Fundies at Trader Joe's

[Rider]

Had a Fundy sighting a couple of nights ago at a Trader Joe's in Southern California. That struck me as VERY odd. Trader Joe's prices are actually quite reasonable and would appeal to the traditional thrifty fundy, but their portions are too small. No jumbo packs like COSTCO. There was a mom and five kids, the mom and one teenage girl wearing long skirts. The remainder were boys in shorts.

[bionicmlle]

Depending on their "brand" of fundie-dom, TJ's may be a perfect spot for them. TJ's has an excellent array of vegetarian food.

[SisiL78]

Depending on their "brand" of fundie-dom, TJ's may be a perfect spot for them. TJ's has an excellent array of vegetarian food.

They also have a lot of kosher products (including meat and cheese), so for Orthodox Jews its a good place to go.... the Orthodox women can often look like fundy Christians in dress.... especially the less fashionable ones as there is a large segment who enjoy the denim skirt, clogs, and long sleeve t-shirt. After searching high and low for kosher for passover quinoa I found out that TJs was the only one in my mid sized city that had it!!

[famof4]

I'm not familiar with Trader Joe's.

Did they have head coverings?

Here there is a head covering on some local fundies, that I can not place what group the head covering belongs to. It is a brown crocheted rectangle about 3 inches by 1 inch. They always wear it on the top of their head. You almost miss it on brown headed ladies but it really stands out of blond headed ladies. Anyone know what group this head covering belongs to?

[ErinRobitaille]

Oh no - I work at TJ's in Long Beach, haven't had any eventful sightings yet. Although I do get handed Chick tracts now and again.

[rock_girl]

Trader Joe's is the supermarket with all the nifty healthy stuff that isn't super expensive, isn't it? So jealous we don't have it and Whole Foods here.

It seems like for a small group of fundies the only difference between them and the crunchy mums is that the fundies wear their long skirts with long tops and preach damnation at anyone who gets close enough. Other than that they're basically the same. Lots of lentils, exotic grains, organic when it's affordable. Wouldn't TJ's be the perfect place for them?

[Loveday]

We recently got a Trader Joe's here --love it!--and just a week or two ago a Whole Foods finally opened up to great fanfare and hoopla. Haven't been there yet, but I'll keep an eye out for local fundies when I do go.

[SisiL78]

We recently got a Trader Joe's here --love it!--and just a week or two ago a Whole Foods finally opened up to great fanfare and hoopla. Haven't been there yet, but I'll keep an eye out for local fundies when I do go.

My mom called me giddy with excitement when the TJs opened near Wegmans. Meanwhile I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see a Wegmans nearby... but it shall never happen. Wegmans rocks, as does the Polar seltzer they sell....

[JenniferJuniper]

They have an awesome selection of very drinkable cheap wine at the stores that carry wine and beer.

I stocked up there for my party tonight.

[PennySycamore]

My mom called me giddy with excitement when the TJs opened near Wegmans. Meanwhile I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see a Wegmans nearby... but it shall never happen. Wegmans rocks, as does the Polar seltzer they sell....

My daughter LOVES Wegman's! She only gets to go when she's visiting family in Rochester which is not often enough as far as Wegmans is concerned. When she's at home, she has to settle for The Fresh Market and maybe Whole Paycheck.

[Loveday]

My daughter LOVES Wegman's! She only gets to go when she's visiting family in Rochester which is not often enough as far as Wegmans is concerned. When she's at home, she has to settle for The Fresh Market and maybe Whole Paycheck.

I've heard of Wegman's but know nothing about it. Good prices? Great selections? Not that we'll ever get them here, unfortunately. Food Lion, Farm Fresh, and Kroger have our market cornered. I go to the military commissary most of the time (DH is retired Navy), but selection isn't always stellar there, hence my excitement over WF and TJ's. Choice, I'm all about it. :dance:

[maybeizfundie]

We see a huge range of people when we go to TJ's. I don't get all my food there, but when it's on the way to or from somewhere we need to go, I stock up on the hummus. :D

Not all fundies have ginormous families. But also, while it's not a place you can get bulk stuff for cheap, it is a good place to get specialty items, treats, and things like that. Stevia, specialty coffee, GF stuff...

Would love to see a Wegman's here. We got to experience them in Erie, so cool!

[CelticGoddess]

We recently got a Trader Joe's here --love it!--and just a week or two ago a Whole Foods finally opened up to great fanfare and hoopla. Haven't been there yet, but I'll keep an eye out for local fundies when I do go.

We call Whole Food "whole Paycheck" here. :) I have a EarthFare (local to our state/region of US) which has better prices than Whole Foods but not as big.

I love Trader Joe's. They have good chocolate!

[ADoyle90815]

I see a range of people at my local TJ's, but not as many fundies. There are some Muslims and Orthodox Jewish people who shop there who are dressed modestly, but occasionally, I'll see Mormon missionaries on their day off shopping there as their apartment is around the block. While they might wear jeans and t-shirts, they still have their name tags on.

