Did the title make your heart skip a beat? Warning: This blog post is based on rumour. That being said, here’s what we’ve heard. Our dirt source is OpenFile.
According to OpenFile, a man named Mike Hallatt works with a group of “secret shoppers” to make border crossings and return with Trader Joe’s merchandise. He stocks the merchandise in a Kits shop (address undisclosed) disguised as a Romanian Bakery. Shoppers come for frivolities like choc covered cherries and essentials like canned tomatoes. They also place product requests for his next haul.
You do know about Trader Joe’s, right? It’s the American mecca of upscale yet budget-friendly organic products—the kind that are more expensive over at Whole Foods.
Hallatt tells the OpenFile reporter that he isn’t sure this project is sustainable or the best use of his time. He also isn’t sure why Canadian groceries are so expensive.
Update from reader comments: “Trader Joe’s” goes by “Transylvania Trading.” Check out the Yelp reviews here.
Do you cross the border to grocery shop? Have you been to the Trader Joe’s depot disguised as a Romanian Bakery in Kits? If so, we’d like to hear from you.
