Their View: On Trader Joe's and the local economy

Quark wrote:

<quoted text>It's because LC has too many old people who do not spend any money.

Also far too many young people who either have a substandard (the norm) New Mexico education or who can't find a well paying job with the degree they have. That's changing (the latter) somewhat, but it's a long slow process. I'm not sure when the schools will improve.....
If you walk thru a bustling TJ you'll see lots of grey hair, most of it riding on someone with plenty of money to spend.

Anywhere else,a Farmer's Market is a place to buy locally-grown fresh produce. The LC market must be more than 75% jewelry and housewares. It is a touristy draw but not any place you can hope to fill your bag with greens and the like on a regular basis.
MVM offers organic produce at a higher cost and I have to agree that more times than not, I can't get everything I went in for because the shelf is empty!
Toucan's is an excellent supplement to MVM and I think the prices are reasonable there.
I agree that the packaging at TJ's is extreme and if they could do away with that drawback, it would be a great addition, but we all know that's not going to happen. So I'll keep it as a stop to make when I'm in Albuquerque or Tucson or any other more densely populated area.

You can have both. Santa Fe, which is smaller in population than Las Cruces by almost 30,000, has a Trader Joes, 2 Whole Foods, a beautiful Co-cop, and Sunflower Markets -- in addition to a Farmers Market. People in Santa Fe have more money to spend, tend to be more aware of organic, healthy, and interesting food, but are also price-conscious because Trader Joe's prices tend to be cheaper than all those others.
And Trader Joe's started out in Monrovia, California as Pronto Market -- and only later sold to a family-owned German company. The company moved to South Pasadena in California and would have been providing local jobs and stimulating the local economy during that time. They managed to succeed by treating their employees very well, hiring from within, and providing good benefits. They are a model company, and I wouldn't think it fair to compare to a Co-op -- like I said, there no reason a community can't support both.

While I agree that a Co-op is a great alternative to faceless corporate business benefiting from our community dollars I think think MVM has a way to go before it can be hailed as a mecca for those of us seeking a "rational, regenerative and sustainable local economy."

1.) It is inaccessible to people who live on a budget/fixed income/students. As a student I did shop there for a various and sundry items but couldn't afford to do the bulk of my shopping there so I chose to grow my own vegetables and shop at the farmers market--which is very cool. As a young professional in this community with young professional friends I know I was not alone in being disenfranchised by price at MVM. Imagine a young family who wants to feed their children healthy, safe, chemical free foods, if there were a Trader Joe's they'd likely have the means to do that as it is feeding a family of four exclusively on food from the coop is not "realistic" though I wish it were.

2.) As far as what the coop is doing for the planet, I find I can agree with qualifications. As I work on water issues, indeed water wars I feel it is imperative to bring bottled water under closer scrutiny. As convenient as it is when we are on the go bottled water is a part of an industry that manufactures scarcity, brands public water sources, and creates unnecessary garbage. It is incredibly irresponsible for a "community" market to profit from the sale of water. For more information check out: www.corporateaccountabilityinternational.org

So, a board member of Mountain View Market is not happy with Trader Joe’s. Gee Whiz. It is true, I haven’t seen a Dennis Kucinich for President bus at the door of a Trader Joe’s. I haven’t seen a clerk, staffing a Trader Joe’s register, too young to be alive during the Vietnam War, wearing a T-shirt praising Ho Chi Minh. I have seen both at Mountain View Market. Those things, however, are matters of free speech in our country, and more power to Congressman Dennis and the clerk for asserting their rights.



The appeal of Trader Joe’s is good food, often unique and delicious food, at a good price. Not gimmicks. It was founded by an American in Pasadena, California. They offered bulk food for quite some time before changing their format. They have adapted to meet the needs of their customers. Yes, they sold to two German brothers in the grocery business. However, we don’t reject Nestle chocolate or Lean Cuisine because they are Swiss owned. I am told Trader Joe’s clerks are well paid. I have lived walking-distance from a Trader Joe’s, and it added greatly to our community.



Toucan Market, with its unique meat selection and other features, would do just fine with a Trader Joe’s in the community. So would Mountain View Market, with its own constituency. We would love to have a Trader Joe’s in Las Cruces.

It would be nice to have a Trader Joes,fun place to shop.Toucan Mkt. is my favorite.Good variety of meat and fish.Cheeses are a delightful assortment.They will special order anything you want.A big plus is the help,no scruffy tatooed ,tie dyed druggies there.
I do not shop Mountain View mkt.Always appears dirty,strange going ons.Anti government movie screenings,A hint of Islam in the air. Spend an hour and see what I mean......After all, Al Awaki was a Las Crucen.

Reality wrote:

It would be nice to have a Trader Joes,fun place to shop.Toucan Mkt. is my favorite.Good variety of meat and fish.Cheeses are a delightful assortment.They will special order anything you want.A big plus is the help,no scruffy tatooed ,tie dyed druggies there.
I do not shop Mountain View mkt.Always appears dirty,strange going ons.Anti government movie screenings,A hint of Islam in the air. Spend an hour and see what I mean......After all, Al Awaki was a Las Crucen.

"A hint of Islam in the air" ????? Gee, now THERE'S a good reason to not shop there...at least for pinhead bigots.

Toucan's will not go belly up if they lower their prices. Some college students may not want to travel to Trader Joe's and just walk to Toucan's. The point is there is no comparison between Toucan's and Trader Joe's. The latter has much better selection, will enliven our economy here even more, and bring a 'cool' type of label to our eclectic city. I would love to see Toucan's stay, and Mountain view still has products not sold at Trader's Joe's. Trader Joe's is more like a super-market and gosh we are lacking those in Las Cruces with 3 Alberton's and 2 (soon to be 3) Walmarts. We do have the neighborhood markets, but still there is a need for the retirees and students and those who are looking for a larger variety. Northern New Mexico is a different Region, and El Paso is a larger part of our Region, which neither city has a Trader Joe's but both have 4 year Colleges, retirees and a good economy. Shoot, Santa Fe and Albuquerque both we hit harder by the recession, and Santa Fe does not have a large 4 year university and is SMALLER than Las Cruces. Come on, give us credit for a very unique region that has unique and varying needs. We would love a Trader Joe's here or on the West side of El Paso.

Desertdawg wrote:

<quoted text>
"A hint of Islam in the air" ????? Gee, now THERE'S a good reason to not shop there...at least for pinhead bigots.

Thank you,vote Republican!!!