Gristedes 'Trader John's' vs Trader Joe's

Gristedes owner John Catsimatidis (shown above at the opening of the recently renovated Brooklyn Heights Gristedes) is in hot water with Trader Joe's for opening up a Trader Joe's clone. Called "Trader John's," the TJ's lookalike is just three blocks away from the Trader Joe's Union Square location.

Stories in the NY Post, Forbes, Bloomberg, Gothamist and more report that TJ's filed a complaint Jan. 8 that Gristedes "gutted, renovated and renamed and redecorated to make it appear more similar to Trader Joe's." It was a "blatant attempt to confuse consumers and capitalize on Trader Joe's hard-earned goodwill."

Forbes says that Trader Joe's has 326 stores in the U.S. and is expected to ring up $7.2 billion in sales in 2009, while Gristedes has 35 stores with $275 million in sales in 2008.

That means thatTrader Joe's makes roughly three times per store than Gristedes. The NY Times noted in September 2007 that the number of Gristedes stores has dropped from 78 a decade ago to 39.

UPDATE: Vanishing New York reports that "Trader John's" has covered up its sign. See photo here.

See all past Brooklyn Heights Gristedes stories here.

Photo by MK Metz

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