Becoming Trader Joe
How I Did Business My Way and Still Beat the Big Guys
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $29.13
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Mark Smeby
-
Written by:
-
Joe Coulombe
-
Patty Civalleri - contributor
About this listen
Build an iconic shopping experience that your customers love - and a work environment that your employees love being a part of - using this blueprint from Trader Joe’s visionary founder, Joe Coulombe.
Infuse your organization with a distinct personality and culture that draws customers in a way that simply competing on price cannot.
Joe Coulombe founded what would become Trader Joe’s in the late 1960s and helped shape it into the beloved, quirky food chain it is today. Realizing early on that he could not compete and win by playing the same game his bigger competitors were playing, he decided to build a store for educated people of somewhat modest means. He brought in unusual products from around the world and promoted them in the Fearless Flyer, providing customers with background on how they were sourced and their nutritional value. He also gave the stores a tiki theme to reinforce the exotic trader ship concept with employees wearing Hawaiian shirts.
In this way, Joe laid down a blueprint for other business owners to follow to build their own unique shopping experience that customers love and a work environment that employees love being a part of.
In Becoming Trader Joe, Joe shares the lessons he learned by challenging the status quo and rethinking the way a business operates. He shows people of all types:
- How moving from a pure analytical approach to a more creative, problem-solving approach can drive innovation.
- How finding an affluent niche of passionate customers can be a better strategy than competing on price and volume.
- How questioning all aspects of the way you do business leads to powerful results.
- How to build a business around your values and identity.
You may also enjoy...
-
Invention
- A Life of Learning Through Failure
- Written by: James Dyson
- Narrated by: James Dyson
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Famously, over a four-year period, James Dyson made 5,127 prototypes of the cyclonic vacuum cleaner that would transform the way houses are cleaned around the world. In devoting all his resources to iteratively developing the technology, he risked it all, but out of many failures and setbacks came hard-fought success. In Invention: A Life, Dyson reveals how he came to set up his own company and led it to become one of the most inventive technology companies in the world. It is a compelling and dramatic tale, with many obstacles overcome.
-
-
Difficult to listen to
- By Michael Watchorn on 2021-09-11
Written by: James Dyson
-
Onward
- How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul
- Written by: Howard Schultz, Joanne Gordon
- Narrated by: Stephen Bowlby
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2008, Howard Schultz, the president and chairman of Starbucks, made the unprecedented decision to return as CEO, eight years after he stepped down from daily oversight of the company to become chairman. Concerned that Starbucks had lost its way, Schultz was determined to help it return to its core values and restore not only its financial health, but also its soul.
-
-
Too Long and Boring
- By Amazon Customer on 2019-08-19
Written by: Howard Schultz, and others
-
The LEGO Story
- How a Little Toy Sparked the World’s Imagination
- Written by: Jens Andersen
- Narrated by: Peter Cross
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s estimated that each year between eighty and ninety million children around the globe are given a box of LEGO, while up to ten million adults buy sets for themselves. Yet LEGO is much more than a dizzying number of plastic bricks that can be put together and combined in countless ways. LEGO is also a vision of the significance of what play can mean for humanity.
-
-
Builds a good story
- By Roberta W on 2024-08-17
Written by: Jens Andersen
-
E-Myth Mastery
- The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building a World Class Company
- Written by: Michael E. Gerber
- Narrated by: Michael E. Gerber
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Michael E. Gerber, the world's leading small business guru and best-selling author of the phenomenally successful The E-Myth Revisited, presents the next big step in entrepreneurial management and leadership with E-Myth Mastery. This audiobook presents a practical, real-world program that can be implemented in real-time in your business.
-
-
Love it!
- By Mylène A. on 2023-01-03
Written by: Michael E. Gerber
-
Build
- An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making
- Written by: Tony Fadell
- Narrated by: Tony Fadell, Roger Wayne
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tony Fadell led the teams that created the iPod, iPhone and Nest Learning Thermostat and learned enough in 30+ years in Silicon Valley about leadership, design, startups, Apple, Google, decision-making, mentorship, devastating failure and unbelievable success to fill an encyclopedia.
