Joe Coulombe, Who Founded Trader Joe’s, Dies at 89

“We deliberately pursued a policy of discontinuity, as opposed to, say, Coca-Cola, which is in infinite supply,” he told The Los Angeles Times in 2011. “For example, we had the only vintage-dated, field-specific canned corn in existence, and it was the best damned canned corn there was. But there was only so much produced every year, and when you’re out, you’re out.”

In addition to his son, Mr. Coulombe is survived by his wife, Alice (Steere) Coulombe, whom he met when both were students at Stanford and married in 1952; two daughters, Charlotte Schoenmann and Madeleine Coulombe; and six grandchildren.

Another point of pride for Mr. Coulombe was that someone taste-tested what he sold. Sometimes it was a staff member. Often it was Mr. Coulombe himself.

“I must sample about 4,000 wines a year,” he told The New York Times in 1987. “Of course, we don’t buy them all.”

Daniel E. Slotnik contributed reporting.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/29/business/joe-coulombe-dead.html