What Trader Joe's Was Called Before It Changed Its Name

Nova irianti/Shutterstock

Trader Joe's is known for its high-quality, affordable, and out-of-the-box items. The fan-favorite grocery chain has a long history, and while its core concept has remained mostly the same for decades, it began as a different type of store with a different name. Before changing its name to Trader Joe's, it started as a small chain called Pronto Markets.

Joe Coulombe, a San Diego native born in 1930, procured a job as a researcher with drugstore chain Owl-Rexall after earning his MBA in 1954. In 1958, Coulombe was asked to manage Pronto Markets, a chain of convenience stores in the Los Angeles, California, area. In 1962, he ended up purchasing six of them from Owl-Rexall, which was planning to close the stores. He ultimately grew the convenience chain to 18 locations around Los Angeles. Coulombe ran Pronto Markets for about 10 years before making a major change to their name and overall branding.

Competition from convenience stores like 7-Eleven created pressure to adapt. In an effort to target a different, growing demographic of highly educated yet low paid customers, Coulombe pivoted to an affordable, health-conscious grocery store chain. In 1967, he opened the first Trader Joe's in Pasadena, California, where it still exists today. Part of its transformation involved adopting a nautical theme.

Noah Sauve/Shutterstock

At Trader Joe's, the employees, who wear colorful Hawaiian shirts for uniforms, are called "crew members" and the managers are "captains." Step into a store and you can't miss the tropical, nautical theme complete with bright blue wall colors, nautical-themed murals, and fish-netting with plastic sea animals. Instead of a traditional PA system, the employees, or "traders on the high seas," use bells (akin to ship bells) to communicate. All this contributes to a fun, jovial atmosphere that employees and shoppers tend to enjoy. (Check out what it's like to work at Trader Joe's, according to the workers themselves.) 

But why the nautical theme? Trader Joe's founder Joe Coulombe revealed the reason in Episode 2 of Trader Joe's own podcast when he stated, "I'd been reading a book called 'White Shadows in the South Seas,' and I'd been to the Disneyland jungle trip, and it all coalesced. And that is why, to this day the employees wear Hawaiian shirts." 

Tiki culture, island-themed bars, music, books, and a general laid-back lifestyle, was popular during the 1950s and 1960s, particularly on the West coast. The cultural trend was largely inspired by soldiers and sailors who experienced island life in various stations during WWII. Thus, it makes sense that Coulombe would capitalize on the craze to draw customers to TJ's, in addition to playing off his own interests.