Becoming Trader Joe: How I Did Business My Way and Still Beat the Big Guys

Time and again I am asked why no one has successfully replicated Trader Joe’s. The answer is that no one has been willing to pay the wages and benefits, and thereby attract—and keep—the quality of people who work at Trader Joe’s. My standard was simple: the average full-time employee in the stores would make the median family income for California.... See more

We should borrow and adapt ideas even from unlikely sources. McDonald's is as far from Patagonia as you can get in its image and many of its values. But I respect one thing it does. No one at McDonald's ever tells a customer, “Sorry, we're all out oficeberg lettuce today." It successfully organizes on-time delivery every day of the week, and I thin... See more