Shrinkflation is real, and now Trader Joe’s shoppers are accusing the grocery chain of quietly shrinking something important.
One customer called attention to a change to the store’s bag size in a recent Instagram video after noticing that her usual grocery haul wasn’t fitting quite as easily into a single bag. According to the shopper, she asked the employee packing her groceries whether the bags had gotten shorter and was told they had.
Out came the tape measure. Pulling out one of Trader Joe’s older paper bags for comparison, the shopper placed the two versions side by side and measured what she said was a four-inch difference in height. “This bag is 4 inches shorter,” she said. “4 inches is not a small amount.”
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According to the shopper, the employee told her the change was made because customers had complained that the handles weren’t strong enough on the taller bags, so making them shorter would help address the problem. Trader Joe’s has not publicly confirmed that explanation.
What particularly bothered the shopper, however, was the beloved chain’s failure to announce such a change. “Why don’t [you] just say we’re making smaller bags?” she joked, before adding, “The fact that you did it in the dead of the night, it gives Trader Joe’s and not Trader Joe’s.”
She wasn’t the only shopper to notice the shrinkage.
“Everything is so expensive these days so making the bag smaller gives the perception that you are leaving the store with more items,” one noted in the comments.
READ MORE: Trader Joe’s Announces 9 New Store Locations: Is One Opening Near You?
Another pointed out, “Did you notice the texture change too?? Went from rough and rustic to smooth and glossy.”
A third said, “My assumption was that since some states have always had the small bags they just universalized across the company,” referring to some stores on the West Coast.
The bag debate comes as Trader Joe’s is making a much more noticeable change to its footprint across the country. The grocer recently announced nine upcoming stores across Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Utah, bringing its cult-favorite groceries to even more shoppers.
Those stores are part of an even larger expansion. A Trader Joe’s representative previously said the company planned to open 21 locations across 13 states over a six-month period, with several new stores already welcoming customers.
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