(Reviewed by Don Jung)
Becoming Trader Joe is a true story about a marketing genius who went against conventional mega grocery store chains to create his own style of branding, with a name with unusual food products. Joe Coulombe started out working at Rexall Drugs and when they decided to close their Pronto Market stores, he seized the opportunity to run his own shop.
While we don’t know much about his private life, the story details his methods to create a sound work environment where he pays his managers more than the national average and develops a culture where even part-time employees stay loyal to the company.
You learn a lot of oddball facts like when Trader Joe’s stopped selling cigarettes, the store thefts went down by fifty percent. Taking out paper products to put in a healthy line of vitamins and alternative forms of nutrition added more to the bottom line. And when Joe wanted to sell breakfast cereal with “bran” as a one-pound package, he was forced to take on the seller’s dried fruits and nuts only to find a new avenue of business success.
Joe talks about the Labor Board rules and the dropping of Fair-Trade laws that he had
to adhere to and how he overcomes these obstacles to still make the company use ethical practices.
Leroy Watson takes over the wine business and gets both the high-end Napa Sonoma wineries
to make a private label brand with their leftover grapes as well as venturing overseas
to get quality wines at unusual low prices.
I would consider this as more a marketing book than a biography, but Joe Coulombe was
a marketing wiz before the internet age.
If you’re intrigued by what you’ve just read and want to hear more fascinating stories like the ones above, I would highly recommend this book. After all, most of us love our favorite store, Trader Joe’s.
