Is it worth a 2 hour drive to shop at Trader Joe's?

[Chrelaine]

I love Trader Joe's and wouldn't drive that far for it. I find I save money on many things we use. The savings would be totally negated by the time invested and cost of gas. I'm excited that they are building one 5 minutes from where I work. That is worth the drive

 

[knkmom]

Another no! I have several TJ's close by and while it is fun to walk through and look at all the neat things they have I rarely buy much there. The produce in our stores always looks icky and it is a lot of processed type foods. The meats are expensive too. We usually get coffee, cheese, wine and carrot cake cupcakes hubby's favorite thing!!) and that is pretty much it for us.

 

[lauradis]

THANK YOU everyone for the reviews! We do have an amazing Farmer's Market every Saturday that I go to most weeks. I can get meat, milk, eggs and cheese there also. All the meat is frozen, though. I will check Whole Foods and Fresh Market for meat.

Good point about wasting gas and time, never even thought of that! That would totally eat up any savings.
Thanks!

Have you looked into the small local meat processing places in your area.

We found a local farmer that does pork, chicken without the added chemicals.

I wouldn't drive two hours to trader joe. Nice store interesting stuff, but mostly junk processed food. Its the new trendy store.

 

[crisi]

I can't imagine that driving a total of 4 hours would be worth the savings you would get from shopping TJs. I don't even go to the one 30 minutes from here.

Ten minutes away and I don't go. But I'm in coop country, I have a coop fifteen minutes away.

 

[loveswdw]

We love TJ's and ours is a 30 minute drive. That said, I don't go to TJ's unless we are nearby. It's not that cheap so it definitely wouldn't justify that drive and gas $$. And it's definitely not Whole Foods. But we love TJ's frozen stuff! Have had very little from TJ's that we didn't care for the taste.

I live near Louisville and there's a new store in town called Lucky's Market. To me, it's a cross between Fresh Market and Trader Joe's. Don't know if you have one in your area but it's a nice store. Their sales circulars come out on Wednesday and you can get both last week's and this week's sales' prices on Wednesday.

 

[shruley]

I wouldn't for organics, and we are people who do love TJs. We make sure to stop when we're somewhere that has one, but have never made a special trip. We do have friends who are Gluten Free. For them maybe it would be worth a special trip. SHe said the prices of their GF stuff, like just the flour she needs for baking and pasta there, compared to just our regular grocery stores are crazy (we're not even big enough town for a whole foods or anything nearby.)

 

[JenzyHP]

I wouldn't drive that far for Trader Joes but I do like it. Whole Foods is just expensive for expensive sake. It definitely isn't a particularly good store and the meat section stinks. It is a shame it keeps buying out the nicer organic stores. I wish we had an Earth Fare!

 

[crisi]

I wouldn't for organics, and we are people who do love TJs. We make sure to stop when we're somewhere that has one, but have never made a special trip. We do have friends who are Gluten Free. For them maybe it would be worth a special trip. SHe said the prices of their GF stuff, like just the flour she needs for baking and pasta there, compared to just our regular grocery stores are crazy (we're not even big enough town for a whole foods or anything nearby.)

For GF - the internet is a way better deal. Prices and selection are better (Trader Joe's GF selection is actually somewhat sparse).

 

[bettymae1121]

TJ's was great years ago, before more mainstream supermarket chains carried a lot of organic items (and what they did carry was uber expensive). At least in my area though, organics are now a lot easier to find, and cheaper than they used to be. I still go to TJ's (20 minute drive) about once a month for a few things I really like and/or can't find elsewhere and/or are cheaper at TJ's. I got to WF, TJ's and Costco once a month or so, go to Meijer weekly and order our meats from a local farm in bulk 2x a year.

 

[Carina]

Saw one on our Seattle trip several years ago I was SUPER excited.

Wandered around for 5 mins and left empty handed.

Wouldn't drive across a parking lot for one now.

The prices SHOCKED me, and to give a bit of reference. I am Canadian, our prices are supposed to shock YOU....lol

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Love Trader Joe's and shop there once a week (20 min away) Between TJ, Whole Foods, and Costco I get all our shopping done. We don't eat processed stuff (except packaged cookies for kids lunches, granola bars, ice cream, some frozen stuff etc.and I only buy things free of artificial colors, flavors/preservatives). Regular grocery stores are full of artificial stuff. If the only TJ was 2 hours away I would go 5 or 6 times a year.

 

[DVC-Don]

I really like the store, but even though it's only 20 minutes away, whenever I go there I can not find a parking space. The lot is way too small.

 

[MinnieGi]

We used to live real close to a TJ's and used it for shopping, however when we moved the closest one in 30 minutes away and I rarely stop in now. IF I am up in that area for other errands, I may stop in, but also may just not... Definitely would not drive 2 hours!!!

 

[undertheradar]

Our nearest TJ's and Costco are about 3 hours away. We stay overnight and do some serious shopping every 2 to 3 months. Items that you can't get at WF.

 

[lakelandgal70]

The closet one to us in about 2 hours away and when we first visited it I was so underwhelmed by it. I mean really I am not sure what the big fuss is over TJ. The one I went to didn't have a butcher. Maybe they all are like that. I was really looking forward to getting some grass fed meats.

 

[Mainst]

No

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We have a Trader Joe's less than 5 minutes away and I only go there a few times a year. I don't go there for any item in particular. I usually end up buying produce, bread, maybe some salmon, and yogurt. There's really nothing there that I can't get at my regular grocery store. They do have some low-fat cheese that I like, but I don't go there especially to get it.

 

[Dax]

They just opened a new TJ's in Orlando....along with a Shake Shack...The parking lot for both is TINY and the parking is a nightmare. Have ventured that way once, but the parking was so bad, we skipped it. Since I shop in that area a lot, I may stop in there every few weeks.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

It would almost be worth it if you would be stocking up on the nitrate free bacon. It is the best bacon I've ever had. They have regular packs but they also have 1lb packs of ends and pieces for just $3 here (Scottsdale AZ store)
If I lived that far I would get enough bacon to last me a year, but then I'd eat a year's worth of bacon in a month...
The store is really not that big a deal.
Except for the bacon!

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

It would almost be worth it if you would be stocking up on the nitrate free bacon. It is the best bacon I've ever had. They have regular packs but they also have 1lb packs of ends and pieces for just $3 here (Scottsdale AZ store) If I lived that far I would get enough bacon to last me a year, but then I'd eat a year's worth of bacon in a month... The store is really not that big a deal. Except for the bacon!

I do love TJs bacon. The whole nitrate free thing is a bit of a lie but it does taste super good. It's pretty much the only bacon I can eat by the handful lol!