person.”
Liao said, “I love it! It’s the best! I really really want to go. They have interesting things that most grocery stores don’t. The things that they do have in other stores are higher quality. According to people I know, it also tastes better, but I haven’t been there so I’m not sure.”
Gross also seems to agree with Liao. “I think it’s just [that] they have great products at great prices. They offer things you cannot get anywhere else,” he said. “One of Trader Joe’s trademark[s] is they offer healthy food at affordable prices, so I think it’s gonna offer people in all income levels [to have the] opportunity to try new foods.”
Aside from the prices, the staff also provide excellent services in Gibson’s opinion. “We are really working hard to take care of them and give them the best customer experience possible,” said Gibson.
Like most memorable experiences, valuable lessons can be learned in the process. “[I learned to] never to give up, because I actually gave up on Trader Joe’s, pushing it from 2009 to 2015. In 2015 I just gave up. Others didn’t give up, so I probably learned to keep the faith.” said Gross. “A lot of people worked hard in making it happen…[The best part of this whole experience] is the grand opening, kind of like this whole vision fulfilled.”