Big Chuck Visits Trader Joes to See What the Fuss is All About? (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

The buzz about Trader Joes markets reminds me a little bit about the buzz surrounding Krispy Kreme donuts a while back.  Everybody is talking about it and finally, I had to try it.

The Krispy Kremes?  Meh.

But Trader Joes?  Well.....here is my story.

As all of my listeners know I am a pain in the neck when it comes to shopping.  I just do not have that QVC gene in my DNA.  And when I pulled into the store parking lot in Albany I noticed a Hooters Bar and Restaurant right across the street.  Just a hundred yards away.  My car wanted to pull into Hooters but we (me and the car) dutifully followed through with our mission to check out Traders Joes.

Trader Joes began in Southern California in 1958.  Today they have nearly 400 stores.  They have a couple in metropolitan New York but the recently opened store in Albany is the first one in Upstate.  The city petitioned the store to come here and the anticipation was at a fever pitch when they opened their store on Wolf Road in Albany two years ago.

So what did I think of this phenomena called Trader Joes?

Well if the parking lot was any indication, this was going to be one busy store.  And it was.  I knew it was not going to be the average grocery story however before we even walked in.  We were met at the door by a thatched roof hand washing station "inviting" us to enter and exit Trader Joes "germ free."  Kind of weird, in a thoughtful kind of way..

Within three steps into the store I was confronted by my name, "BIG."  OK, so it was the flower department, but it did make me feel a little bit like home!

The store structure itself is quite unique.  I had no idea that it was the store's policy that no shelf would be higher than eye level for a guy like me.  Now towers of canned soup, no Alps of, well, Alpo. No walls of toilet paper.  It kind of gave this big store an airiness, an openness to it all.

I brought our Townsquare Media Food Guru, Dan "the Man," with me for his expertise and  input.  Unfortunately, Dan found the free sample concessions stands and I never saw him again for an hour.

My wife, Trish, loves to shop.  She is a professional shopper.  She exudes joy at the site of sales, blue light specials, buy one get one frees, and double coupons, unlike me (see the pain in the neck reference at the beginning of the story).  We had heard that Trader Joes stocks unusual, rare, one of a kind products and the dairy case was a perfect example of it.  Trish loved it all and came home with two items I am sure I will hate.  A blueberry cheese roll and some apricot ricotta.  I love my wife.  I hate shopping.

Trader Joes has a vast beer section area (turning my thoughts, of course, to Hooters across the street...so close, and yet so far away).  I guess I may have been mumbling while dutifully following my wife through the store holding her basket.  When she got to the beer section she said, "Well, this is right up your aisle.  And look here is a beer made just for you, Chuck!"  This is what she put in our cart....

Like I said...I love my wife, but.....

One nice touch was the free coffee.  It was freshly ground and you could have as many cups as you wanted to sip while you shopped.  Of course when you are a guy my age well, you really appreciated the location of the coffee area.  Right next to the bathrooms!

I did run across several unusual items that made me stop and take a second look.  Cowboy Caviar for example.  I loved the label and it was billed as a "new item."  I resisted and moved on, however.

Finally my wife said "Aren't you going to buy anything, Chuck?"  And it was then that I set out to find the most unusual item I could find.  And I succeeded   It was just a small bottle, with an eye dropper top.

Liquid Stevia the label said.  I had no clue.  I read the label.  No clue.  I was intrigued.  I asked a worker (dressed in floral shorts, a Panama Hat and a Jimmy Buffett-style Trader Joes T-shirt) for help.  "I have no idea he said."  So I turned the label over.  The  nutrition amounts were the clincher.  Nothing.  And I mean nothing.  Total carbs, ZERO.  Total sodium, ZERO.  Total calories ZERO.  You get the idea.

So I went up and put it in the basket.  Trish said, "Oh, good what did you buy, Chuck?"  I answered, "Nothing."  I grinned and showed her the label.  She rolled her eyes and said "just get in the checkout line, puhleeeze!"

So that was my trip to Trader Joes.  What is my final analysis?  Well, it is kind of a neat experience.  The store was very clean, very orderly and the staff was friendly and eager to help.  The prices were very reasonable for all of the unusual items they carry.  It really is worth the trip.  But is it worth several trips?  Well considering that it is a three-hour round trip to Trader Joes from Oneonta, I have to say no.  Will I go again?  If my wife has any say in it (which, of course, she does) I think I will be there again.

But next time we go, when I see Trish disappearing into the cheese section, I am going to sneak out the back door and head across the street to Hooters for a spell!