-
-
Great Book
- By Anonymous User on 2023-01-19
Written by: Tony Fadell
-
Grinding It Out
- The Making of McDonald's
- Written by: Ray Kroc, Robert Anderson
- Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few entrepreneurs can claim to have radically changed the way we live, and Ray Kroc is one of them. His revolutions in food-service automation, franchising, shared national training, and advertising have earned him a place beside the men and women who have founded not only businesses, but entire empires. But even more interesting than Ray Kroc the business man is Ray Kroc the man. Not your typical self-made tycoon, Kroc was 52 years old when he opened his first franchise.
-
-
Really a great story
- By Roberta W on 2024-06-08
Written by: Ray Kroc, and others
-
Invention
- A Life of Learning Through Failure
- Written by: James Dyson
- Narrated by: James Dyson
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Famously, over a four-year period, James Dyson made 5,127 prototypes of the cyclonic vacuum cleaner that would transform the way houses are cleaned around the world. In devoting all his resources to iteratively developing the technology, he risked it all, but out of many failures and setbacks came hard-fought success. In Invention: A Life, Dyson reveals how he came to set up his own company and led it to become one of the most inventive technology companies in the world. It is a compelling and dramatic tale, with many obstacles overcome.
-
-
Difficult to listen to
- By Michael Watchorn on 2021-09-11
Written by: James Dyson
-
Onward
- How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul
- Written by: Howard Schultz, Joanne Gordon
- Narrated by: Stephen Bowlby
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2008, Howard Schultz, the president and chairman of Starbucks, made the unprecedented decision to return as CEO, eight years after he stepped down from daily oversight of the company to become chairman. Concerned that Starbucks had lost its way, Schultz was determined to help it return to its core values and restore not only its financial health, but also its soul.
-
-
Too Long and Boring
- By Amazon Customer on 2019-08-19
Written by: Howard Schultz, and others
-
The LEGO Story
- How a Little Toy Sparked the World’s Imagination
- Written by: Jens Andersen
- Narrated by: Peter Cross
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s estimated that each year between eighty and ninety million children around the globe are given a box of LEGO, while up to ten million adults buy sets for themselves. Yet LEGO is much more than a dizzying number of plastic bricks that can be put together and combined in countless ways. LEGO is also a vision of the significance of what play can mean for humanity.
-
-
Builds a good story
- By Roberta W on 2024-08-17
Written by: Jens Andersen
-
E-Myth Mastery
- The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building a World Class Company
- Written by: Michael E. Gerber
- Narrated by: Michael E. Gerber
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Michael E. Gerber, the world's leading small business guru and best-selling author of the phenomenally successful The E-Myth Revisited, presents the next big step in entrepreneurial management and leadership with E-Myth Mastery. This audiobook presents a practical, real-world program that can be implemented in real-time in your business.
-
-
Love it!
- By Mylène A. on 2023-01-03
Written by: Michael E. Gerber
-
Build
- An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making
- Written by: Tony Fadell
- Narrated by: Tony Fadell, Roger Wayne
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tony Fadell led the teams that created the iPod, iPhone and Nest Learning Thermostat and learned enough in 30+ years in Silicon Valley about leadership, design, startups, Apple, Google, decision-making, mentorship, devastating failure and unbelievable success to fill an encyclopedia.
-
-
Great Book
- By Anonymous User on 2023-01-19
Written by: Tony Fadell
-
Grinding It Out
- The Making of McDonald's
- Written by: Ray Kroc, Robert Anderson
- Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few entrepreneurs can claim to have radically changed the way we live, and Ray Kroc is one of them. His revolutions in food-service automation, franchising, shared national training, and advertising have earned him a place beside the men and women who have founded not only businesses, but entire empires. But even more interesting than Ray Kroc the business man is Ray Kroc the man. Not your typical self-made tycoon, Kroc was 52 years old when he opened his first franchise.
-
-
Really a great story
- By Roberta W on 2024-06-08
Written by: Ray Kroc, and others
What listeners say about Becoming Trader Joe
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mik548
- 2023-07-16
Complete lack of structure
While it was interesting to learn about Trader Joe's early development stories and strategies, the book has a complete lack of structure. This reads as someone rambling through different eras of the company, making it very difficult to immerse yourself in the story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!