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Washington Post
16 hours ago
- Business
- Washington Post
What your barista thinks of your small talk game
'Maybe it's just a midwestern thing, but can we please stop having the cashiers ask intrusive questions to the patrons as they check out?' a woman pleaded in a viral tweet this month. The 'intrusive' question: 'Any big plans for the night?' Grumbling about small talk with service workers is the bread and butter (in a complimentary basket) of social media. Considered outside the context of likes and retweet buttons, these complaints can sound a bit like 18th-century gentry commiserating about the help. 'Uber drivers PLEASE stop trying to make conversation,' groused a rider on Reddit, criticizing the driver's 'constant yapping.' Another woman, ordering through Instacart, complained of her shopper's incompetence in failing to secure her Neapolitan ice cream without engaging her in a back-and-forth. Other commentary is friendlier — across social media, the theory that Trader Joe's employees are trained to flirt with customers is repeated as fact. Despite the rise in self-checkout, the quiet creep of robotaxis and the ubiquity of door-to-door delivery services, opportunities for small talk between customers and service workers persist. And while person-to-person interactions are more optional than ever, some things haven't changed: Some customers complain when they encounter small talk, and some customers complain when they don't. In a paper in the European Journal of Marketing published in 2022, a group of marketers laid out the argument for this phenomenon: In customer service, you truly cannot please everyone. There are 'exchange oriented' customers, who value efficient service and are impatient with small talk. ('Exchange oriented customers may be particularly well-suited to being served by virtual assistants or service robots,' the researchers mused.) Then there are 'communally oriented' customers, who value connection and positively glow in response to questions like, 'Any fun plans for the weekend?' Given this, the researchers suggested, 'Service providers should consider customers' relationship orientation before starting a conversation with small talk.' For America's 24.6 million service workers — who make an average of $33,396 each year, half of the national average income — this means trying to read body language, note eye contact and interpret tone in a matter of seconds, sometimes while working an espresso machine. 'I usually start my interactions by saying, 'Hey how's it going?' so they can either engage with that, or they can blow through it,' says Allie Lawrence, a barista and manager at an independently owned coffee shop in Brooklyn. 'It's kind of like you're having to micro-therapize people before even interacting with them because you're not sure what the energy is you're going to get.' Scotty Ross, who lives in Chandler, Arizona, and drives for Uber, starts with, 'How's your day going?' And then, 'I kind of catch the vibe from there,' he says. (When he's a passenger and doesn't feel like talking, he gives polite one-word answers. 'It feels like one of those 'Seinfeld' episode situations,' he says.) Customers who respond harshly to friendly overtures may not realize that at some businesses, small talk is a requirement for workers, not a personal choice. When Lawrence trains new workers, she suggests a few phrases, like, 'Hey, how's it going?' or, 'Good to see you, what can I get started?' At some places, she says, workers can get written up for skipping this step. 'It is kind of our job to give a 'wow' experience,' says William, a Trader Joe's employee in Seattle who asked to withhold his last name to speak freely about his workplace. 'Hey, how's it going?' is William's only prepared line. 'From there, if they seem like they want to talk, I'll ask more questions. If not, I'll let it be, I just ring them out and bag them and let them go.' Shoppers tell him about their ongoing chemotherapy and the death of their beloved cats. This kind of thing didn't happen when he worked at Costco, William says. During morning shifts at Trader Joe's, elderly people come in wanting someone to talk to. But the conversations aren't always pleasant. Customers have yelled at his co-workers for not engaging in sufficient conversation, he says. According to the American Psychological Association's 2023 Work in America Survey, nearly a third of respondents who worked in person with customers or patients said they had experienced verbal abuse in the past year, compared with 22 percent of office workers. For some service workers, small talk makes business sense. 'I would say most riders don't tip, and they're more likely to tip if they get into a conversation,' says Ross. When Ross started driving for Uber in 2016, he remembers keeping 80 percent of each fare. Now, he says Uber gives him only 30 to 50 percent of what each rider pays. Tips can make the difference, he pointed out, between making around minimum wage in Arizona (before the cost of gas, car maintenance and taxes) and making double that. Lawrence also sees a correlation between conversation and tips. 