There are five Trader Joe’s stores across Seattle including the U District, Queen Anne, West Seattle, Ballard, and Capitol Hill — but only the Madison store no longer has whiskey, gin, and vodka for sale.
A decade after the grocery added hard liquor to its aisles after the end of Washington’s prohibition on grocery sales, Trader Joe’s Store #130 has removed spirits from its shelves.
A call to the store Wednesday afternoon confirmed the change. We have not yet heard back from the company’s Southern California headquarters about what led to the decision. A CHS reader said that employees have told shoppers that theft has been an issue but safety issues for employees were also part of the decision.
The change comes as the latest minor inconvenience and change in the day to day for shoppers and customers on Capitol Hill and in Seattle spurred by concerns about crime and safety.
It is sometimes difficult to separate the practical and pragmatic from the political in the changes — especially after Kroger blamed the Seattle City Council for its 2021 closure of the 15th Ave E QFC.
Starbucks, of course, famously blamed public safety concerns for its decision earlier this summer to close five stores in Seattle including the Capitol Hill E Olive Way location. The company also is waging a labor battle with unionizing efforts.
The Capitol Hill Trader Joe’s has had its own labor issues but its liquor decision falls closer on the corporate decision spectrum to QFC’s temporary — but occasionally reinstated — decision to put its premium ice cream selection under lock and key.
And like QFC’s plexiglass barrier mazes, the Trader Joe’s surgical change to pull booze from only Capitol Hill is a minor inconvenience that can drift into indignity in those minutes you spend standing in line waiting to check out and pay for your groceries.
When it comes to these dings and dents, CHS has already asked, “What’s next?” The Trader Joe’s change appears to be one answer. Safeway’s strategy at 15th and John to create a mini-store inside the big store with booze and high-theft items like detergent and, yes, baby formula, is another.
The next question to ask is what is next for the customers who choose and, sometimes, have no choice but to shop at these stores.
Larger questions about the public safety concerns and politics swirling around these decisions, meanwhile, might take much longer to answer as Seattle’s leaders focus on strategies that are hoped, eventually, to put more cops on the city’s streets.
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So what are the activists going to come on and say is the “real” issue here? It’s either always union busting or worker pay. It’s never the non-existent crime problem.
Once upon a time we had law enforcement, consequences for stealing, fully stocked stores, and a vibrant neighborhood. Seattle used to be a model for progressive leadership. Now it is a cautionary tale of the shorem
We also used to have rents under $1000/month. But we can’t even get rent control in this motherfucker.
The far left opposes new housing because developers might make money in the process.
Rent control only makes the problem worse.
Bottom line, more people than houses so you can’t do an accounting trick to solve this problem.
For a decade now Amazon apologists have been singing the “new supply will fix housing affordability” song… meanwhile all the new fancy apartments have just become comps for slumlords to hike the rent on dumpy old apartments. Wake up: it hasn’t worked. We built record housing, but Capitol Hill just gets more crowded, harder parking, more noise, more expensive — the only people who benefit are rich techies and the old Seattle land-owning aristocracy (ehem Mr Mayor). We can add all the supply we want, it won’t keep up with the bottomless pit of demand from Big Tech. We need to limit demand (Head Tax) to give supply a few years breathing room to catch up, and pass basic renter protections for building/maintenance standards. Right now, landlords just let buildings fall apart and there are zero consequences.
One strategy could be city and state funding for mental health rehabilitation and drug rehabilitation public health services for the homeless. Cops are not the only answer here. Changing city judicial procedures so theft is treated with punishment is critical to deterring this. A better less corrupt police force is also critical here to reduce the increased immature vindicative apathy that the force has had for two years since being called out on their corruption in 2020.
This article goes out of the way multiple times over to emphasize this is in the writer’s opinion a minor inconvenience. If one lets a lot of so called minor inconveniences occur all of a sudden it becomes a major issue.
It is sad that residents continue to vote for Sawant who has doing nothing but fuel the flames of this growing problem.
They stopped selling name brand liquor a long time ago. It was my go to place for my favorite vodka. Then they were only selling their brand of liquor. I guess it’s now one less store to steal liquor from.
I have the ability to shop elsewhere but it’s not as convenient as it used to be……
I really wish that myself and other shoppers weren’t the ones to have to face the consequences that were forced upon us by the people stealing the liquor.
Does the Madison store still sell wine?
Yes there’s still wine and beer. For now at least..
People were rolling shopping carts full of liquor out the door apparently.
Do they not have security? The U district one does and the staff at the U District location will approach shop lifters before they make a dash out of there.
