Why is Trader Joe’s so chaotic?

[Anonymous]

I rarely go because it’s sort of out of my way, but every time I go, it seems to be more chaotic than the time before!

First off, the carts are returned to the exact same place they are retrieved, so people entering are fighting with people exiting for the cart corral. Then, everyone is mulling around right as you enter the store, surveying either the flowers or the small baked good table that they put RIGHT THERE. When you enter the produce department, it’s a maze with no clear path and people coming at you from every direction. The aisles themselves aren’t much better; short and narrow, there is no good place for you and your cart as you stop to grab something off the shelf.

Is it just my particular store or is it chaos at every Trader Joe’s? It doesn’t matter if I go right when they open, right before they close, or any other obscure time throughout the day. Is this on purpose? I know the parking lots are the way they are to make the lot appear full, so is it the same inside?

[Anonymous]

They tend to have small stores with bad parking lots and a chaotic layout inside the store.

[Anonymous]

If you go within the first hour they open, it's calm and relatively quiet. I go on Sunday mornings and it's just fine.

[Anonymous]

I go an hour before close and it's great. I've never experienced what you describe at that time.

[Anonymous]

I read an explanation of this. They have a significantly smaller footprint than most grocery stores but still do grocery store traffic. Generally parking lots are determined by the size of the store so the compact nature of the store combined with high traffic results in parking lot chaos.

[Anonymous]

I shop at the Federal Plaza and Darnestown Rd locations and haven’t encountered any issues.

[Anonymous]

They have no competion so they are flooded with customers.

Same as Costco.

[Anonymous]

The one in college park is not like this at all. There is one tiny one in Bethesda that just sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I rarely go because it’s sort of out of my way, but every time I go, it seems to be more chaotic than the time before!

First off, the carts are returned to the exact same place they are retrieved, so people entering are fighting with people exiting for the cart corral. Then, everyone is mulling around right as you enter the store, surveying either the flowers or the small baked good table that they put RIGHT THERE. When you enter the produce department, it’s a maze with no clear path and people coming at you from every direction. The aisles themselves aren’t much better; short and narrow, there is no good place for you and your cart as you stop to grab something off the shelf.

Is it just my particular store or is it chaos at every Trader Joe’s? It doesn’t matter if I go right when they open, right before they close, or any other obscure time throughout the day. Is this on purpose? I know the parking lots are the way they are to make the lot appear full, so is it the same inside?

Springfield by chance?

[Anonymous]

It can definitely be a zoo. Ours even gets a line outside sometimes when it gets too crowded!

I try to go right when they open, which helps.

[Anonymous]

I am halfway between the Reston and Ashburn locations. I don’t have this issue at all, but I always go during the day on a weekday.

[Anonymous]

Whole Foods Tenleytown is far worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you go within the first hour they open, it's calm and relatively quiet. I go on Sunday mornings and it's just fine.

DP, Tried doing this this morning, which is how I typically shop there (when the doors open). The one in Rockville is now opening at 9 (surprise surprise), which does not work well. I am tired at night.

[Anonymous]

I go right when they open and I've never had an issue.

[Anonymous]

It's part of the charm. It doesn't bother me, except at the tiny Bethesda one because the aisles are too narrow. But once the Friendship Heights one opens there will be 4 TJs within a few mile stretch of Wisconsin Ave so I won't need to go to the original Bethesda store again.