Posted on: Sunday, August 31, 2003

Aloha cheap and tasty at top omiyage stop

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Mention Trader Joe's to a roomful of kama'aina, and invariably it will trigger any number of food cravings and someone asking with excited urgency, "Are they coming here?"

Well, Trader Joe's is expanding, but it isn't planning to open a store in Hawai'i anytime soon. Yet the grocery emporium now in 17 states remains one of the most popular Mainland shopping destinations among Hawai'i residents.

How the retailer became so popular with Islanders is difficult to trace. The company doesn't do e-commerce. There is no mail order. Hawai'i residents must rely on friends, relatives or travel to one of the roughly 200 stores (about 125 of them in California, Washington and Oregon).

Marie Wong, a secretary at Campbell Estate, said she first encountered Trader Joe's by chance a decade ago on a trip to Disneyland. "We just happened to walk in," she said.

Now Wong seeks out the nearest store whenever she goes to the Mainland, which she did two weeks ago during a family reunion in San Jose, Calif..

"Of course I asked, 'Where is your nearest Trader Joe's?' I get excited when I go."

Wong visited not one but two stores, filling a box with garlic-flavored pistachios, Italian-made jujubes, ginger animal cookies and more. "I couldn't buy too much ... you're only allowed 50 pounds per luggage," she said.

For other Hawai'i residents, the long-distance love affair with Trader Joe's has to do perhaps with a connection to the store's early tropical theme and aloha shirt uniforms. Or cheap prices. Or the exotic variety of everything from cookies to cruelty-free shampoo to Charles Shaw wines nicknamed Two Buck Chuck because they sell for $1.99 in California.

Of course, the local omiyage tradition of returning from a trip with small unique gifts for friends, family and co-workers also drives visits to Trader Joe's.

"It's like local style," Wong said. "I always have to bring back snacks that you can't find over here."

Doug Smoyer, president of consulting firm Retail Strategies of Hawai'i, said the affinity with Trader Joe's is no mystery. "It's so simple: It's the greatest store in the world," he said.

Smoyer, who returned from Las Vegas three weeks ago with a trove of Trader Joe's goods including a case of wasabi mayonnaise, said the affinity is probably linked to the wide variety of ethnic cooking needs of local residents who are amazed by fresh, high-quality, unusual foods at value prices.

"It's like a gourmet shop, but not at gourmet shop prices," said John Fiedler, the owner of Lanai Things, who enjoys Trader Joe's fresh breads, snacks, wine, cheeses and desserts.

University of Hawai'i marketing professor Dana Alden (also a fan) said the company's advertising buzz here is all word of mouth. "All I ever hear is, 'God, I wish they were here,' " he said.

Leslie Brown, leasing director at Victoria Ward Centres, said Trader Joe's is among her most requested tenants. "Probably everybody I talk to says to get Trader Joe's," she said.

In an unscientific survey of Advertiser readers two years ago, Trader Joe's was the second-most-requested food establishment, behind Olive Garden and ahead of In-N-Out Burger and Krispy Kreme.

Local real estate agents say Trader Joe's isn't interested in Hawai'i because it can more easily maintain its tight cost controls by expanding across the Mainland. A company spokeswoman was not available to comment.

Undaunted by the company's strategy, Smoyer said he's intent on convincing Trader Joe's it can succeed in Hawai'i by offsetting higher costs with higher volume. "I've been working for eight years to get them here," he said. "I haven't given up."

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.