I worked at Trader Joe’s – the sweet way we cheer up customers having an off day
TRADER Joe's has a devoted following of shoppers who swear by the tasty snacks and unbeatable deals.
The brand loves its customers, too, and encourages staff to spread joy to shoppers, one former team member revealed.
Speaking to Mental Floss, Natalie Royal, who worked at Trader Joe's from May 2013 to May 2014, the kind gestures that she extended to customers on their bad days.
Royal told the outlet that Trader Joe's gave associates permission to give away freebies.
She would usually try to extend the benefits “if a customer was having an ‘off’ day or if I just felt like going above and beyond for an awesome (usually polite) person," Royal recounted.
"I was given the complete freedom to dazzle them how I saw fit,” Royal said.
READ MORE EMPLOYEE SECRETS
At Trader Joe's, small acts of kindness added up.
“Depending on the situation, I’d usually give them a bar of chocolate on the house or toss in a cute greeting card at the last second," Royal remembered.
"This resulted in some extremely rewarding experiences.”
On one occasion, Royal gave a pint of ice cream to a woman who had just been dumped – even including a plastic spoon.
Most read in Fabulous
“On another occasion, I gifted a bouquet of sunflowers to a teary-eyed woman who I later found out had just lost her husband,” Royal said.
And ahead of one customer's job interview, Royal added an extra frozen chicken tikka masala to his bag for extra luck.
The small acts of kindness improved many customers' days and encouraged polite, cheerful customers to come visit again.
Royal said that she also benefited from the brand's reputation, which drew in positive, pleasant employees.
“My fellow Crew Members truly were the best,” Royal said.
Read More on The US Sun
Her upbeat coworkers made her work experience more positive every day.
“I’ve always considered myself to be a pretty optimistic gal," Royal said, "but for the most part, I was just a dime dozen at Trader Joe’s."
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The US Sun team?
Email us at [email protected] or call 212 416 4552.
Like us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at