Creating An Atmosphere Worth Coming To

The best stores are temples to belief systems.

They’re places to enter into a fantasy world, practice our
religion, worship objects of devotion, experience products that inspire fervor, humbly walk in
reverie, soak up the ambiance, kibbutz with people who share our worldview, take
refuge from everyday life, seek shelter from the winds of the world and feel something closer to love
than simple convenience.

Which
sounds like hyperbole, until you walk into a place like Trader Joe’s.

For the past thirty years, they’ve mastered the art of
creating an atmosphere worth coming to, a second home where customers just
happen to shop, an entire universe that people can become a part of, a place
that feeds the heart and soul of everyone who comes into contact with it.

Is it any surprise that they have the highest sales per square foot
of any grocer in the country? Is it any surprise that they have the friendliest, happiest and most helpful employees on the planet? Is it
any surprise their customers are so loyal that many routinely travel to
other cities to shop there?

Not
in the slightest.

Because they’re not just a store that displays and sells
groceries to people, they’re a temple that creates and holds a whole meaning
system for people.