Photo: Rhonda Hager Ryan
Did Trader Joe’s Just Open Its First C-Store?
Trader Joe’s has replaced its former wine store in Manhattan with a new grab-and-go concept, Trader Joe’s Pronto, offering a limited assortment of prepared foods and snacks.
The mini-store is next to Trader Joe’s first traditional store in Manhattan at 142 E. 14th St., which continues to see checkout lines snake around the store since it opened in 2006. A store already opened less than a mile away at 436 E. 14th St. in 2020 to ease in-store congestion, and Pronto is particularly suited to customers seeking just a few items.
Pronto offers a selection of sandwiches, salads, yogurts, beverages, and other ready-to-eat snacks. According to CSP, a trade publication supporting the C-store industry, Pronto measures about 2,800 square feet, compared to about 15,000 square feet for a traditional Trader Joe’s store.
“Trader Joe’s Pronto is a one-of-a-kind extension of our store in Union Square,” Trader Joe’s said in a statement to NBC News. “This additional space allows us to carry more of the products our customers in this neighborhood purchase daily.”
Trader Joe’s has no current plans to open additional Pronto locations. The name “Pronto” harks back to Trader Joe’s founder Joe Coulombe’s original chain of convenience stores, called Pronto Markets, which opened in California in 1958. The first Trader Joe’s location opened in 1967.
The opening comes as Whole Foods in March announced plans to open smaller, “quick-shop” stores, called Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, aimed at the “unique, fast-paced needs of urban lifestyles” with a similar focus on takeout meals and prepared foods. The concept, however, is much bigger than Trader Joe’s Pronto, expected to measure between 7,000 and 14,000 square feet in size.
Pronto’s size more closely resembles a smaller C-store. Many C-stores have transformed from selling junk food fare to now offering a wide array of grab-and-go meals, whether those that can be eaten as is or quickly warmed for a hot meal. Grocers and restaurants are also trying to take advantage of the grab-and-go trend.
According to a survey from May 2023 commissioned by NCSolutions, 75% of U.S. consumers still eat meals or snacks on the go either “sometimes,” “often,” or “always.” Lunch (52%) and breakfast (50%) are the most popular grab-and-go convenience item meals, followed by snacks (41%) and dinner (36%).
Locally, the opening of Trader Joe’s Pronto met with some controversy, with labor organizations claiming the wine store was abruptly shut down in August 2022 to prevent its workers from unionizing. Trader Joe’s denied the charges, claiming it was seeking a larger location “that will allow us to optimize the potential of our one and only license to sell wine in the state of New York.”
Since the closure, Trader Joe’s has held onto the space for storage.
Commenting on the Pronto opening, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) said in a statement, “We believe Trader Joe’s is doing everything in its power to prevent a profitable unionized shop from reopening.”
Discussion Questions
Would the Pronto concept work alongside many other Trader Joe’s locations?
What do you think of the potential of smaller grab-and-go concepts for other grocers?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
David Spear
VP, Professional Services, Retail, NCR
Richard Hernandez
Merchant Director
Convenient, curated grocery stores are on the rise as more people seek quick food solutions, especially for pickup snacks and meals. Foxtrot is a prime example, and this is Trader Joe’s attempt at something similar. These type of stores tend to work best in locations with high footfall where people are time-poor and on the go – so basically urban areas. I think the concept has potential, although whether it needs to be a stand-alone store or an area in part of a larger store remains open to debate.
Trader Joe’s has no current plans to open additional Pronto locations. So much for the first question. The second I would say is asked wrong(ly): demand is location-specific, not retailer-specific(of course, it appears such was the case for TJ’s, as well).
Trader Joes has earned trust in it’s own labeled assortment of interesting flavors and fun snacks. And customers in urban areas appreciate brands or retailers who help them shave time on-the-go, or eat at the desk. This concept should perform well in small spots where TJ’s can’t operate their normal footprint and where there is no room available for parking.
Trader Joe’s already excels at prepared meals and solutions, so it’s a natural extension of what consumers know them for. If there’s a Trader Joe’s near my hotel when I’m traveling for business, they’re an easy choice for food if I don’t feel like going to a restaurant, more so than a traditional grocery store. The question is location and size of store – what makes sense and what will work in Manhattan is not the same as what might work elsewhere. I don’t think a Pronto makes sense as a separate store in most locations, but they could have a Pronto “section” inside the store for ease and convenience.
You SHOULD go to a restaurant. Get out more, Clay! 🙂
Whether Trader Joe’s indicates this is a one-off store or not, it will prove a testing ground for a smaller size concept, and nice branding using a historic name. This type of format seems geared for urban, densely populated areas with a high degree of walk-in traffic.
