Trader Joe’s is known for its high-quality, affordable, and out-of-the-box items. The fan-favorite grocery chain has a long history, and while its core concept has remained mostly the same for decades, it began as a different type of store with a different name. Before changing its name to Trader Joe’s, it started as a small chain called Pronto Markets.
Joe Coulombe, a San Diego native born in 1930, procured a job as a researcher with drugstore chain Owl-Rexall after earning his MBA in 1954. In 1958, Coulombe was asked to manage Pronto Markets, a chain of convenience stores in the Los Angeles, California, area. In 1962, he ended up purchasing six of them from Owl-Rexall, which was planning to close the stores. He ultimately grew the convenience chain to 18 locations around Los Angeles. Coulombe ran Pronto Markets for about 10 years before making a major change to their name and overall branding.
Competition from convenience stores like 7-Eleven created pressure to adapt. In an effort to target a different, growing demographic of highly educated yet low paid customers, Coulombe pivoted to an affordable, health-conscious grocery store chain. In 1967, he opened the first Trader Joe’s in Pasadena, California, where it still exists today. Part of its transformation involved adopting a nautical theme.
Trader Joe’s nautical theme, explained
At Trader Joe’s, the employees, who wear colorful Hawaiian shirts for uniforms, are called ”crew members” and the managers are “captains.” Step into a store and you can’t miss the tropical, nautical theme complete with bright blue wall colors, nautical-themed murals, and fish-netting with plastic sea animals. Instead of a traditional PA system, the employees, or “traders on the high seas,” use bells (akin to ship bells) to communicate. All this contributes to a fun, jovial atmosphere that employees and shoppers tend to enjoy. (Check out what it’s like to work at Trader Joe’s, according to the workers themselves.)…