Trader Joe’s May Be Getting Even Cheaper

Is Trader Joe’s getting even cheaper? It would appear so, according to evidence uncovered by Deutsche Bank analysts. They found that prices at New York City-based TJ’s locations were, on average, 26% cheaper compared to Whole Foods. That might not sound surprising, but according to Business Insider, that’s a lot lower than previous comparisons have shown. The analysts believe this indicates lowered prices across the board, giving Trader Joe's even more of a competitive edge against Whole Foods. This could mean we’re about to see the first major price-cutting initiative from the grocery chain since 2013. Back then, Trader Joe's lowered prices on around 200 items, a move that forced Whole Foods to follow suit. Recently, Whole Foods announced it was opening up its own Trader Joe’s-style store, 365 Market, to compete for business. Considering that the chain aims to keep its 365-brand products at a price match with Trader Joe’s generic products, and the same study found that TJ’s version were about 15% cheaper, we could be seeing price cuts at both stores. In which case, we’d like to go ahead and declare us, the customers, the winner in this battle. Anyone want to celebrate with some cookie butter?