Ch. 14 - Marketing Channels and Retailing

After reading the chapter I decided which store to choose, and went out shopping. Since I am a fanatic of buying groceries, and I am very attracted from food stores, I chose to walk into Trader Joe's, located between 72 and Broadway in Manhattan. Trader Joe's started out as a small chain of convenience store in 1958. Now there are 418 stores in the United States, 4 in New York City. Trader Joe's belongs to the Supermarket type of retail operations, because is a departmentalized, self-service retailer that specialize in food and some nonfood items, like flowers and plants, toilet paper, house and body products. Talking about time utility, the customers are satisfied most of the time because products and goods are delivered daily in the store and exposed in the shelves, ready to be bought. I wrote most of the time, because so many people go there during the day, so if you go during late afternoon, you may not find everything you need. Like every other retailing, Trader Joe's has its own retail marketing strategy and mix. You can always find products on sale, and they print a weekly magazine made of 4 or 6 pages where you can see what's new. 

What most attracts me in the store, is the way everything is disposed. Every single item has its own hand made and colored tag, every aisle has indications made with art and design; nothing is made by computer. The store is clean, with a good smell that changes when you change the aisles, it is very colorful and it emanates happiness. It's a store where I find myself relaxed looking for everything new, even if it needs to be expanded cause too many people find themselves at the same time and it can be confusing sometimes. There is a good atmosphere throughout the entire store, the layout is so carefully done you find yourself wondering how do they made it. Above this, they don't only have a good width of product assortment, but they have good prices.

Once I get all my groceries, I wait in line, a long line that luckily moves very fast, due to the almost 30 cashiers that are in the store; the Trader Joe's employees are the kindest, friendly, fun and knowledgeable people I have never met in a store. Not only they ask you how you are, but they engage with you about the products you bought, talking about the day and the weather, laughing and trying to be as educated as possible. The first time I went in the store and the cashier started talking with me, I thought she was one of those people that usually talk to everybody around; but once I started seeing more and more, I understood that behavior was a strategy for marketing relationship, and I can say it works.

Even if the location isn't one of the best for me to reach, I always find the time to go at least once a week to buy groceries. I find it clean, with good food and good prices, organized and with various products, and I would recommend it to everybody.