Breaking Up Is Hard To Do??

Trader Joe's, don't make me break up with you.

We had a particularly disappointing trip there this week; we walked out with 2 bags of groceries only, and paid over $66 for them. What?? This seems ridiculous to me. I probably would not have paid more than $40 for those 2 bags in California. We went to Whole Foods next, and we took our Trader Joe's receipt in to compare prices. Trader Joe's still won on the dairy front (mostly- heavy cream was cheaper at Whole Foods, but milk, eggs, and specialty products like creme fraiche and mascarpone cheese were cheaper, while shredded cheese was the exact same price), but the produce prices were mostly comparable, and sometimes a tiny bit cheaper. Other products were on par. Trader Joe's, it is a sad day when Whole Paycheck is competitive with your prices! Since Whole Foods has better produce, I have to wonder why exactly should I shop at Trader Joe's? They aren't carrying the unique products that I really loved out in California and their prices aren't really much better than anywhere else. It's close enough to where we live that I will still shop there, but if I had to seek it out, like I did back when I lived in the Washington DC area, I probably wouldn't bother at all.