TJ Question,Just Curious

[Querencia]

Does anyone know why Trader Joe's so often runs out of products and doesn't have the item for months? I can understand that if they are trying out a new product and it doesn't sell, they drop it. Or if a supplier no longer supplies. But some steady sellers just disappear for a long time before they surface again---this is a pain leaving no choice but to do without or store a dozen ahead of need. Currently my local hasn't had Truffle Brownie Mix (a steady seller and great favorite) forever and they don't know when it's coming back. Having favorites at TJ is like having a lot of friends with fatal diseases---they keep disappearing.

[greygarious]

It is sometimes the case that a product is so popular that the manufacturer can no longer meet TJ's needed volume. Rather than settling for a smaller supply, they drop the item. Other times their supplier becomes unwilling to sell to them for other reasons. TJs used to have broken blocks of white chocolate for holiday baking. It was Ghirardelli that made it, and they decided to stop supplying TJ's, so now the only white baking chocolate at TJs is the chips they sell in the winter. Then there are seasonal items that USUALLY return, but you hold your breath anyway!

[chez cherie]

tj actually carries a small (6 oz? 8 oz?) bar of white chocolate now that people rave about. me, not so much a white chocolate fan, but just wanted you to know they have it.

[soupkitten]

"decided to stop supplying TJ's"

and why would ghiradelli decide to stop supplying TJ's? not arbitrarily-- it's a business decision. this happens when the company or local commissary that supplies TJ's finds that it's not worth doing business with the company, or is losing money doing it. otherwise, most businesses are quite happy to sell more of their products.

TJ's frequently discontinues products because they don't offer a fair deal to the suppliers or they decrease the amount they are willing to pay for a product, after they are already carrying it, and the supplier won't sell to them anymore at the cut price. simple as that. other large companies engage in underbidding for products as well, but not generally to the same degree, and going after the specialty cachet, TJ's will engage smaller companies that can't roll w a 5 cent per item wholesale price decrease and still turn a profit, so the small co. either discontinues to TJ's or goes out of business-- either way it's off the TJ's shelves. ironically this can mean that the most popular items are the quickest to permanently disappear, as the op notes.

[mrbigshotno.1]

How about just putting up a small sign where the discontinued item was with a small explination instead of it just disapearing? Excuses like "These decisions are made at a national/corporate level and we have no say in the matter" is an excuse I expect from WalMart, not from a place like TJ's. I've been in and out of the food biz for 35+ years.

[ipsedixit]

Excuses like "These decisions are made at a national/corporate level and we have no say in the matter" is an excuse I expect from WalMart, not from a place like TJ's. I've been in and out of the food biz for 35+ years.
______________________

Really? Why?

TJ's has something like 350+ stores, nationally (in at least 25+ states). How in the world do you expect a store manager, or line employee, to know why certain products are out of stock, discontinued, or no longer offered?

And a small sign? Shelf space in grocery stores is probably more precious than cold water for backpacker trekking through the Gobi Dessert. Small sign? P'shaw. They probably wouldn't even care to spare shelf space for an extraneous barcode sticker.

[mrbigshotno.1]

350 stores nationally is alot?

[ipsedixit]

Enough that I wouldn't expect any one single store manager to know the details of the company's purchase orders and history.

Consider for example and comparison Whole Foods. As of September 26, 2010, WF operated 299 stores, of which 288 stores operated in 38 United States. And WF is a publicly traded Nasdaq company.

[Midlife]

I've been in the retail business most of my life, with big chains and small shops. It was mostly apparel and wine, but................ still................ I like the idea but am pretty positive I've never seen anything like a sign program explaining product changes anywhere at any time.

I've always found my local TJs staff willing to share as much as they know about products. Most of the time they seem to be able to explain whether a product is discontinued, temporarily out of stock, or whatever. As with the product I mentioned above, I got a rather specific explanation of why it was gone.

I would really only expect the "we can't do anything about it" response when a customer is giving them a hard time about a product change. When something's gone they just say so. If anything, TJs employees are OVERLY helpful with information and suggestions, but if they know they can't do anything about the situation what's wrong with them being honest about it? Do you really expect them to relay every customer's request to corporate just to make people feel appreciated? They've told me they'll pass along my concern on occasion, but that's just good PR ................... I don't really expect it's gonna get me my beloved product back if their business reasons were sound.

[Midlife]

As a manufacturing/retailing veteran I would be pretty certain that TJs, like all large retailers, gets much of its price competitiveness from volume buying. They can't be as competitive when they try to stock certain items on only a regional/local basis. In addition, they have only so much space in their stores and need to balance best sellers with new product development so they don't begin to look 'stale' to consumers.

Then, too, some items just become unavailable (supplier out of business, sourcing too difficult, etc.). One item I loved was a packaged beef hash product that they bought from somewhere in South America (Argentina, I think). From what I was told they stopped carrying it because the cost of the product grew too high for them to feel confident they could still sell it. In my opinion the product was worth at least 50% more than what they charged, but I had no way of knowing how much the cost had risen or what other issues may have been involved. In some retail environments products are changed often just to keep things fresh and interesting, regardless of anything but "paying the light bills" sales and profits.

Just my 2¢ + 40 years experience.

[escondido123]

Isn't it frustrating. When I've talked with my local TJs they've explained that decisions about what to stock are made nationally. So while chipotle mayonnaise might be a big seller in my particular store, if it doesn't make it nationally it's gone. The items that crack me up are the ones that are considered seasonal--that means two of my favorites, Calvados and Gingerbread mix, are only available from late October through December. (When they don't have something you want it sometimes works to tell the manager and also send a message through their website. I was told there would be no more TJs 0% fat Greek Yogurt and said I was sorry to see it go. Don't think my comment alone made a difference, but a month later it was back in the case.)