Trader Joe's Is Bringing Back This Popular Customer Perk
Between the affordable prices and the possibility to purchase all sorts of new, creative products, a visit to Trader Joe's can be filled with excitement and wonder. Now, it looks like the cult-favorite grocery chain is bringing back yet another shopping trip bonus.
In a recent Instagram post, @traderjoeslist announced that a Trader Joe's store in Coral Springs, Fla. will soon be offering free in-store samples again—a perk that was halted for more than two years due to the pandemic. While the post featured a video of a chalkboard advertising the return of free samples to the one location in October, @traderjoeslist noted that product samples are coming back on a store-by-store basis.
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The company hasn't officially commented on the status of the perk, but shoppers have already expressed their eagerness, with more than 180 people commenting on the Instagram announcement.
One user commented, "THIS IS THE BEST NEWS," while another one wrote, "Just the thought of this made me cry. 🥲 I've missed this!"
Additionally, one day after the news broke on Instagram, Trader Joe's fans took to Reddit to share their thoughts, with one pointing out that sampling already started up again at their local Trader Joe's store in Virginia and another user sharing that their store "has had samples for months now."
Others expressed how helpful they found the opportunity to try products in-store.
However, there will be some modifications to the typical sampling set-up, according to a few crew members who responded to the Reddit thread. One wrote that the beloved free coffee won't be returning alongside the food because "way too many customers abused it," while another one added that the free samples will most likely be offered at "smaller satellite demo stations" and will not be available all day.
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Although the news of the impending free samples was met with overwhelming excitement, there were still some Reddit users who expressed concerns about COVID and trash being left around.
The revival of Trader Joe's free samples will roll out over a year after Costco phased sampling back into its own stores. The move came with some changes, including all samples being prepared in smaller batches by workers standing behind plexiglass.
