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At a time when so many U.S. businesses, large and small, are going overboard on spending, accruing unholy amounts of debt and paying their workers less while ratcheting up rates/prices (or dropping them dramatically) in order to stay afloat, it's refreshing to read about one company that seems to have gotten it right.
With thanks to Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn:
Trader Joe's, still a private company, has grown "from a 6 million to 10 billion dollar company." That's billion, with a B. Even more impressive, according to OTBKB, "the California company is debt-free; everything inside the store walls is paid in full." (Emphasis mine.)
As much as I like shopping at Trader Joe's, I've never been what you might call a TJ's regular. There was never a TJ's near any of my Manhattan apartments and, when I lived briefly in San Francisco, it was impossible to set foot in one of the two stores near me on a weekend. Just too bloody crowded for someone who values having enough oxygen. I did, however, go whenever I had the chance to slip in on a weekday or very early on a Saturday or Sunday morning.
Of course, anyone who's shopped at TJ's more than once has suffered the frustration of falling in love with a product only to find they didn't have it they next time you visited. But, by the same token, I've enjoyed being forced to try something new almost every time I've shopped at TJ's. And I've never been disappointed in something I've bought there. (Except for TJ's peanut butter, which tastes like peanut-flavored chalk mixed with sawdust from a dirty barn floor. Blech!)
So, while Wall Street falls around our ears and everyone involved blames someone else, I give kudos to Trader Joe's for keeping the dream of successful businesses alive (even if my grandparents still call it "Traders Joe"). I hope to visit the new Brooklyn store in the near future (after the feeding frenzy has died down a bit).
Posted by ayelet at September 24, 2008 01:56 PM