Out of more than 500 Trader Joe’s locations, there is one store the retailer insisted was the ‘busiest in the world.’
Trader Joe’s is known for its low-priced and unique products, ranging from food to limited-edition bags.
Customers hoping to go on a quick grocery trip may want to skip a particular Trader Joe’s store in Manhattan, New York.
The Trader Joe’s on West 72nd and Broadway is notorious for long lines outside the store and at the registers, with the foot traffic earning the store the title of the busiest one in the world.
The 12,500 square-foot store on West 72nd and Broadway location is bigger than average Trader Joe’s stores, which range between 10,000 and 15,000 square feet.
However, because most of the store is underground, shoppers may have trouble finding cell phone reception.
Trader Joe’s opened its West 72nd and Broadway location in 2010.
The store has four escalators, two elevators, and three times the amount of employees and registers compared to a regular Trader Joe’s.
Some shoppers say the store is ‘bizarre’ and that the flow ‘just feels wrong,’ according to the New York Post.
‘Our friends hyped it up as the best Trader Joe’s, but we were almost Union Square-level stressed by the experience,’ critics Joey Hung and Sabrina Choudhary wrote in 2021.
The critics continued by saying there was no service for anyone below ground to ‘call for help’ when they get lost in the store.
‘The outing made us understand the value of urban planning. After shopping here, you’ll want to take a moment to relax in nearby Central Park,’ they wrote.
Although critics have had their concerns about the stores, other Trader Joe’s shoppers were satisfied with their visit.
‘This Trader Joe’s location is large and has so many amazing, fun products and so many friendly employees,’ a shopper wrote on Yelp.
‘If you are there at a crowded time, the employees do a great job of moving the line quickly and keeping it organized.’
‘I love TJ in California so had to see NYC TJ setup. As expected, the Broadway/72 store was split in two stories for maximum capacity,’ another customer wrote.
‘Despite all 28 checkout stands open, there’s two line directing customers to an open station….very efficient.’
‘This location can be STRESSFUL. I walked in and saw the line curving in ways I’ve never seen it curve before,’ a New Yorker wrote on Yelp.
‘By the time I grabbed a few items and got it line, it had gotten way shorter,’ adding that its customers service made her day ‘so much better.’
Founded by Joe Coulombe, the businessman opened the first Trader Joe’s store in Pasadena, California, in 1967.
The location was 4,500-square feet, which has since grown to be around 8,000 as time went by, according to Tasting Table.
‘He was a grocery outsider who was able to see things differently,’ author Benjamin Lorr told CNN in 2022.
‘He wanted to tap into this idea that food was exploration, that food was travel and adventure.’
Coulombe eventually sold the Trader Joe’s chain to Aldi founder Theo Albrecht, who owned the chain until his death in 2010.
The ownership of the grocery store chain was passed down to Albrecht’s relatives, who control Aldi Nord.
Trader Joe’s continues to be a brand owned by the its parent company Aldi Nord, and was estimated to have earned $13.3 billion in revenue last year, according to Zippia.