Trader Joe’s

About Trader Joe’s

The first Trader Joe’s store opened in 1967 in Pasadena, California. (That store is still there. It’s still operating. It still has the same parking lot.) The store had a nautical theme and it was run by people who were described as “traders on the high seas.” At the time, Joe had been reading a book called “White Shadows in the South Seas,” and he’d been to the Disneyland Jungle Trip ride, and it all just…coalesced. To this day, Trader Joe’s Crew Members consider themselves “traders on the culinary seas” and are known for their bright, tropical-patterned shirts and for generally being nice, helpful, and well informed.