Pronto is a perfect complement to Trader Joe’s. I have often walked out when the checkout line snakes around two or three aisles. That is too much for me, even if I plan to do a full shopping basket, let alone pick up a few things for dinner. I beleive this will be a hit. Despite Trader Joe’s statement, I imagine several more, at least in NYC.
The real upside for me would be if they carried the product selection I like. Our TJ’s is a mere two short blocks away. We can see it out our window. While the basics are good, the produce is weak and packaged. Milk, bread, and yogurt alone would be perfect. Sounds like a Pronto.
I love a huge grocery store, and I know it’s blasphemy, but to me Trader Joe’s already is a convenience store. But its customers are about as loyal as you can get so anything Trader Joe’s does will be welcomed. And besides, who wouldn’t love a curated convenience store? Especially in a big city setting.
I like this concept, at least for this particular space. In the Netherlands, Ahold has opened a number of these sorts of very small, even smaller than this concept, grab-and-go stores in high-traffic locations like transit stations and pedestrian malls. They work well in dense urban environments. Manhatten, in particular, is packed with small convenience stores with hot bars, specifically targeting this same customer. Trader Joe’s brand is strong; they already have a very solid offering of unique frozen items and grab-and-go salads, sandwiches, and wraps. This concept is Trader Joe’s playing on their strengths, so it will be easy for them to execute and their fans will respond well.
ALthough they say “no plans to open additional Pronto locations” I suspect if this goes well, they’ll find other areas where the market conditions are simular to grow this business.
The concept of the smaller, Grab-and-Go format store can work but not sure about physically “along side” the full-line stores. In the right urban neighborhoods, in the right real-estate location, absolutely!
Add some tables, some microwaves, and now TJ’s has become a dining spot, which feels like a natural extension with TJ’s expansive selection of prepared foods. Could be an interesting experiment. Does this count as experiential retail?
Pronto is the perfect extension for Trader Joe’s in urban areas. Who doesn’t like a curated set of ready to eat meals that can be picked up while on the go? The current traditional TJ stores already have an array of curated meal solutions that are incredibly popular with shoppers. So, this is a natural evolution of the brand. Additionally, I could see the Pronto concept partner with other retail stores that have the space and the demographics favorable to TJ’s, which could give Pronto a jolt of growth.
Trader Joe may have declared that the Pronto store is a one-off designed to relieve congestion next door, but it’s also a concept with potential to expand. Locations in urban areas big enough for a full-sized TJ’s can’t be easy to find, so the Pronto provides a lot of site flexibility. (And the concept could work in mall or town-center locations, too.)
As to the C-store version of traditional grocers’ business, why should Wawa or Kwik Trip have all the market share? Here in Milwaukee, Sendik’s (the local, family-owned chain) has opened a number of Fresh2GO locations, complete with curated assortment, ready-to-eat meals, and gas pumps too.
This all sounds like a powerful lesson in downsizing and localizing for several categories in retail. As ecomm continues to siphon more and more $$$ out of the physical realm, it becomes challenging to make former and current physical spaces productive. But even ignoring the implications from ecomm, retailers must be vigilant about the efficiencies of their space and their inventory. Smaller and localized forces that level of analysis and planning.
This is a great concept, and the success falls on location. Put one of these in the right spot and “Bingo” you have a winner. Wrong spot, eh, not so much.
The rise of the Cstore in Quality and impact in our daily lives continues. If you were to look at the C-store landscape 20 years ago few would have had the vision to see what the landscape looks like today for the tier 1 chains. Daily shopping and convince of quality prepared foods will continue to drive expansion and profit in this area. TJ’s will continue to leverage this model once they understand its success. However, they have its easy now being adjacent to a large TJ’s, they do not have the logistics challenge that a freestanding store would have.
This is why Trader Joe’s has a reputation for being customer-focused. Taking an empty space next to an existing store and creating a smaller store with the most popular items may help customers get in and out without having to “brave the long lines” at this store. It sure does feel like a Trader Joe’s convenience store. It monetizes the empty space and creates a more convenient customer experience.
This is a smart idea. With bodegas and convenience stores expanding their assortments eating away at sales, why not capture sales based on the needs of the customer ? I suspect that even so there are no plans to expand, the format fills a need and will become an option for them in highly congested areas, apartment buildings. etc. Join the fray- that water is fine….
Since they already had the location, it makes perfect sense. A review of POS data of the main store would show how many of their NYC neighborhood customers were purchasing just the prepared itmes. It’s like an express checkout for convenience foods.