Trader Joe's Case Study

I visited Trader Joe’s and C-Town and I bought three of the same items from each store: fresh thyme, reduced fat milk, and seasoned Brussels sprouts. I then went back home to compare the price and quality of the products that I bought. Fresh thyme at Trader Joe’s is $2.79, but $1.69 at C-Town. Reduced fat milk at Trader Joes is $2.09, but $2.25 at C-Town. Seasoned Brussels sprouts at Trader Joe’s is $2.99, but $1.79 at C- town. As for quality of the products, I found no difference when comparing them and they tasted the same. It was really hard to tell a difference in quality and flavor. The reason why I did this miniature experiment is to see if there was an actual difference with the quality of product from a lower-class area compared to

The staff at Trader Joe’s seems to be friendly and always willing to help. The products there seem to be in good quality and they have a wide selection of organic foods. The check out lines and register line wraps around the store. Near the check out line there is an employee that holds up a sign that says where the line ends to lead people there. There are about 15-17 registers. Trader Joe’s does not accept family first cards nor do they provide any coupons or delivery

C-Town seems to also have a diverse employee team too, but most of them are Latino and black women that look like around the year range of 35-50. According to “Race, Class and Gender in the United States” by Paula S. Rothenberg, 8th edition, “oppression in one sphere is related to the likelihood of oppression in another. If you are black and female, for example, you are much more likely to be poor of working class than you would be as a white male. Census figures show that the incidence of poverty varies realty by race and gender. In other words, being female and being nonwhite are attributes in our society that increase the chances of poverty and of lower- class standing.” (189). There is nothing wrong with middle aged black women working in supermarkets, but when it’s being compared to the young employees at Trader Joe’s, it is assumed that the people working at C-town are trying to make a living off their paychecks, while the employees at trader joes are working their part time to make some money while going to school. According to “Race, Class and Gender in the United States” by Paula S. Rothenberg, 8th edition, “even ignoring the extreme poles of the economic spectrum, we find enormous class differences in the life-style as among the haves, the have-nots, and the have-little’s. Class affects more than life-style and material