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Monday, June 11, 2012
Why Trader Joe’s coming to Dallas-Fort Worth is not another In-N-Out
Just because they're both California doesn't mean they're the same.
Photo by Kevin Buchanan
In-N-Out Burger in Fort Worth
The opening on Friday of the first local Trader Joe's in Fort Worth brings for many a great excitement about a long-yearned-for potentially fantastic place to shop. But for some others, the arrival of another hyped-up California institution evokes fatigue and ennui, a reaction accompanied by sentiments that run somewhere along the line of: "Oh no -- not another In-N-Out?"
The tendency to lump the two together is understandable, since Trader Joe's and In-N-Out both come from California, and both have a cult following. But the resemblance stops there.
1. One is a greasy fast-food burger joint, and the other is a small grocery.
Lexicon of terms for the Trader Joe’s newbie
Grocery smackdown: Trader Joe’s vs. other markets in Dallas-Fort Worth
In-N-Out is a restaurant with an extremely limited menu: burgers, fries, milkshakes. Trader Joe's is a specialty food store, smaller than a regular grocery, with a high-quality selection that extends from the wine-and-cheese it began with in the '70s to include the pastries, dried fruit, nuts, health foods, and frozen goods it stocks today.
2. One represents a unique addition to the area, the other does not.
In-N-Out's product mix is not distinctive; you can get burger-and-fries at countless competitors. For one thing, Trader Joe's has private-label items sold only at Trader Joe's. Some of its other merchandise may possibly appear at other stores in Texas such as Whole Foods, Central Market, Cost Plus World Market, or its corporate cousin Aldi, but you can't find its particular assemblage of goods at any one of those stores. Trader Joe's will fill a unique niche.
3. One has healthy food, the other does not.
With the exception of a few household and toiletry items, most of what Trader Joe's sells is food, and most of that food is natural, cruelty-free, and with no artificial ingredients. Its lineup includes salads, whole-grain breads and pastas, vitamins, juices, hummus, and wraps.
At In-N-Out, a "double double with onion" has 670 calories and 41 grams of fat; an order of fries has 395 calories and 18 grams of fat; a chocolate shake has 590 calories and 29 grams of fat. Add up all those grams of fat and you get 88 grams -- 23 grams over your recommended daily allowance of 65 grams.
4. One has Bible passages, the other has Hawaiian shirts.
In-N-Out does stand out from its competitors in one regard: It's the only fast-food burger chain that prints Scripture references on its wrappers and milkshake cups.
No secret Jesus messages at TJ's -- just an upbeat, informal culture manifested in the unofficial company uniform: Hawaiian shirts.
Commonalities
In-N-Out and Trader Joe's do have a couple of things in common.
1. For starters, there is their careful strategy of openings -- one that makes them unavailable to everyone, and therefore more fervently desired.
2. They're also both notoriously reluctant to talk to the media.
3. Lastly, both usually have lousy parking lots. If you're doing anything but drive-through at In-N-Out, it's a pain in the neck. As for the Fort Worth TJ's, complaints about the parking situation are already cropping up on Facebook.
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Business Insider says Houston is "best city in America"
I've lived in the DFW area for over 30 years and have never had problems finding a job. I know that
jpurl, anonymous:
Wow-do you think your liberal bias(and anti Jesus) attitude could be more evident??
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TLS, anonymous:
One describes sex and the other does not.
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acas, anonymous:
Apparently this guy has never heard of the secret menu of In and Out i dont know of any place in Texas you can get your burger and fries animal style. I can see his vegan bias coming out.
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Rquaid1, anonymous:
Wow - two hack pieces against In-N-Out in just a few days. Someone must really have it out for them. And, while I've heard of many people talk about Trader Joe's, I've heard no one conflate their entrance into our market with the entrance of In-N-Out a year ago. That's a premise I first read here.
A premise dreamed up, I'm sure, to satisfy a deadline or justify a chance to be a hater. Congratulations, I guess.
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Nancy Nichols, verified:
nicely played.
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hkauilani, anonymous:
It's kind of like the imaginary fight between two well known boxers that won't ever happen. People like drama. You want a fight? we shall invent one!
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wcam75, anonymous:
Trader Joe's is not a health food grocery. It is a specialty grocer with it's own brand of products sourced from some of the worst offenders when it comes to animal cruelty. Stick to your farmers markets and Dallas Co-ops for real food. Not here to bust on Traders but it is not even close to a health food grocer, it is a low cost point store with some high quality products. The author really should have done more research before penning this article
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jim3665, anonymous:
In and Out sucks - there are countless better local hamburger places - Whataburger comes to mind among many.
Author fails to mention locals such as Sprouts which has an essentially similar format and Natural Grocers which is a TRUE Health food store.
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Jason Rice, verified:
Fish in a barrel.... but here goes.
1. Apparently, this guys has never heard TG isn't a guy.
2. "Jesus quote" linen is a visible attribute, not a political observation
3. Vegan bias is usually saved for anti-meat, not anti-grease forums
And actually, yes, everybody on the entire flippin' planet has heard of I-N-O
SECRET MENU
A. Not a secret
B. Still not impressed
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Jason Rice, verified:
Can we argue about hamburgers now?
