Rachel Dunn

(From left) Crew members Emma Klose and Olivia Galindo showcase their playful personalities and happy attitudes while on their shifts. All employees show up to work with a smile on their faces, ready to serve their customers. “Trader Joe’s is my first job and I love it because of the great work environment,” Emma Klose said.

Since the first opening of Trader Joe’s in 1967 in Pasadena, California, the store has had a reputation for its exceptionally happy workers. Their cheerful demeanor and overly talkative personalities have drawn in a large amount of loyal customers to their store each day. This has led many people to wonder – Why are these workers so nice to their customers?

When working at Trader Joe’s, the workers are required to follow the seven golden rules – all of which are intended to build a positive rapport within the company. The workers use these rules to guide how they help their customers and to produce the best version of themselves, one that positively represents the company.

“One of our core values is to give our customers the best shopping experience possible. It’s ingrained in us to be welcoming and nice to every customer that comes into our store,” Emma Klose, Ayala graduate and current Trader Joe’s employee, said.

Beyond the rules that the workers must follow, those who work at Trader Joe’s genuinely love their jobs, which keeps them wanting to come back to work with a happy attitude every day. Their efforts are fairly compensated, causing employees to feel fulfilled by their hard work. They receive a 20% discount on all store items, access to health benefits, and satisfactory pay in accordance with the amount of time that they have worked at Trader Joe’s.

“[The] average Trader Joe’s Crew Member hourly pay is approximately $18.63, which is 42% above the national average,” reported Indeed.com.

This positive work environment causes employees to love their jobs, which is demonstrated through their exceedingly great customer service.

“Every single Trader Joe’s worker that I’ve had contact with has been super nice and friendly and they all seem like a really close family,” senior Malaya Csupak, who is often found shopping at Trader Joe’s, said.

When asked the “mates,” otherwise known as people in management, about why Trader Joe’s has overly nice customers, they had their own opinions on the topic.

“It is an unspoken expectation to be nice to our customers. We hire exceptionally nice people, so we don’t feel the need to train them to be friendly,” Rachel Levine said.

Madison Valdez added to this idea, “We go above and beyond with our customers to make sure they find whatever they need.”

As Trader Joe’s continues to grow in popularity, their workers make it their personal mission to help the store in any way they can. Between the positive work environment and the unspoken expectations to work to the best of their abilities, these employees are notorious for the friendly manner they treat all their customers with. As a result of this customer service, floods of people enter their stores every day for great products with even better people selling them.