On Friday, the tiki gods will finally smile on Vermont with the opening of the state’s first Trader Joe’s. At 8 a.m., expect to see a Dawn of the Dead-style crush at 200 Dorset Street in South Burlington as bargain hunters compete to be among the first to shop at the 12,800-square-foot store.

On Wednesday, I got a sneak preview of the store guided by the store’s “team leader” (manager), Shawn Minihane. He’s been with the company for nine years. Most recently, he was at the Albany, N.Y., Trader Joe’s.

Minihane took me past the still-empty areas where flowers will be sold in $3.99, $5.99 and $9.99 bouquets, as well as “Single & Mingle” style, allowing customers to make their own bouquets. Veggies also hadn’t arrived yet, but a mix of conventional and organic will be available.

Some of the options in the expansive meat case

Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, has run ads in Seven Days and the Burlington Free Press this week urging Trader Joe’s to cease selling the flesh of animals that were fed antibiotics while alive. Surveying the case, I spotted organic, antibiotic-free, kosher and conventional choices. “We have options there for everybody,”  Minihane told me. “We just want to give the customers an option. We let our customers decide what they want to buy.”

The truth is that, despite its reputation, Trader Joe’s is not a natural-foods store but a market that specializes in unconventional foods at low prices. Of the approximately 3,000 items in the store, 80 percent are sold under the Trader Joe’s private label. Each of them is guaranteed to be GMO-free, with no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. And, yes, meats and veggies are a mixture of organic and not. Of course, Healthy Living Market and Café is right across the driveway with a range of local, consciously raised meats and Vermont-grown veggies.

Exceptionally low prices are how the new store will distinguish itself. Organic bananas are 29 cents apiece, while conventional are 19 cents. Eclectic frozen, prepared foods in the freezer case on Wednesday included bowls of beef-filled bibimbap, shrimp bao and palak paneer, many for prices around $2.99. Fancier meals such as coq au vin top out at $6.99.

But for many, the big draw will be Three-Buck Chuck, or $2.99 bottles of Charles Shaw wine. Last year, the price was pushed up $1 from Two-Buck Chuck, but many Trader Joe’s shoppers swear by it. Others think it tastes like $2.99 wine. Ask the sommelier Sam Lipp of NYC’s Union Square Café. In a recent Thrillist article, he described the white Zinfandel thus: “It’s the strawberry patch that nature forgot about, then rained and hailed on. Pure liquefied, alcoholic Jolly Rancher.”

Mashed-up cookie spread? Irresistibly weird

But some of us like sugar. The cult Speculoos Cookie Butter that I tried in the store’s Tiki Board Bistro may have had the unsettling mouthfeel of pre-chewed cookies, but I can’t get that smooth spread of spiced Dutch cookies out of my mind.

And shoppers trolling Dorset Street will likely be pleased to find $3.99 tempura shrimp sushi or arugula salad with lemon chicken as an alternative to mall food across the street. 

Conclusion: I’ll still buy my local meats, veggies, cheeses, toiletries and many other basics at Healthy Living. But cartons of coconut milk will come in handy when cooking Asian food in bulk. A two-pound bag of tortilla chips for $2.99? Sold. Four flavors of mochi ice cream? Hell, yeah.

I didn’t want to be sold, but, I have to admit, once the crowds have died down, I’ll be scratching at the door with everyone else.

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AAN award-winning food writer Alice Levitt is a fan of the exotic, the excellent and automats. She wrote for Seven Days 2007-2015.

9 replies on “A Tour of the South Burlington Trader Joe’s”

  1. Why would you “not want to be sold” on the store? Sure, some products are not organic, but that’s no different than Hannaford across the street. When Hannaford opened, did you say, “I didn’t want to be sold on it”?

  2. I’m psyched to have it in So. Burlington. Was always my first stop in Hyannis when vacationing on the Cape.

  3. That’s a fair question, Cathy. It really comes down to my preference for supporting small, local businesses in favor of a big brand based in California. So yes, I would have the same reaction to a Hannaford opening. I’d rather share my hard-earned dollars with my own community. Now if a Mitsuwa Market or H Mart opened in Burlington, that would be a different matter…

  5. I am willing to pay a little bit more for items, in order to support local independent stores. But there’s a limit. I’d guess I’m willing to pay about 20% more (for the exact same item). But if Hannaford has Annie’s Mac & Cheese for $1.99 and Healthy Living has the exact same thing for $2.99… I’m going to get it at Hannaford. But much of what I like about TJ’s is items I can’t get anywhere else. For instance, their granola bars are better than any I’ve had anywhere else. The fact that they’re reasonably priced is a bonus. But price isn’t everything – if they don’t have Cabot cheddar, I’ll buy my cheddar elsewhere.

  7. i shop at TJs when I’m out of state and stock up on plenty of items. Shaws is so expensive, i farm, grow my own food, but have to shop somewhere. totally worth the stop, when i travel an hour up there anyways. love traders joes. its all in balance, no ones got to be a purest one way or the other. 🙂

  8. Wow, my comment earned 2 dislikes. I guess some people don’t like the locals to work. That’s okay, I’m sure TJ’s will happily accept your EBT card that all us workin’ folk pay for.

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