I usually don't shop at Trader Joe's because their prices are generally higher than the sale prices at other grocery stores closer to me. However, I had a cash back offer for a box of Mini Perfect Bars, but only at Trader Joe's.
There are two Trader Joe's closer to me, and two other Trader Joe's nearby, but I chose this Trader Joe's at Long Beach Marketplace on the southeast corner of PCH and 2nd since I was in the area for a couple other reasons.
Trader Joe's is the anchor store here, just on the other side of PCH from a competitor, Whole Foods Market. Both have their pros and cons with Whole Foods Market being more spacious in size with a wider selection of merchandise, but bigger doesn't necessarily mean better. Trader Joe's has more of a neighborly and cozier farmers market feel, quite the contrast from Whole Foods in spite of their similar approaches to providing high quality groceries at kind of sort of affordable prices.
I had been inside Trader Joe's, including this one, before whenever I felt like browsing the merchandise here and experiencing a few minutes of a cozy, neighborhood-friendly environment. But on this last visit, one of the employees who happened to be working by the entrance took a moment to welcome me, which I hadn't remembered on any of my previous encounters.
I headed to the rear of the store where they had the granola bars, but I couldn't find the box of Mini Perfect Bars I was on a mission for. I went back to the front and saw a couple of female employees talking to one another. I asked them for help, and Maggie graciously assisted me when I showed her a photo of the product I was looking for. She immediately knew where it was and even led me to the refrigerated section where I'd find it.
Refrigerated? Oh yes, apparently, I had forgotten that Perfect Bars weren't your ordinary shelf stable bars; instead, they were the types of bars that needed to be refrigerated* so as to retain the best (or perhaps perfect?!) quality prior to consumption. Nevertheless, I really appreciated Maggie's level of service, and it seems the employees are happier here compared to their counterparts at other grocery stores, including, shall I say it again? Whole Foods.
After grabbing a box of the Mini Perfect Bars, which would expire in just less than 6 months, I headed to the checkout lanes. All the lanes seemed pretty short, and I initially chose the stand overseen by the other female employee who was speaking with Maggie a few minutes earlier. Then, I noticed the customer's cart was full of merchandise, so I hopped on over to a checkout stand with Ethan as the cashier. The customer there had half a basket left of merchandise to be scanned, but a few seconds later, another employee, Sean, called me over to his checkout stand.
Since all the checkout lines were pretty short, it was easy for me to miss the shortest line. I was impressed that Sean noticed me waiting nearby, but I suppose that Trader Joe's employees like him and Maggie are trained to exude consummate customer service, likely commensurate with the price tags I mentioned in the first paragraph. And Sean was super friendly and all, even complimenting me on the hat that I was wearing even though it's not a hat that anybody in the area would wear lol. His amicable demeanor added to the neighborly atmosphere that I had already felt from being welcomed at the entrance to requesting help from Maggie and now Sean saving me a couple of minutes while wishing me a wonderful evening!
The only negative about my experience was that I almost bumped into another customer who was leaving right as I was about to leave as well. But that's on me for not paying close attention to my surroundings lol.
Overall, a 5-star shopping experience at this Trader Joe's! Now I hope I can get another cash back offer that would be valid only at Trader Joe's again just to have a shopping experience that can perk up my day after such a long and grueling week of work, as was the case for me this past week.
* There is a note on the box that says to store in the fridge or the freezer, but it also says "Take on the go for 1 week." Good tidbit of info to share if you're considering purchasing these Perfect Bars, even if it's not at a Trader Joe's. read more