Trader Joe's is a popular grocery store chain that is known for its low prices and unique products. The company was founded in 1958 by Joe Coulombe and is headquartered in Monrovia, California. Trader Joe's operates over 400 stores in the United States.
The company's name came from Coulombe's original concept for the store, which was to sell international foods. The Trader part of the name referred to the fact that the store would be selling food from all over the world, and the Joe part was simply Coulombe's first name.
Although Trader Joe's started out as a small chain of stores, it has grown significantly in recent years. In 2018, Forbes magazine ranked it as the 35th largest privately held company in the United States.