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A national specialty food chain, which prides itself on serving educated and adventurous consumers, has opened a store in Westport, the company's first in the state.
A national specialty food chain, which prides itself on serving educated and adventurous consumers, has opened a store in Westport, the company's first in the state.
Trader Joe's distinguishes itself from traditional supermarkets by carrying unique items from around the world. It opened the store March 14 but plans a grand opening celebration during the April 4 weekend.
The store is located in a 8,400 square-foot space at 400 Post Road East in the Compo Shopping Center. The site previously was occupied by a Herman's sporting gods store.
Michele Gorski, a spokeswoman in the company's eastern headquarters in Needham Heights, Mass., said Westport has the right mix of customers and location. "Basically we feel that the demographics of the area fit well with our target."
Trader Joe's opened its first market 30 years ago and now has 90 stores, mostly on the West Coast. It owns six stores in the eastern United States, three each in Massachusetts and New York state.
Before selecting Westport, the company studied the town's demographics. "We saw a very educated base of individuals that are curious and are interested in food," sad Gorski. She joked that the average Trader Joe's patron is an unemployed doctorate who loves to read food labels.
Gorski won't provide sales figures for the privately held company, nor could she say how many jobs the Westport store would create.
Westport, an affluent town of 25,000 residents, has three traditional supermarkets, a Super Stop & Stop, Food Emporium and Grand Union.
Local business leaders don't think Trader Joe's will cause the existing supermarkets any difficulty.
"I don't think it's going to bother other food chains, but I think they will do very well," said Lois Schine, president of the Westport Chamber of Commerce.
Trader Joe's has no meat department or fresh fish and only a limited produce department. All of its products pass a tasting panel and are manufactured exclusively to the company's specifications. The stores carry a huge variety of sizes of the same product or many closely related products, and all of its products are free of artificial colors and flavors.
"Our customers are highly educated and adventurous," said Gorski. "They are interesting people that like to explore different eating options."
The diversified list of items has helped fuel Trader Joe's growth. "We sell more rice ... (and) pistachio than any other store in America."
Choices are limited, however. The typical Trader Joe's carries about 2,000 items, less than one-tenth the products stocked by a supermarket.
Despite such limitations, Trader Joe's draws customers because of its quality goods and competitive prices. It buys most of its products directly from producers to keep prices low.
"We're really customers' buying agents," Gorski said. "There's no middleman."
Not everybody is convinced Trader Joe's items always cost less. "I'm skeptical," said Cornellius J. J. Madera Jr., president of C. J. Madera Co., a supermarket developer based in Tuxedo Park, N.Y.
Madera qualified his statement, saying he has not visited a Trader Joe's and has never compared prices. He said he based his assessment on the fact that Trader Joe's stores are in high-end areas that have correspondingly high rents.
"It's a very high specialty, mostly geared toward the urban environment" where both adults in a household work. "They are quick-in and quick-out customers rather than typical shoppers," he added.
Copyright Westfair Communications Mar 17, 1997