The Trader Joe's Effect

A few days ago, I was driving a friend around Raleigh when he spotted a store familiar to him from his home base of Pennsylvania - Trader Joe's.

I knew just the tone he was using to imply that he was impressed we had our very own TJ's.  The underlying message was: "You've got a Trader Joe's, that means your town is a happening place".

There's something to that - Trader Joe's has a certain mid to upscale hipster meets hippie vibe that doesn't work in every city.  It may not have worked in Raleigh 10 years ago, but it certainly works today.  With additional stores in Cary and Chapel Hill, the Triangle is well covered.

It reminded me of the time I brought someone in for an interview when I lived in Buffalo, and he used that same tone to describe Starbucks (as in "wow, that's cool, you've got a Starbucks).

Now almost every Target has a Starbucks.

How times change.

Foster
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