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They're much smaller than the typical supermarket; mine only has five or six aisles. Most of the food is health food, organic, or gourmet, at equivalent or lower prices than the national brand, non-organic food at the supermarket.

Most of the items are "Trader Joe" brand. Not that these aren't excellent, but if you're looking for a specific brand of herbal tea, or Amy's frozen dinners or something, you're better off at Whole Foods. Otherwise, Trader Joe's is THE place to stock up on "health food" staples. Don't miss the 100 calorie, 70% dark chocolate bars!

First, Trader Joe's is not a "supermarket" in the technical sense of that word (like Safeway, Kroger, etc..and nowadays even the larger Whole Food stores).

It's a small food store that concentrates on having good-tasting, often healthy, sometimes gourmet, food items from all over the world (some of which they contract with to make foods with the Trader Joe label). They have at least a few things in most food "departments" like dairy, meat, veggies/fruits, breads of all kinds, peanut butter, chocolate, etc, but they don't have a lot of "regular" brands of those things you'd see at Safeway/etc, or a huge selection of most things (except for some gourmet type items like cheeses, wine, yogurt, dried fruits, nuts, breads, etc).

Some things are organic, but not most.

The employees are sort of part of the business, and treated well and fairly democratically, which makes the atmosphere quite different than most food stores. They started with only one store, but have now branched out to quite a few --not sure how many other states besides California.

Some of their prices are better than say Whole Foods, some are worse than say Safeway, but they can vary.

Basically, Trader Joe's is an "experience" and a place where a number of things that are hard to find elsewhere are carried.

Trader Joe's is different in that it's not really a "supermarket" per se. Many of the items they carry are their own brand, although I do see some Annie Chun's soup bowls there (and as they're cheaper there than anywhere else, that's where I buy them). They have a really "fun" vibe and excellent prices. However, I've noticed that Whole Foods store brand of tofu is cheaper than TJ's store brand of tofu. But you have to comparison shop.

They sell whole natural food for good prices. When my husband and I lived in Columbus, OH, we did most of our grocery shopping there, mostly bypassing the Kroger which was in walking distance and the WalMart which was just a few miles away. (The Trader Joe's, which is near the Whole Foods, was about 10 miles one way.) Even now, that we live near Bowling Green and Toledo, we go to Columbus every few months to stock up. Also, his mother and sister frequently go to Columbus (they live about half way) and will pick stuff up for us as we frequently (too frequently sometimes) see them.

They are cheaper than Whole Foods, but at the same time, we shop there, too. One of the stores has some of the varieties of EnviroKidz cereals for cheap. (I can't remember if they are $2.89 or $2.50.) My husband, three-year-old daughter and I all eat the peanut butter and chocolate puffs, the chocolate crispy rice (think Coca Krispies but with brown rice and natural sugars) and their equivalent to Kix. Both stores have fruit and grain (cereal) bars for $1.89 a box. We normally buy them from Whole Foods because we like them better. (I think the WH ones have more fruit.)

Anyway, it's definitely worth checking out when you get a chance.

Like another answer says, they are similar to whole foods but cheaper. most of the foods are all natural or organic and they are pretty small. The people their are pretty nice and its a good chain :)

I know a few people who have been able to hatch Trader Joe´s eggs using a incubator. this shows that at least some of their hens are kept around a rooster so its not the top production eggs sold in most super markets (also for them to hatch after refrigeration they must be very fresh).

Yep, they have organic foods, and the prices are better than at Whole Foods. The stores are a lot smaller, though, and there isn't as wide a variety of foods as in Whole Foods. They have some wine that is $2 or 2.99 or something. I don't drink so I wasn't interested in it, but I think they call it Two-Buck Chuck or something.

trader joes has a lot of orangic stuff and pretty good prices i must say.

nice store, all guys working there are hot. a lot organic food and some asian food like gyoza which i like.

many beautiful wine bottles too. and deli section is nice too.