[Wolfie]

We recently got a Trader Joe's here --love it!--and just a week or two ago a Whole Foods finally opened up to great fanfare and hoopla. Haven't been there yet, but I'll keep an eye out for local fundies when I do go.

Whole Foods is kind of the Walmart of natural foods- I won't shop there. I'm very glad for a good local co-op and some local natural foods stores.

[anniebgood]

I can't afford Whole Paycheck, but I do go to Trader Joes (have been since the 70's) and also Fresh and Easy, which is a Tesco store in the US. Trader Joes has cookie butter- specaloos I think is the original brand and it's like gingerbread crack. I like their butter and their pre made salads come in handy for a quick lunch.

The last fundie I saw was a young lady in a home made dress with a peter pan collar, saying good bye to a girl in jeans, boots, and heavy jacket at the Southwest Terminal at LAX. Her outfit screamed FUNDY!!!! to me.

[clarinetpower]

We have Wegman's and TJ opens Friday. I am SO EXCITED YOU GUYS.

For those who don't have Wegman's, it's a dream grocery store. In-house French bakery and patisserie, decent cheese counter, great butcher, restaurant in the store, best sushi in town (I live in a fairly small town, but we do have several sushi restos and theirs really is better), great prepared food, their generic house brand is better than name brand in everything I've tried, best selection, great magazine, great recipes, wonderful floral, best selection of organic/free range/gluten free, etc., kitchen stuff store in the store, a tea boutique, coffee shop, burrito shop, sub shop, pizza shop, asian foods bar, salad bar--need I go on?

Oh, and their prices are the BEST IN TOWN.

If they sold beds, I'd move in.

[patsymae]

"Whole Foods is kind of the Walmart of natural foods."

So true, except they also are overpriced. And organic stuff is so much more available now that you don't have to go to whole foods.

I'm lucky--around 20 minutes from me is the perfect storm of a Whole Foods (I rarely go there but they have a red-pepper salsa and a vegan chicken salad my family loves that I can't get anywhere else), a Wegman's, a Trader Joe's and an Amish farm market. And 15 minutes in the opposite direction there's an Aldi's for the dirt-cheap stuff. I haven't been to a Shoprite or A&P (right around the corner), except if I run out of coffee, which for me is an emergency, in about two years.

I think maybe the Duggars have conditioned people to think that all fundies like horrible food. But some are probably just normal people who enjoy good food, some are probably rural people who never developed a taste for processed food, and some have religious orientations toward certain kinds of foods. If there were a ton of fundies in Princeton I'm sure I'd see them at Trader Joes and the Amish market.

[Arete]

Whole Foods is my go to for wild caught salmon in the summer and wonderful clementines in winter. In my area, they are incomparable for those things. I can't afford to shop there for staples, though I do monitor the local stores FB sites for closeouts on organic meat. I also agree they are the Walmart of organics, as they essentially put my coop out of business and bought out another small organic grocery in the area and converted it to yet another Whole Foods.

Wegmens RULES. Love, love, love the place. Great selection with excellent prices. Get my produce there from mid Nov to beginning of June, then it's back to the farmers markets. Trader Joes for the bulk grains (quinoa, barley, couscous, risotto, thai jasmine rice, bulger, etc). Amish market for meat that tastes like meat and pickles that someone made with their hands. Asian market for soy sauce, fish sauce, chili sauces, galangal, rice noodles, guilty pleasure of Korean bbq, thai dragon whole chiles, different kinds of bok choys, lychees in season.

The strangest thing with the stores around me is that Wegmen's is actually CHEAPER for most produce than my local ShopRite or Stop and Shop. :shock:

[Megan]

I miss Wegman's but I REALLY miss HEB from when I lived in Texas. I keep hoping they will expand outside the state (but remain cheap and high quality!) Their ice cream is amazing.

TJ's is my favorite here in CA, but I've never seen any fundies around. Plenty of hippies, though.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Oh no - I work at TJ's in Long Beach, haven't had any eventful sightings yet. Although I do get handed Chick tracts now and again.

Hey I live in Long Beach and shop at TJs :)

[Shasta ODonegal]

Aldi is owned by the same company as TJ's. Their chocolate and coffee are actually better than many of TJ's varieties for much less. I love TJs, but look at Aldi's first.

[patsymae]

"Aldi is owned by the same company as TJ's."

I didn't know that, but it makes sense--a company that places more emphasis on getting decent food to people at prices they can afford rather than just bilking for $. I feel better about supporting Aldi's. Plus I'll try the coffee. Thanks for this info.

[2xx1xy1JD]

I was overjoyed to find TJ in Huntington Beach, CA a couple of years ago when we were visiting family. The kosher selection is good, and the overall taste and quality of the stuff they carry is great.

[Katydid]

Trader Joe's is owned by the same company that owns Aldis, so it kind of makes sense.