Some grocery shops will be open for Thanksgiving in anticipation of your need to grab last-minute ingredients. The exception is Trader Joes.

Since 1983, the chain’s national headquarters has been closed to employees so they can spend Thanksgiving with friends and family. website. However, it was not always this way. For decades, under founder Joe CoulombeThe chain did not close on Thanksgiving so many workers had to work.

Coulombe wrote in his memoir, “Becoming Trader Joe,” published a year after his death in 2020, the reason had little to do with food — and everything to do with drinks. Specifically, wine.

Coulombe was the one to open Pasadena’s first Trader Joe’s, California in 1967. Coulombe wrote in 1967 that the first Trader Joe’s opened in Pasadena, California. He did this to keep it open during Thanksgiving.

By 1975, most national supermarkets were also staying open on major holidays — eliminating that competitive edge. Trader Joe’s, while most supermarkets are known for selling food, was able to gain a competitive edge by using quality and affordable wine sales in the early years. Coulombe said that Christmas was “lousy” wine day, but Thanksgiving was “much larger wine day than Christmas, which is appallingly, very good hard liquor).

The shops remained open, even though they were closed for a limited time and paid more. The tradition became a tradition. Coulombe and all members of the Trader Joe’s management team worked in those stores. Today, that’s a relatively known practice — executives at diner chain Waffle House, for example, work in their restaurantsTake a vacation.

Njeri Bolss, vice-president of public relations at Waffle House, says that this is more than just a policy. It is a foundational part of our culture.

Whole Foods Market has stated that many of its shops will be open for Thanksgiving, but with modified hours. Kroger’s stores will also be open. open until 5 p.m.On the holiday. Walgreens convenience store chain and CVS stores will be also open.

However, it can be hard to stay open for a holiday like Thanksgiving.

Craig Johnson, President of Customer Growth Partners Retail Consulting says that Thanksgiving is a time when there’s “fixed demand”. told ReutersIn 2018. In other words: Stores that close for Thanksgiving may make up sales missed the day before.

Coulombe’s death in 1988 meant that Trader Joe’s was no longer open on Thanksgiving. He remarked that it was an intelligent decision made by the management.

It is now impossible for retailers to differentiate themselves through long hours.” He concluded, writing: “It was a right move, and long overdue.”

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