'The more of an experience or a show that I'm able to curate for the customer, potentially that results in higher tips,' she says. Anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski is credited with first describing 'a type of speech in which ties of union are created by a mere exchange of words.' In 1923, he described these exchanges, which he called 'phatic communication,' as 'purposeless expressions of preference or aversions, accounts of irrelevant happenings, comments on what is perfectly obvious.' Like, say, exchanging observations about the weather with a stranger before making them an oat milk latte. Malinowski's definition hints at why small talk can be strangely polarizing — it is by design both meaningless and crucial. 'It is your turn to say something now, Mr. Darcy,' Elizabeth Bennet demands, when her dance partner refuses to make small talk. 'I talked about the dance, and you ought to make some kind of remark on the size of the room, or the number of couples.' The European marketers might say that Elizabeth is more 'communally-oriented' and Darcy is more 'exchange-oriented.' Ella Fuller, a server in Iowa City, says that these exchanges are a part of the job she enjoys. 'If there's a place in between small talk and overshare, I've always really liked that part of service,' she said. Fuller works at a bar and cafe and had previous gigs at a barbecue spot and an Italian restaurant. At each of these jobs, she says, she had experiences where instances of small talk devolved into customers making inappropriate comments about her body. At the barbecue spot, she told those customers to knock it off. But at the Italian restaurant, she felt obligated to smile through all customer behavior. She eventually brought the issue to management and was supported. The idea that the customer is always right, writes researcher Dana Yagil, 'implies, for customers as well as for service providers, that customers are entitled to misbehave, while service providers are expected to put up with such misbehaviors.' A shift, as of late, is that service workers are responding to customers with their own complaints and screeds. On TikTok, nearly 6 million followers tune in to watch actor and longtime server Drew Talbert dramatize restaurant behavior from a server's perspective. Bartenders go viral for satirizing pushy customers. Lawrence, who does stand-up comedy, makes videos reenacting interactions with customers who inexplicably demand made-up coffee drinks. Servers have taken to TikTok to imitate the 'Gen Z stare,' a reference to the way some young adults stare coldly at servers, as if rebuking them for the question, 'Hi, what can I help you with today?' Finding the right balance of small talk is a customer-facing worker's struggle. 'I don't know why — I can't stop myself — I talk too much,' moans Willy Loman in 'Death of a Salesman,' comparing himself to more successful colleagues. Ross advises other Uber drivers to let customers do 80 percent of the talking. 'Try not to interrupt them and tell your own stories,' he cautions. 'Basically, be an interviewer.' He notices that he gets his best tips when he's drinking an energy drink and feels cheerful and energized. That service-oriented self isn't always accessible, and that affects his income. 'The first week after my dad died I don't think I got any tips because I was in a bad mood, but I still needed to make some money,' he says. 'You never really know what someone's going through,' he notes — whether driver or rider.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Tacoria, a Mexican chain restaurant, is coming to Cherry Hill. What to expect.
Tacoria Mexican Street Kitchen, a fast-casual New Jersey-based chain founded by some friends from Rutgers University, is to open a location in Cherry Hill soon. The chain — which has 10 sites throughout New Jersey, including one in Marlton — is known for its handcrafted tacos and fresh ingredients. Its incoming Cherry Hill location has targeted an end-of-July opening and may be found at the Shoppes at Garden State Park, 800 North Haddonfield Road, in a space previously occupied by &pizza. Trader Joe's is one of the anchors in that shopping center, which also includes Wild Fork, Chopt and Shake Shack in one strip of restaurants. Tacoria is set to add to the plethora of food choices in the immediate area. Brio Italian Grille, The Cheesecake Factory, Sugar Factory, Kabuki Japanese Restaurant and Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao are some of the eateries located in an adjacent shopping center called Towne Place at Garden State Park. Tacoria currently has locations in Piscataway, New Brunswick, Morristown, Hoboken, Jersey City, Paramus, Montclair, Princeton, Edgewater, and Marlton. The Marlton location opened at the Marlton Square shopping center, near Trader Joe's, in September. It was the first Tacoria location in South Jersey. 'We're just a couple of friends from Rutgers who REALLY love Mexican food, and we wanted to share our love with others back home,' the Tacoria website states. 'So we went to Mexico to soak up the culture and learn as many culinary secrets as we could, and then spent months in our own kitchen blending, mixing, experimenting and tasting until we created our own unique flavor. "Y listo, Tacoria was born!' One of the things that brand ownership promises is that the food is always made fresh daily with farm-raised ingredients. No frozen food is to be used. Tacoria's menu includes items such as handcrafted tacos, burritos, bowls, nachos, quesadillas, salads and Mexican street corn, as well as vegan options and a kids' menu. Please consider a digital subscription to help support our journalism. This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Shoppes at Garden State Park in Cherry Hill to add Tacoria Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
