Good going, Bumblebeez! That's awesome customer service! I think you will be pleased with your sandals. I've had good luck with the several pair of Clarks that I've owned. Just got two more for this summer. They are really comfy. Also bought a pair of leather, never been worn, Clark "nun shoes" (black, lace-up oxfords) 15 years ago at a consignment store for $5.00 and I just tossed them last week. That was a pretty good run...they were really comfy shoes too! Tell us when your sandals arrive and let us know how you like them. Thanks for sharing a positive customer service story!

Many people are mesmerized to nearly cult status by Trader Joe's and I've never understood the attraction. It's interesting to go there though so go and check it out and see if it is for you. I don't know anyone who can say they do the bulk of their shopping there. It's a store to pick up a few things. They're not cheap though at least on things I've considered buying and have bought there, but I'll say quality is generally very good from what I've seen and experienced. They don't wear the Hawaiian shirts around here nor do they do the schtick that made them so famous with some people years back. They're not a big store and accordingly have a small selection overall. They simply can't stock as much as a larger store. They're comparable in size or slightly larger than Aldi but do carry more SKUs. If you're envisioning a megastore, this isn't it. Picture a decent sized convenience store (they're often stripmall residents) and actually "convenience store" is a pretty good description. (Actually, that's how it started.) You get a few things there now and then, but that's about it, at least for me and everyone I know that goes there. That's one of the reasons I won't be going there much. I don't like shopping and don't like having to go to multiple stores to get my list filled out. But I used to go there for a couple things, plus I was just trying to figure out the attraction. FWIW, TJs sells about twice per square foot that Whole Foods sells. They do a big business (why, I don't know! LOL) but I give them credit, I've never stood in line long. They're efficient on the checkout process. But they should be. People generally more tote baskets there rather than a cart as at a bigger store. As I recall they have a thing where you'll get a credit if you bring the bag back and reuse it and possibly if you bring your own bags. For wine lovers or winos, Three-Buck Chuck (formerly Two-Buck Chuck) is carried out by the case and cartload. I wasn't impressed with what I tried but in fairness I'm not a fan of red wines so a grain of salt tossed in and again, lots of people love it. Oh, and (at least here) you don't buy the wine in the same storefront as the groceries, so essentially you're going to two different stores and have two different purchases. Yes, they change stock a lot. Do not count on a certain item being there all the time. The nature of the beast. (And people complain about Malwart discontinuing things! LOL) However, like any store, they have their staples but keep in mind, especially with a small store like this, they *can't* keep stuff that doesn't turn so if it doesn't sell, it'll be out of there, you can be sure. It's common business sense. I can buy a single banana at most any store that sells them. This is not unique to TJs. Some stores price by the banana and some price by the pound. If you want bananas cheap though, I'll bet you can't beat Aldi unless you only want one. But who knows, a pound might cost less than one! LOL There were only a few things I bought there regularly and I can get them at other stores so I don't go there anymore. My sister goes there because they have a gluten free pasta that she likes and she really likes 3bC. She even bought one of their 6 bottle carriers to carry the wine out! They had a good variety of unusual cheeses. Better than the cheap grocery stores, but I doubt it'd rival the upscale markets. They had a good variety of good quality nuts, but again, expensive. They had a nice but very limited (therefore, very expensive) meat counter, make that, cooler. A vast majority of their items are their own brand names so obviously you won't get the exact item elsewhere but not everything is unique to the store. Again, it's a dice throw whether it'll be there again. They can be outrageously busy. They're small. They do not have wide aisles. So I'd suggest checking it out when it's not busy and see what you think. You may like it or not. I don't agree with those who say it's nirvana for everyone. Good for some, not for others. One good thing about it, they don't charge you to walk in the door if you don't buy something! No Samsco/Cost Club cards to mess with. They've always been quite clean when I've been in there and there's usually a lot of people working there (relatively speaking) when I've been there, but they've never offered help. I do imagine if you needed help you could get it without too much trouble. They've been well-stocked and organized. The few times I've been in there I haven't had to fight pallets blocking aisles like some stores we know! :D I'm not a fanatic about where things are made, processed, packaged or the like but do like to have an idea. I do not like the idea of just saying packaged for TJ's USA. Even Kmart says where things are made, but that's part of the Aldi/Trader Joe's business plan is secrecy. They don't like to let people know much about it, even their vendors. Trader Joe's has an interesting history. Started as Pronto Market (a convenience store) by a guy named Joe and the name changed over time to Trader Joe's. It was bought out in the late 70s by Aldi Nord (north), part of the Albrechts conglomerate, this division owned by Theo Albrecht (who owns part of the Aldi stores but not in the US). His brother Karl owns Aldi Süd (south) (who controls the Aldi stores in the US) and the Aldi history, well that's another albeit interesting story. TJs has a very controlled growth plan. They only open a few each year and are vigorously recruited by both vendors and communities. They buy some things locally (often things like eggs) and some things are made by huge corporations (pita chips are made by Frito).

True, but like decent French Plonk, Chuck is remarkably palateable. It's blended from wine lake, which is why it's so cheap, and by blending and tweaking they can make it it taste good. Not like fine wine, but as a pleasing punch to wash down your sandwich. I use it for cooking unless there will vpbe a reduction. The kind of cooking which wrecks the wine anyway. But unpalatable wine wrecks the cooking, so Chuck works just as well as name cheap wines double or triple the price. Speaking of, however, it comes to mind that I've gotten phenominal bargains on quality French champagnes at Tj's.

I found the following online, FWIW. My niece used to work at an extremely busy TJ’s in San Francisco. She said her training focused very heavily on customer service. The length of training might depend on store location. New Trader Joe’s employees don’t rush to start working right away, but get at least a day’s worth of training from introductory videos and one-on-one sessions with managers, or “mates.” As well as going over the basics of treating customers well, they reportedly also cover small but crucial skills like properly bagging groceries. Store managers are expected to go even further by attending TJ University, which runs two-day classes focused on leadership and team building skills that can apply in running the store and beyond. Even beyond their initial hiring or promotion, employees still stay informed about Trader Joe’s latest offerings. Before (and hopefully after) the current pandemic, stores held regular tasting panels for crew members to sample new food and wine products before they reached the shelves, all the better to answer customers’ questions and advise their shopping. “They don’t want us to recommend new products just for the sake of it,” says the Seattle-area employee. “They want us to actually try it, and if we like it, we can say that confidently, but if we don’t like it, they want us to be honest.”