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Trader Joe's company history timeline

1966

Rexall elected in 1966 to jettison its Pronto Markets division and escape the convenience store industry.

1976

Focused on that key market, Trader Joe's boosted sales and profits steadily until 1976.

1978

In 1978 he took a job at Mervyn's and helped that retail chain grow from 38 stores to 180 within nine years.

1979

1979: The Albrecht family buys the Trader Joe's chain.

1988

Coulombe remained its chief executive until 1988, when he left to launch a second career as what he called a “temp,” coming in as interim CEO or consultant for several large companies in transition.

1993

1993: The company expands outside California and opens stores in Phoenix, growing the Trader Joe's chain to 59 stores.

1996

In 1996, Trader Joe's began its aggressive East Coast expansion.

1996: The Trader Joe's Web site debuts online; and the company expands stores on the East Coast in Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York.

1997

Trader Joe's made another savvy technology investment, this time in 1997, which enabled it to quickly cut costs and position itself for improved communications and data sharing.

1998

1998: Trader Joe's expands its nonfood specialty business.

2001

2001: The company begins to eliminate genetically modified ingredients from its private-label products.

2002

In 2002, they introduced one of their most notorious products: a $1.99 bottle of wine, produced by Charles Shaw, that was actually decent.

2022

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Founded
1958
Company founded
Headquarters
Monrovia, CA
Company headquarter
Founders
Joe Coulombe
Company founders
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Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Trader Joe's, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Trader Joe's. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Trader Joe's. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Trader Joe's. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Trader Joe's and its employees or that of Zippia.

Trader Joe's may also be known as or be related to Trader Joe s Company, Trader Joe's, Trader Joe's Company and Wcd Inc.