This Unexpected Dessert Just Won Trader Joe's 2025 Recipe Contest and It's Unlike Anything You've Tasted
It's the kind of flavor combo you'd never expect—but once you try it, you won't forget it. There are endless recipes you can make with products found at Trader Joe's, and if you ask any regular TJ's shopper, they probably have a litany of these easy 'recipes' at the ready for any and every occasion. As a frequent Trader Joe's shopper myself, I'm partial to miso soup dumplings and a pollo asado bowl. Since tons of TJ's shoppers have their go-to favorite recipe made exclusively with Trader Joe's products, the beloved grocery chain decided to start a yearly recipe contest in 2024. However, since it's too complicated to judge customer-created recipes, the contest, which is now in its second year, judges recipes created by Trader Joe's employees at stores all over the country. Per the rules of the contest, employees must use no more than five ingredients, and all the ingredients must come from Trader Joe's. Common kitchen staples such as sugar, butter, and salt are considered 'freebies,' and are not part of the ingredient tally. The winning 2025 recipe was announced earlier this week—Honey Gochujang Corn Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches from store 426 in Houston, Texas—and it's as unusual and tasty as it sounds. In a discussion about the dish on the most recent episode of the Inside Trader Joe's podcast, host Tara Miller called it 'absolutely delicious,' and her cohost Matt Sloan agreed, noting that this recipe beat out more than 400 others, in part because of its standout name. Over the course of the podcast, Miller and Sloan discussed the genesis of the winning dish with its creator, Summer. As the name suggests, the dessert consists of vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two gochujang-spiced cornbread cookies, which get an additional flavor boost from some honey, butter, and two scoops of melted vanilla ice cream mixed directly into the batter. The final result is sweet, spicy, and unlike anything you've ever tasted before. According to Summer, she knew she wanted cornbread to be part of the recipe since she grew up eating it in Louisiana. From there, she wanted to add more depth of flavor to the cornbread mixture, which would ultimately be turned into cookies. After realizing that her first choice, white miso paste, was a seasonal TJ's item and therefore not eligible to be used in the contest, she pivoted to bolder, spicier gochujang—a fermented red chili paste with a touch of sweetness that's commonly used in Korean cooking. Thanks to a past job at a bakery, Summer says she knows 'the basics of a good cookie recipe,' which is how she thought to add honey instead of eggs to the cornbread batter, as well as melted vanilla ice cream, which helped bind all of the batter ingredients together. The gochujang, she explained, was 'a really great way to coat the outside of the cookie.' Making the final product into an ice cream sandwich, she added, 'helped bring everything together [and] cool everything off.' Miller noted that during the tasting and judging process, the entire room 'went silent' upon sampling the Honey Gochujang Corn Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches. 'That just doesn't happen,' she admitted. 'We're [usually] tasting and talking about everything. We can't shut up, even with food in our mouths.' If you're looking for a spicier alternative to this award-winning Trader Joe's dessert aisle find, give the Honey Gochujang Corn Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches a whirl! You can find the step-by-step recipe here. Read the original article on Real Simple Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Popular grocery chain continues USA takeover with 30 new stores as major competitor shuts locations... full list
Trader Joe's is continuing its aggressive expansion. It is adding another 30 stores — including two that just opened in Westminster, Colorado, and Northridge, California. New locations are also on the way in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Washington DC, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. These are on top other planned openings, including at least a dozen new stores across 10 states this year. One recent opening puzzled locals because it was less than 100 yards from an existing Trader Joe's. The grocer, founded in 1967 and famous for its cult‑favorite snacks and quirky atmosphere, already has more than 600 stores across 43 states. It is in an expansion battle with rival Aldi, America's fastest-growing grocery chain. German‑owned Aldi — founded in 1946 — operates more than 2,500 locations across 40 US states and plans to open 225 new stores this year alone, on top of the 105 it opened last year. Growth for Trader Joe's and Aldi comes as rival Kroger shutters 60 locations nationwide. It still dwarfs Trader Joe's, and has 3,000 stores and is pouring $45 million into opening 30 new stores and upgrading others in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Trader Joe's new Northridge store kicked off its grand opening with a July 21 ribbon‑cutting ceremony, fan‑favorite snack samples, and free reusable tote bags. The location features murals by California State University, Northridge students, part of the chain's effort to make each store a true neighborhood fixture. In Westminster, Mayor Nancy McNally hailed the city's first Trader Joe's, which opens today. 