Trader Joe’s ‘Lighten Up’ Legacy

Expressing their appreciation for the “Joe” behind Trader Joe’s, the Monrovia, Calif.-based grocer’s Matt Sloan and Tara Miller paid tribute to Joe Coulombe, who passed away on Feb. 28.

“Thank you, Joe, for the intensity of your entrepreneurial spirit, for seeing opportunity at every turn and for going against conventional industry norms [in] opening the first Trader Joe’s in Pasadena in 1967,” said Sloan, VP of marketing, in Episode 22 of Trader Joe’s podcast series.

Sloan also acknowledged Coulombe’s visionary role in “building a company that introduced something welcomingly different in the grocery retail space” and “for making surprise, discovery and change necessary ingredients in grocery shopping.”

Coulombe’s whimsy was evidenced in numerous areas, including cartoons in the Fearless Flyer, Trader Joe’s circular, he added.

“Joe’s curiosity, philanthropic generosity and irreverent sense of humor were woven into the fabric of the culture that defines Trader Joe’s stores,” said Miller, marketing director. “Joe retired in 1988, but that culture carried on and is evident today. Joe said he always believed that it is the quality of the people that set Trader Joe’s apart, and we acknowledge that that started with Joe.”

Sloan and Miller let Coulombe do the sign-off on the Episode 22 podcast, playing an audio recording of the founder saying: “Lighten up. Don’t take it so goddamn seriously.”

“We think Joe said it best,” Miller said.