Joe Coulombe, founder of popular grocery store chain Trader Joe's, died Friday after a long illness
Joe Coulombe envisioned a new generation of young grocery shoppers emerging in the 1960s, one that wanted healthy, tasty, high-quality food they couldn't find in most supermarkets and couldn't afford to buy in the few high-end gourmet outlets.
A giant yes, but one that across more than half a century has never lost its reputation for friendly service from employees decked out in goofy Hawaiian shirts, a newsletter that looks like it was published in the 1890s, and rows and rows of high-quality, moderately priced healthy food and great wine, even if you sometimes can't ever again find exactly the same thing.
He prided himself on checking out every vintage of wine from California's Napa Valley, including Trader Joe's standby, Charles Shaw, affectionately known as Two-Buck Chuck because it sold for $1.99. Joseph Hardin Coulombe, an only child, was born on June 3, 1930, in San Diego and lived on an avocado ranch in nearby Del Mar. After serving in the Air Force, he attended Stanford University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in economics, a master's in business administration and met and married his wife, Alice.
As he bargained for those products, he'd sometimes come across a particularly exceptional olive oil or vintage wine, never to find it again, and he wouldn't stock an inferior product in its place. "He just had a visit yesterday from employee No. 1," his daughter Charlotte said shortly before her father's death.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Trader Joe's founder Joe Coulombe, who started one of America's favorite grocery stores, dies at 89Joe Coulombe, who founded Trader Joe’s, the popular grocery known for 'Two Buck Chuck' wine and trendy items, died Friday at his California home.
Read more »
Joe Coulombe, founder of popular Trader Joe’s markets, diesThe man who created Trader Joe’s markets with a vision that college-educated but poorly paid young people would buy healthy foods if they could only afford them has died
Read more »
Trader Joe's Founder Joe Coulombe Dead at 89Joe Coulombe, the guy who founded Trader Joe’s, one of the most enduring grocery chains in the country, has died after a long illness.
Read more »
Joe Coulombe Dies: Founder Of ‘Trader Joe’s’ Supermarket Chain Was 89Joe Coulombe, whose instinct for what the musicians, museum curators, and journalists wanted out of a market led to a national food retail empire, has died. He passed at age 89 Friday at his Pasad…
Read more »
Trader Joe's founder Joe Coulombe dies at age 89Joe Coulombe, founder of the popular Trader Joe's grocery chain that brought affordable wine and exotic food to millions of Americans, has died at his home in Pasadena, California. He was 89-years-old.
Read more »