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Grateful Dylan, anonymous:
I'm not sure how the Bible passages are a bad thing. Also, how is it secret if it's printed on the wrappers and milkshake cups?
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Teresa Gubbins, staff:
wcam75, thanks for your comment. which of Trader Joe's products are sourced from some of the worst offenders when it comes to animal cruelty? i was under the impression they use cage free eggs etc
jim3665, you are correct that i failed to mention Sprouts or Natural Grocers or any other market. i was really just making this be about TJ's and In-N-Out
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razorphreak, anonymous:
I agree it sure does seem as though pegasus news has it out for In-N-Out. We get it, you don't like them as well as some of the others here. But this article does seem like pulling drama out of left field (like the point of mentioning scripture; so what if they do?).
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Teresa Gubbins, staff:
razorphreak, the presence of scripture on a burger wrapper is unusual, is it not? that makes it worthy of mention. in this context, it serves as a symbol of the culture at In-N-Out, just as a Hawaiian shirt serves as a symbol of the culture at Trader Joe's
we like In-N-Out because it's a hot topic. people seem to like to read about it
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JimFWJ, anonymous:
Satan actually owns both Chick-Fil-A and In-N-Out. Notice the use of hyphens in both? Hyphens are the devil's work. It is his plan that all the overweight christians will gorge themselves on fat, and then, the world will be his!!!
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Jason Rice, verified:
It all becomes clear now. Genius
So can we get back to arguing about burgers?
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Jason Rice, verified:
Oh, and In-N-Out don't have "Two-Buck-Chuck" ---- again the obvious work of the devil
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JimFWJ, anonymous:
YES! Now you're getting it!
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Jason Rice, verified:
Genius.
Pack-n-play.... nefarious, yet so seeming helpful, preparing generations for captivity.
Wash-n-ear .... death of fashion.
Hip-hop.... neither hip nor hop but permanently killed music
Holy Moses - this is the missing scroll!
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JimFWJ, anonymous:
Oh my god! Literally. We are going to need a bigger boat.
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mvnadrsn, anonymous:
2 buck Chuck: only in California. Everywhere else, it's 2 buck Chuck, plus a buck. (shipping costs, they claim)
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rodneyhaas, anonymous:
TJs would have been more of a big deal prior to Central Market, Whole foods... They do have some unique items, but there are places to find the same all be it more expense.
As for burgers, sorry lots of better burger places in DFW at the same price point. The cali crowd will continue to love in-n-out but that is not going to keep all the locations open. I see a mass burn off of locations in their future.
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John Turner-McClelland, verified:
To be fair, Whataburger isn't quite as over the top on its religious references but does include "One Nation Under God Indivisible" on its store windows emphasizing the Under God part. I do find it ironic that everyone throws bible passages in the trash at In N Out.
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BrandonR, anonymous:
Personally I see no reason for any business to get entangled in religion. Not to mention it's a huge double-standard -- if In-N-Out was printing Koran verses on its wrappers I guarantee all the people that say "it's no big deal" now would be changing their story pretty darn quick...
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lolotehe, anonymous:
There's a "flame-war broiled" joke in this thread somewhere.
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Jason Rice, verified:
Probably more and quicker than you think
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razorphreak, anonymous:
"the presence of scripture on a burger wrapper is unusual, is it not? that makes it worthy of mention. in this context, it serves as a symbol of the culture at In-N-Out, just as a Hawaiian shirt serves as a symbol of the culture at Trader Joe's"
What is a "symbol of culture" when it comes to business? Is that some kind of new term? TJ's uniform is a hawaiian shirt just as much as the red apron with the big pin is at In-N-Out as much as those polo shirts at McDonald's. That does not promote any sort of culture of the business. Think of it this way: if tomorrow they changed and forced all associates to wear suits, does that change who TJ's is? Absolutely not. It might in your judgment but it would be far from the truth.
As to the scripture, no I don't consider it unusual. I'm not sure why it should be. Brandon probably says your position more bluntly in that perhaps you believe that too? My question to you both would be why do you care? What a private citizen/business believes should not be any of your concern. That is well within their 1st amendment right to do so. They are not government, they are not associated with government outside of the taxes they pay, and there is no such concept of separation of church and business/person. To even think that there should be is, at the very least, unconstitutional.
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BrandonR, anonymous:
Look obviously they're private businesses and they could put aborted fetus pictures on their wrappers for all I care. I'm just saying it's stupid for a fast food business to establish a religion by putting Bible verses on wrappers because not only is it unnecessary, it alienates anyone eating there that believes otherwise. It's almost as dumb as Chick-Fil-A being closed on Sundays.
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lindseytownsend, anonymous:
I find it offensive that they print Bible verses on their food. Nothing like having someone else's religion force-fed down your thought along with their heart-attack inducing junk food. You can bet if they were printing Koran verses there would be mass protests lining up.
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What do you think?