'People are just very excited about being able to go to Trader Joe's,' she said. Kroger is planning to open 30 new stores in the next 18 months, and upgrade 16 stores in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. The $45 million investment in this plan will also include a new fuel center at a store in Springfield. Besides openings, Kroger has opted to compete with Trader Joe's by giving its customers access to its Weekly Digital Deals through in-store flyers. In the meantime, Trader Joe's will continue to lure in customers by continuing to surprise customers with viral bags, and introduce desserts like the Dubai-style pistachio dark chocolate bar. New Trader Joe's locations Arizona N. Bullard Ave. & McDowell Road, Goodyear, 85395 California 2330 Foothill Blvd., La Verne, 91750 31545 Yucaipa Blvd., Yucaipa, 92399 Connecticut 801 Bridgeport Ave., Shelton, 06484 District of Columbia 5335 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, 20015 Florida 1511 Cornerstone Blvd., Daytona Beach, 32117 Georgia 258 City Circle, Peachtree City, 30269 Louisiana 2428 Napoleon Ave., New Orleans, 70115 2501 Tulane Ave., New Orleans, 70119 Massachusetts 1999 Centre St., Boston, 02132 1165 Needham St., Newton, 02464 Missouri 201 N. Stadium Blvd., Columbia, 65203 New Jersey 675 US-1, Iselin, 08830 New York 6400 Amboy Road, Staten Island, 10309 388 Feura Bush Road, Glenmont, 12077 302 NY-25A Miller Place, Miller Place, 11764 Oklahoma 1451 E Hillside Drive, Broken Arrow, 74012 6920 Northwest Expressway, Oklahoma City, 73132 Oregon 2083 NE Burnside Road, Gresham, 97030 Pennsylvania 125 West Lincoln Highway, Exton, 73132 550 Lancaster Ave., Berwyn, 19312 South Carolina 115 SayeBrook Parkway, Myrtle Beach, 29588 Texas 12812 Shops Parkway, Bee Cave, 78738 8101 Eldorado Parkway, McKinney, 75070 11745 I-10 W., San Antonio, 78230 Utah 1895 E. Rodeo Walk Drive, Holladay,84117 4060 Riverdale Road, Suite B, Riverdale, 84405 Virginia 220 Constitution Drive, Virginia Beach, 23462
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
6 Unspoken Trader Joe's Rules Every Shopper Should Follow, According to Etiquette Experts
Follow these simple guidelines to keep grocery shopping frustration-free. Whether you're dashing in for Everything but the Bagel seasoning or strolling the aisles for your weekly grocery trip, shopping at Trader Joe's can be an experience. Known for its quirky charm, friendly cashiers, and fan-favorite products, it's easy to get swept up in the fun. But even at a laid-back store like TJ's, good manners matter. We chatted with Jo Hayes, etiquette expert and founder of for tips on being a courteous customer. Whether you're sampling a snack or navigating a packed parking lot, here's how to shop Trader Joe's with civility. Related: 4 Shopping Mistakes You're Making at ALDI, According to Etiquette Experts 1. Know Your Sample Limits TJ's is famous for its free samples, and according to Hayes, it's totally fine to accept one, especially if you're feeling a bit peckish. But know your limits. 'If you like the new corn chips on offer and are hungry from skipping lunch, going back for 10 free samples is not the right thing,' Hayes says. A sample is just a sample. Taking too many is poor etiquette and inconsiderate to other shoppers. And if you're not interested, a simple 'no thanks' and polite smile does the trick. 2. Don't Feel Pressured to Chat at Checkout One of Trader Joe's signature traits is its famously friendly staff. But if you're just not in the mood to make conversation, here's what Hayes says. 'Some people love chatting with a chatty cashier; others don't,' Hayes says. 'One can still be polite and civil without engaging in small talk.' Greet the cashier with a quick hello, but feel free to keep your answers short and avoid eye contact if you're trying to signal that you're in a rush. 3. Return Items the Right Way Trader Joe's has a generous return policy, even on opened food. But there's a right way to handle it. Deliver your message with politeness and clarity to ensure a smooth interaction for everyone involved. 'Kind, calm, clear is the MO,' Hayes advises. 4. Be a Parking Lot Pro If you've ever pulled into a Trader Joe's lot and immediately regretted it, you're not alone. Many locations are notorious for tight spaces and traffic jams. Hayes has one firm rule: slow down. 'Fifteen miles per hour is usually the signed limit, but many motorists go well above this. This is dangerous for all concerned,' she says. Keep your phone down, use your blinkers, wave when someone lets you go first, and don't swoop in to steal a spot someone else was clearly waiting for. If you're on foot, return your cart to the proper corral and stay aware of your surroundings. 5. Don't Hoard the Viral Items Trader Joe's launches limited-edition items all the time, but they tend to sell out quickly. If you're lucky enough to spot a restock, pause before grabbing six jars of the latest cookie butter creation. 'Moderation, restraint, and consideration for others is the MO here,' Hayes says. 6. Mind Your Bags If the cashier leaves you to bag your groceries, don't let your system slow down the entire checkout lane. 'If you've only got a few things, bag them quickly. If you've got a large haul, load it into your cart and bag it outside,' Hayes says. It's an easy way to keep the line moving and keep fellow shoppers happy. And at the end of the day, a good Trader Joe's trip is not just about grabbing your necessities. To make the experience enjoyable for yourself and others, be aware of your surroundings and considerate of the people around you. Read the original article on Better Homes & Gardens Solve the daily Crossword
