Home Consumer How Trader Joe’s $2.99 Tote Bag Became A Status Symbol

How Trader Joe’s $2.99 Tote Bag Became A Status Symbol

These were outside of the Trader Joe's in Naples Florida (Image: South Florida Reporter)

By Emily Heil

The season’s newest “it” handbag isn’t by any of the usual roster of exclusive designers or upscale brands. If it could speak, it wouldn’t whisper “luxury” so much as “mandarin orange chicken.” And it pairs best with a loud Hawaiian shirt.

It’s so difficult to get your mitts on one of them that a robust resale market has sprung up. On eBay, sets of the bags are listed for as much as $499 — though it isn’t clear anyone is actually paying that much. A wide array of the bags in various colors is available for under $20, including shipping.

“The Trader Joe’s mini tote really gives the same energy as the mini Goyard for only $2.99,” wrote one TikToker who posted a video of the two bags in coordinating shades of cherry red.

Faith Based Events

The success of the totes surprised even the company. “Our Mini Canvas Tote Bags certainly sold more quickly than we anticipated,” public relations manager Nakia Rohde said in an email to The Washington Post. “Before we had the opportunity to promote them in any way, customers across the country found them at their neighborhood Trader Joe’s.”

She noted, though, that the grocer wasn’t pleased by one sign of their popularity: “Our customers, in our stores, are our focus; we do not endorse the re-sale of any of our products, anywhere,” she wrote.

But there’s good news for fans who have come up empty-handed. “We do have more Trader Joe’s Mini Canvas Tote Bags coming,” Rohde added. “Customers can expect to see them in our stores in late summer.”


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