Trader Joe's Trader Joe's Trader Joe's is an American chain of grocery stores based in Monrovia, California. By 2015, it was a competitor in "fresh format" grocery stores in the United States. As of October 12, 2017, Trader Joe's had 474 stores nationwide in 43 states and in Washington, D.C. The first Trader Joe's store was opened by founder Joe Coulombe in 1967 in Pasadena, California. Starting in 1979, it was owned by German entrepreneur Theo Albrecht, until his death in 2010, when ownership passed to his heirs. Trader Joe's is a subsidiary of German supermarket chain ALDI Nord. The company has
Sweetbay Supermarket 33 stores would close, leaving the chain with 72 stores. The closings were attributed to competition from regional grocery chain Publix and national chain Walmart. In May 2013, Sweetbay and its sister supermarket chains Harveys and Reid's were sold to BI-LO LLC for $265 million. Also included in the transaction were leases to 10 Sweetbay locations that closed in January 2013. On October 8, 2013, BI-LO announced it would retire the Sweetbay brand, and rename all Sweetbay locations to Winn-Dixie. In 2002, management and supply chain at Kash n' Karry was transferred to sister chain Hannaford in hopes of repairing