The CEO of Trader Joe’s has vehemently denied longstanding rumors that the supermarket’s staff are trained to flirt with customers.
Known for their friendly customer service, several TikToks, online articles, and popular internet personalities have tried to substantiate the claims.
When asked about the idea on the company’s podcast about the rumors, CEO Bryan Palbaum said, “Definitely no.”
“I think we just have such a unique environment in our stores that when you go into a Trader Joe’s store you feel like everyone is genuinely interested in whether you’re having a good day or not, compared to maybe other retailers.
“I imagined this could be misinterpreted.”
The supermarket chain is known for its friendly customer service, which has spawned social media rumors that employees have been trained to flirt with customers
In the same episode, Jon Basalone, president and vice-CEO of Trader Joe, added, “That’s exactly what kindness feels like.”
Shayne Jones, an associate who works at a store in San Francisco, told me SFGATE that flirting wasn’t in the staff handbook.
Jones told the outlet, “They tend to hire pretty bubbly people. Like I’d flirt if I could, but honestly if they taught me how to flirt I’d probably attract more people than I do now.’
Trader Joe’s CEO Bryan Palbaum, pictured here, has debunked long-standing rumors that staff have been trained to flirt with customers
She continued, “I feel like after COVID I think everyone was kind of like, ‘Wow, how do we socialize? What does this social signal mean?
“They really encourage us to be ourselves and have real interactions with people.
‘So good talks… who knows? They can lead other places.’
In 2021, a Glamor The article asked eight current and former Trader Joe employees if they had been trained to flirt.
The answer from all these people was that they were not but encouraged to occasionally give away flower bouquets or bars to customers.
In a YouTube video from 2020popular internet personality Emma Chamberlain called the urban legend.
She said, “I saw this thing on TikTok talking about how the cashiers at Trader Joe’s are trained to flirt with you. Is this true?’
In a TikTok video with more than 2.3 million views, social media star Daniel Bennett asks an offscreen person who identifies as a Trader Joe’s employee if he flirts with his customers.
An employee who works at a store in San Francisco told SFGATE that flirting was not in the employee handbook
The rumor was widely shared on social media pages and TikTok videos shared by popular personalities
“Yes, if they’re tasty,” the person replies. “Usually, whatever they get, I just say this is my favorite.”
It comes after the company also put to bed another conspiracy theory about small parking lots.
In an interview on the Inside Trader Joe podcast, VP of Marketing Tara Miller said fans’ far-fetched ideas (and memes) are entertaining but false.
“People in the world really seem to think – not all people, but some people – that we are purposefully making terrible parking lots,” she continued.
According to Miller, the number of parking spaces is determined by how big each Trader Joe’s location is, and most locations tend to be quite small.
The company was founded in 1967 by Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, California, and now has 560 stores across the country.
It is one of the largest supermarket chains, with an estimated annual turnover of approximately $16.5 billion Business Insider.
Analysis firm Numerator found that the average customer visits Trader Joe’s 13 times a year and picks up 15 products for a total cost of $41.69 per trip.
Trader Joe’s has a relatively high churn rate among the major brands surveyed, behind Whole Foods, with just over three-quarters of its customers returning in 2021 in 2021.