One of my favorite radio programs is Freakonomics, and my very favorite grocery store is Trader Joe’s. What do these two things have to do with one another? Well, the other day, while preparing dinner, I was scanning the Freakonomics website to find an interesting episode I might have missed hearing on NPR.
Lo and behold, there at the top of the page was one titled, Should America Be Run by … Trader Joe’s? (Ep. 359 Rebroadcast). Considering my loyalty to Trader Joe’s and my keen interest in politics, I could not resist listening to the podcast. Given my longstanding patronage, I already knew quite a bit about the company from the standpoint of a customer, but was oblivious to the many other features that make Trader Joe’s so unique.
If you’ve ever shopped at one of its stores you will know that TJ’s, as it is affectionately called, is not like other grocery chains. It does things differently. But beyond that, TJ’s business practices are also different, and in many cases contrary to conventional business “wisdom.” I could enumerate these to save you time, but that would spoil your enjoyment of listening to the program and pondering the possibilities as the program reveals them. But I’ll give you a hint: What do large corporation set as their top priority? Compare and contrast…
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Beyond Money 