A Black Friday-style frenzy has been introduced to Trader Joe’s locations. Customers are waiting their turn to purchase little tote bags with the supermarket chain’s emblem for $2.99, rather than waiting in line for a new video game system or a Taylor Swift vinyl record.
While some consumers dispatched friends to pick up the rare item for them, others set up camp in front of businesses hours before they opened. People seemed to wrestle or get into violent altercations over the 11-by-13-inch canvas bags on a few instances.
According to Kevin Burgoon, who works at a Trader Joe’s in Sacramento, the first customers lined up at five in the morning on Tuesday. He guessed that around 150 people were waiting when the business opened three hours later.
Mr. Burgoon remarked, “I just thought it was crazy,” and mentioned that customers contacted the store “nonstop” that morning to check on the availability of the bags.
The chaos started a year ago when Trader Joe’s unannouncedly unveiled its first line of limited-edition totes, which are basically scaled-down versions of the reusable canvas bags the business has been selling for years. There was a rush to get the bags as they became a popular accessory. Stores were ready for the pandemonium, and there was a little more notice this year.
Additional security was on place at Trader Joe’s locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and some of them positioned the bags behind the registers. Nearly all of the shops limited customers to a specific quantity of bags.
Some people use these smaller bags as lunch bags or handbags, but they aren’t large enough to hold groceries. Some admirers claimed to have personalized the totes by, for instance, bedazzling them or adding patches to them. A bowling ball was transported by one X person using the bag.
Due to the high demand, the bags were resold at exorbitant rates last year. Some of the new bags were already selling for as much as $70 on eBay on Wednesday.
According to Natasha Fischer, the owner of the Instagram account @traderjoeslist, she has taken wine and nibbles to the beach or to a friend’s house using her little tote. However, Ms. Fischer stated that she might forego it because she purchased many tote bags the previous year.
Ms. Fischer remarked, “I have so many tote bags right now,” and she added that she had seen that this year’s hoopla might not be as strong. “How many tiny tote bags do you require? Perhaps others share my viewpoint.”
The bags weren’t selling out as quickly at certain New York boutiques as they had the previous year. By Tuesday afternoon, tote bags were still dangling by the payment registers at one Brooklyn supermarket, and the shelves had been cleared of eggs.
The more ambivalent reaction to the totes may be due in part to lower consumer spending amid economic uncertainty, according to Barbara Kahn, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
