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Trader Joe's Essay

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Trader Joe’s is a nation-wide retail convenience store company known for its low prices and friendly atmosphere. Beginning in 1967, Pasadena, California, the chain has always valued what they called the “neighborhood vibe”. This meant that the company prioritized making the customers feel welcomed and wanted in their store by attending to their needs, having short casual interactions, and always serving with a smile. Many customers appreciated this peaceful environment and would return to experience it again. As such, Trader Joe’s mass success was a direct derivation from this vibe they projected. However, problems later arose between the managers and employees.
With Trader Joe’s sales rising due to its vibe, managers began to pressure employees to always be unrealistically happy and friendly …show more content…

always unbelievably enthusiastic and nice) they were met with criticisms and resentment. This concept became very well known to Thomas Nagle. Thomas Nagle was a former employee for Trader Joe’s and was repeatedly reprimanded for his smile and personality because managers deemed them to be “lacking”. For instance, in one review, one of Thomas’s managers claimed he was making “little effort in executing Trader Joe’s processes”. When this was questioned by Thomas, another manager replied with, “I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen you like genuinely smile”. Furthermore, although he would be praised in three semiannual performance reviews for his work ethic, criticism for his character would overshadow all efforts and earn him the harassment of his managers. For example, Thomas claimed that a manager once ridiculed him for returning his sweater to the locker room after unloading goods in a freezer by saying “If anyone’s confused, there’s no product to work in the locker room” over the public-address system. Additionally, to make sure employees act the way should,

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