Trader Joe's

American grocery chain founded in 1967 by Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, California. Originally a convenience store chain called Pronto Markets, Coulombe pivoted when 7-Eleven threatened expansion into his market. He targeted educated, well-traveled Californians with a curated selection of unique, affordable products under whimsical private-label names.

The chapter highlights Trader Joe's as a convergent evolution case study: despite emerging from abundance rather than scarcity, and emphasizing discovery rather than thrift, the company independently arrived at nearly identical operational metrics to Aldi (~4,000 SKUs, 80% private label, small stores, minimal advertising, 3-4% operating margins). In 1979, Aldi Nord acquired Trader Joe's but kept it operationally independent, recognizing that convergence had occurred naturally.