By Kathleen Huynh
The brand new Trader Joe’s in Milpitas opened their doors on Sept. 18. Promptly after the grand opening, many eager shoppers filed in a long, socially distanced line to enter the store. I visited the store on a Saturday afternoon, the day after the grand opening. Parking was easy to find; there was a small lot at the front of the store in addition to a parking garage nearby. The line moved relatively fast, and the wait time did not exceed half an hour.
Upon reaching the front of the store, I was warmly greeted by a kind usher who diligently pumped hand sanitizer for customers. On the day of my visit, the Milpitas location did not have any shopping baskets, only shopping carts. Even though many people were eager to get into the store, it was by no means crowded due to staff meticulously following COVID-19 precautions. The store layout was very neat and spaced out. At the front entrance of the store is the produce section, and behind it are the dairy and beverage sections. The meats are located on the back wall with frozen food items in between it and the produce section. The left corner of the store contains baked goods and alcohol. There weren’t any large congregations of people blocking walkways. Despite the rush of shoppers, the displays and shelves were well-maintained as employees tirelessly stocked shelves and tidied up displays.
The store notably feels smaller than the Sprouts on Brokaw in terms of space and selection. The selection of grocery items was typical for a Trader Joe’s; however, the store lacked a free sample booth. I bought a box of their sea salt brownie petites, a bottle of apple juice, and a container of their mango sorbet. While salty brownies may sound disgusting, the Trader Joe’s brand sea salt brownie petites are quite tasty. The rich chocolate taste accompanied by a gentle saltiness gives an interesting twist to a staple treat. The mango sorbet tastes like an alphonso mango and is very soft.
The only confusing part of my experience was checking out. When you’re ready to check out, you get in line and wait behind a sign that instructs you to proceed only when the cashier calls you up. In contrast to other grocery stores, you must return to your position behind the sign after you have unloaded your groceries. Failure to do so will result in being firmly reprimanded; at least, that’s what happened to me.
Overall, my experience at Trader Joe’s was pretty average. I liked how the store was very neat and that they followed COVID safety precautions, but I plan on sticking to Sprouts until there is no longer an entrance line.
