A New Trader… John's?

Is downtown getting an eerie Trader Joe's knockoff - and what's the original TJ going to do about it?

By ELIZABETH BOUGEROL

Updated 6:31 AM EST, Wed, Jan 7, 2009

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The Shophound

Curiouser and curiouser: Racked tips us off to The Shophound's investigative foray into the world of a shop opening on West 14th Street going by the name "Trader John's." (Sidebar: This space used to house an especially crappy Gristedes -- we know all Gristedes could be described this way.)

The Shophound managed to sneak some snaps of the new market, being stocked as we speak, and reveals that the aesthetic is all "wood paneling, baskets and decorative wagon wheels," which suggests the knockoffery goes beyond the are-you-kidding-me name. But we have to wonder what exactly they'll be selling - after all, the whole appeal of shopping at Trader Joe's lies in its bounty of proprietary/branded TJ products and exclusive distribution deals, like the two-buck Chuck. Is Trader John's just going to stock its shelves with regular supermarket offerings and hope people don't notice the difference? Or does it have some more elaborate, insidious branding plan up its sleeve? (And are the PTB at the genuine article's headquarters going to issue an official "step off"?)

Copyright NBC Local Media / NBC New York

First Published: Jan 6, 2009 12:49 PM EST

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0 Comments

{"comments":[{"body":"I mis-spoke there. I was talkinga bout Farmer Joe's. Trader Johns is lame-o.","createdAt":"21 Aug 2009 20:04:47 GMT","fromUserId":7918844,"isDefaultUserIconUploaded":false,"isDisabled":false,"isVisible":true,"messageId":655923,"pathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","reviewed":true,"updatedAt":"20090813055530","username":"anonymous_user"},{"body":"Trader Johns is a health oriented supermarket. A very high percentage of their produce is organic and/or locally grown. They do carry fair portion of major brands, yes. Think of them as halfway between a regular supermarket and a healthfood store. They aren't a knockoff. Their old store off of Macarthur has been there for ages, and their quality is just about always very high.","createdAt":"21 Aug 2009 19:35:06 GMT","fromUserId":7918844,"isDefaultUserIconUploaded":false,"isDisabled":false,"isVisible":true,"messageId":655679,"pathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","reviewed":true,"updatedAt":"20090813055530","username":"anonymous_user"}],"media":{"isPublicTaggingAllowed":false,"uploadToAkamai":"","categories":"","pathToMedia":"331744_37148974","adminTags":"ct_article,sid_331744,sid_525297,sid_525322","uploadedByPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg?t=1248875781749","views":384,"uploadedByName":"nbc_editor","isAdultContent":false,"updatedAt":"15 Sep 2009 05:06:48 GMT","country":"","pathToPreview48X48":"user/defaultAudio_48x48_E.jpg","inappropriateFlagCount":0,"isRatedByMe":"F","tags":"furious","originalFileFormat":"","isFavorite":"F","userId":7918858,"name":"A New Trader? John's?","description":"Is downtown getting a Trader Joe's knockoff - and what's the original TJ going to do about it?","createdAt":"21 Aug 2009 19:35:04 GMT","isVisible":true,"postalCode":"","title":"A New Trader? John's?","isPublicCommentingAllowed":true,"stateOrProvinceName":"","author":"","reviewed":true,"updatedBy":7918844,"city":"","pathToPreview":"","type":"externalMedia","uploadToLimelight":"","votes":0,"averageRating":0},"payload_type":"json","status":"1","error":""}