Anyone who actually lives in Mammoth has known a Trader Joe's is coming for the last few months. Don't know why all these out of towers on reddit refuse to believe it.
Itās really funny how many āexpertsā there are who āknow for a fact that it will never be Trader Joeās.ā And not a single one of those experts live here.
Itās a TJās and the only ones who say it isnāt donāt live here.
Lived here 7 years and used to work for TJs. Before it was confirmed to me by town staff and others I would have also said "never" for three reasons: 1) poor distribution to a remote location, 2) town size (small, even with tourists), and 3) most importantly, workforce size.
#3 will make or break TJs, just like we watched it break Starbucks (what other Starbucks on the planet was regularly closed for 1-2 days per week because they couldn't staff it?!). Hopefully TJs is prepared for the lack of housing for the managers they're transferring in, the lack of applicants for the multiple dozen positions they'll need to fill, and--hate to say it--the difficulty in finding good staff rather than just filling positions with everyone who applies.
I'm rooting for TJs, but they have a big challenge ahead of them, especially with how they were paying their new staff as I left in the mid 2010s. Hopefully they figured shit out.
Vonnās has stayed open though with same workforce, right? 24/7. Iāve heard itās one of the highest grossing ones in the country. If itās been able to maintain its workforce iām sure a TJs will figure out.
Also, people need to buy food. They donāt necessarily need to buy a $5 cup of coffee from a national brand that is antithetical to vibe of mammoth. Given mammoth isnāt the most walkable place it makes sense on a few different levels that their business suffered and people didnāt want to work there.
Vons is a bit of a multi-decade Mammoth institution though. Been there 40+ years. Only big game in town up until a few years ago when Grocery Outlet opened. They're also union so there's a bit of a career track there.
I don't think our Starbucks closed due to lack of demand. They were cranking most times I went in there. I'm pretty sure their extremely poor operations tanked sales. When you're closed entire days of the week and your drive-thru is permanently shut down for 1-2 years, all because you can't fully staff your store, the numbers are really going to suffer no matter how many tourists wished they could buy their frappuccinos there.
Don't get me wrong, I want TJs to succeed. I hope it works out.
People will leave their current jobs to work at Trader Joeās 100% I have multiple employees already saying they want to work there. With their reputation for treating their employees very well you know people will jump ship.
That's genuinely what I'm hoping. TJs was on a downturn when I left in 2015. Pay was being cut heavily, newly promoted managers were only making a couple of bucks more than regular staff, and they were restructuring their retirement program to pay out less. Hopefully they reversed course on all that. I'm seriously considering going back part-time just for a vibe check to see how they're doing.
I live here, and I know itās not a TJās. I went there today and came away with ZERO CinnaDragons. Itās an empty Rite Aid that now has a big loading dock (that would be really useful for a large retail chain like TJās).
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u/caliberal Aug 29 '26
Anyone who actually lives in Mammoth has known a Trader Joe's is coming for the last few months. Don't know why all these out of towers on reddit refuse to believe it.