For the second year in a row, Trader Joe has brought a frenzy like Black Friday to the store. But instead of lining up on new video game consoles and Taylor Swift vinyl, customers are waiting for their turn to buy a miniature tote bag with the grocery chain logo painted for $2.99.
Some people camped in front of the store hours before it opened, while others sent friends to grab an exclusive item. Several times, people appeared to be wrestling with 11 x 13 inch canvas bags and getting caught up in a physical argument, social media video shows.
Kevin Bullgoon, an employee of Sacramento Trader Joe, said his first customers lined up at 5am on Tuesday. By the time the store opened in three hours, he estimated that over 150 people were waiting. The bags offered in four pastel color schemes sold out within 15 minutes.
“I just thought it was crazy,” Burgoon said. People called the store “non-stop” that morning, adding that they would check if the bags were still in stock.
The scramble began a year ago, without prior notice, when Trader Joe released the limited edition Totes of the first series. The Totes became trendy accessories and rushed to continue them. There was a little more warning this year, and the store was prepared for confusion.
Additional security existed at Trader Joe's stores in Brooklyn and Manhattan, with several stores placing their bags behind the registers. Almost all stores have limited shoppers to a certain number of bags, but the limits vary depending on the location.
These little bags aren't big enough to carry groceries, but some use them as wallets and lunch bags. Several fans said they added a personal touch. For example, they patch totes and devour them. One X user used a bag to transport bowling balls.
Last year, demand for bags led people to resell them at sudden prices. On Wednesday, some of the new bags were already listed on eBay for up to $70.
Natasha Fischer, who runs the Instagram account @traderjoeslist, said she was able to use her mini totes to carry wine and snacks to friends' places and to beaches. However, Fisher said she might skip with the new series since she bought some tote bags last year.
“I have so many tote bags right now,” Fisher said, adding that she realized that the hype might not be that big this year. “Maybe people are in the same camp as me, you know – how many mini tote bags do you need?”
In some New York stores, bags weren't sold out quickly like last year. At one Brooklyn store on Tuesday, shelves were picking eggs neatly by afternoon, but tote bags were still hanging near the cash register.
Barbara Kern, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, said reducing consumer spending amidst economic uncertainty could be one reason for the lukewarm response to Totes. But she also said, “There's a lot going on in the world.”
“There's a lot of this rareness-like set of minds and fear and things sink,” Dr. Khan said. (Some people stockpile items such as coffee and canned food.)
A mix of excited, worried, confused shoppers waited on a line that stretched out the block outside Union Square Trader Joe's in Manhattan before opening Wednesday morning. But they were waiting for a variety of things.
“Are you here for eggs?” one shopper said to another. “Everyone is here for a tote bag.”
“I thought people were here because of the tariffs,” said another customer who stocks foreign products like olive oil.
There were still so many things to be excited about reaching out to Tote. “I got my bags, four!” one woman screamed, leaving the checkout counter, stomping on her new tote in hand.
Kaitlyn Marer, 24, of Manhattan, decides to grab a spot in line with his bags while waiting for a metro delay at the last minute. Mahler couldn't get one of the bags last year, so she called it a “red arc.” Plus, she is a huge fan of the color palette.
“They're really bright,” she said. “And honestly, in today's era, we need bright colors.”
