No, that cheerful cashier in an aloha shirt at your local Trader Joe’s is not trying to get you to pick up more than Speculoos Cookie Butter.” the show’s hosts, Matt Sloan and Tara Miller, interviewed the chain’s president and vice CEO, Jon Basalone, and chief executive officer, Bryan Palbaum. Together the group spoke about the company’s brand, what it has in store for the horizon, and whether rumors that it trains store employees to flirt with customers are true.
“Definitively, no,” Palbaum replied, adding, “I think we just have such a unique environment in our stores that to go into a Trader Joe’s store and feel that everyone is genuinely interested in whether or not you are having a good day, compared to maybe other retailers, I could see how that might be misinterpreted.”
“Bryan’s right,” Basalone chimed in. “I mean, you go through this world, and you run into so many people that aren’t genuine, that aren’t kind to you, that when you walk into a place when that’s happening, it feels like, 'Whoa, OK, I think they’re flirting with me' when actually, yeah, that’s just what niceness feels like, you know?”
In response to the comments made on the podcast, a spokesperson for Trader Joe’s told TODAY.com that they had no further comment. Speculation about Trader Joe’s employees’ friendly nature has been circulating on social media platforms in the form of memes for years.