There’s Plenty of Bread at Trader Joe’s (You’ll Just Have to Wait in Line For It)

The line at Trader Joe's wraps around the store several times, but the wait to check out is only about a half-hour.

Trader Joe's line

The line at Trader Joe’s wraps around the store several times. (Photo: Dan McQuade)

The good news: There’s lots of bread at Trader Joe’s. The bad news: You’ll have to wait about a half-hour for it.

The scene at Trader Joe’s right now is what we might call organized chaos. The line starts near the coffee bar, snakes around three aisles, goes back to the aisle near the coffee bar, and eventually makes its way to the registers at the front of the store. An employee says the wait is about 40 minutes.

Or maybe less! “The staff at Trader Joe’s is amazing,” says Suchita Fiorillo, wife of Philly Mag reporter Victor Fiorillo. She stopped by Trader Joe’s just after 9 a.m. to pick up supplies, deciding to opt for street parking after she saw the parking lot nightmare, which included one car hitting another. “The line was wrapped all around the store, but I got into the store and through checkout in 30 minutes with two bags of groceries.”

Parking is always a mess at Trader Joe’s, but cars aren’t usually waiting in a line to get into the parking lot in the morning. Occasionally, cars are blocking Market Street while waiting in line.

Amazingly, not one car in this line opted for the completely open parking spot right next to it. Who wouldn’t you pay a buck to save 15 minutes? These people.

If you simply must brave the line at the store to pick up items for the storm, Trader Joe’s is open until 10 p.m. tonight.

Follow @dhm on Twitter.