Trader Joe's

Hi my GF Friends.  This post is not about restaurants but about my favorite new store, Trader Joe's.  For quite a while, my kind friends and family have been bringing back goodies to from Trader Joe's when they travel abroad (as in, to Nashville).  Recently my family and I were headed back from a camping trip and since we were passing through Nash-Vegas, I declared that we had to stop at Trader Joe's so I could see all this gluten free goodness that I had heard about in person.

For those of you travelling to or through Nashville, it's a quick stop off I-440.  Take the Hillsboro Road Exit and the store is about 1 1/2 miles up the road.  On a Sunday afternoon, the place was packed.  There was serious competition for parking and serious cart dodging in the store.  My 6-year old came in the store with me, which was probably a mistake since he was complaining the whole time and nearly getting run over by carts.  

The store was nice.  It was actually a lot smaller than I expected...maybe 2/3 the size of the Whole Foods on Poplar.  And there wasn't as much GF stuff available as there is at Whole Foods.  But the advantage of Trader Joe's is that it's super cheap.  When is the last time you could combine super cheap and gluten free food in the same sentence?  I walked out with a paper grocery bag filled to the brim with GF oatmeal, granola, polenta, cereal and chips for only $25. 

When I was checking out, I told the cashier I wished we had one in Memphis.  He went on to explain that it was a privately-owned company and that they were trying to expand slowly since they did most everything in-house.  I was impressed.  Try to imagine a cashier at Kroger being able to explain the company's expansion plans to you.  It boggles the mind, right?  He also suggested that I go on the web site and request a location in Memphis.  I have actually done that before and got a nice reply e-mail from them.  If you're interested in getting a T.J. in Memphis, here's the link you need:  Trader Joe's Customer Service.  Go to the Customer Questions and Feedback drop down box and click on Location Request.  Maybe if enough of us request it, they'll put one here in the Bluff City.