Until we do not tolerate crime of any kind (including tents on public spaces); things will not improve :(
Seattle voted in a “tough on crime” Republican to be the city attorney. The recent increase in crime was to be expected. Anyone that thought otherwise was either gullible or ignorant.
Hopefully voters are smart enough to make her a one termer.
I’m disappointed in you Obvious. You know quite well your response is an overly simplistic analysis of a complex issue. Our City Attorney does not have the power to correct these issues alone. She can and has modified the approach her office takes to misdemeanor crime in our city, but a demoralized, understaffed police force and uncooperative judges and judicial system are not within her control. And then of course there are the people of Seattle, a large minority of whom voted against her and in favor of a candidate who wanted to devote the City Attorney’s criminal division entirely to the pursuit of crimes such as wage theft. Altering our crime trajectory under these circumstances is a herculean task so no surprise at all that problems persist. And eighteen months in office is wholly insufficient to pronounce judgement or advocate her removal. Let’s get a new King County Prosecutor in place this November, find ourselves a permanent Seattle police chief, and replace a few more Council members in 2023 before we go around trumpeting the failures of our new City Attorney.
My apologies, I’m just remembering the days of Pete Holmes, when everything that happened in the city was his fault. Forgot that “tough on crime” politicians get a pass when crime rises while they’re in office.
Why not just lock up the booze? The QFC down on Rainier just has hard liquor cabinets next to the cash registers.
Sorry but when has Trader Joes a one stop shop lol? Its a running joke that everyone hits another grocery store after
Our neighborhood Capitol Hill QFC and Safeway are now feeling like high-security prisons. We as consumers are now paying for more security people working in our stores than shoppers shopping, and weird security gates and blocking traps to hamper outright theft… What the hell happened to our city? This is the kind of stuff that Kshama Sawant should be on top of….I have left numerous vm’s and texts to her office, with absolutely no response…I guess we need to look to our at large council members (Nelson, Mosqueda) for any kind of support…. or even acknowledgment of what the hell is going on in this failed city…
What the hell happened to our city? Tech. Seattle was once affordable. Nowadays, decaying houses of ill repute are going for $500k and average rent is $1700/month. With a higher Cost of Living, we also have increased crime.
Ksama Sawant was elected because everybody could see these patterns. Her biggest failure is not getting the Democrats on board with actually addressing income inequality in a truly meaningful way. Which reflects worse on the Democrats than it does on her.
Affordability != income inequality
Singapore has huge income inequality, but there’s lots of access to affordable social housing and reliable transportation. Those seem to be what’s missing here.
Sounds like a bunch of socialists trying to point a finger at something they don’t like, enough times to make it sound believable.
Our income inequality eclipses that of Singapore.
Even when averaging the top and bottom 10% of Singapore earners, the difference in monthly income was $13k.
In May, Seattle Times used the top and bottom 20% and came up with a difference in monthly income of $27k.
And, you’re right: in addition to the income inequality, we don’t have access to enough affordable social housing because Republicrats haven’t funded what everybody says is needed.
How do you think the US can pay for affordable social housing? Higher taxes, less spending on the military. Will that happen?
“High-paying good jobs ruined our city!”
Sawants failing are numerous, but “not getting the Democrats on board” is not one of them.
First off this presupposes that there are any democrats left in Seattle. When Shasti Conrad, the King County Dems, the 43rd district dems, and Pramila Jayapal all endorsed and campaigned for Nicole Thomas Kennedy, I would argue that the only actual thing Sawant has accomplished is capturing Seattle democrats and dragging them into the land of loony toons where getting rid of all police and closing all jails are considered reasonable policy proposals.
Whenever District 5 and Capitol Hill residents are finally willing to grow up and start working with the rest of the city to find actual practical solutions to the city’s problems we will all be here for you. But as long and you all continue to behave like children throwing temper tantrum and saddle the city with a blow hard attention seeking council person of no accomplishment, the rest of the city will have no choice to but to move on without you. And so while the rest of neighborhoods in seattle try to work with the mayor, and repair relationships with the police so as to clean up our neighborhoods and make them safe for businesses and families to prosper, you all can continue to lock up your booze and ice cream and live in ever more restricted environments as you worship at the alter of the almighty homeless.
While I can see that income inequality could be argued as an reason for some types of theft, when you apply that to liquor you lose all credibility with me. Liquor isn’t a basic necessity. This is simply theft for theft’s sake.
So please don’t say this is the fault of the Democrats not being Socialists, and Seattle being expensive.
This is actually good news, albeit for a sad reason. Getting rid of the booze will hopefully create space for more of the company’s food products. It’s frustrating to read about interesting new items in the “Fearless Flyer” only to find that the Madison TJs doesn’t carry them. Liquor can be purchased just about anywhere these days.