The Trader Joe’s tote bag goes global : NPR
Trader Joe’s tote bags have become fashionable overseas. Why have the supermarket chain’s bags become an international fashion statement?
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Scott, am I right in saying that those of us who work in public media, who work here at NPR, know anything about a good tote bag?
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
A thing or two. You have the Nina Totin bag. You have many other options, a very wide variety.
KELLY: 18, just in my office. Well, it turns out Trader Joe’s is giving us a hard time. Yes, Trader Joe’s, the supermarket chain. Their tote bags have seemingly become international fashion icons. They are popping up all over the streets of London and Paris, where there isn’t even a Trader Joe’s. Dave Schilling wrote about this for The Guardian. And, Dave, to be clear, we’re talking about an old tote bag, right? Like, white? Blue handles? Red? The Trader Joe’s logo?
DAVE SCHILLING: Yeah, there’s no gold trim here. There is no added leather. This is exactly the tote bag you can get at your neighborhood Trader Joe’s.
KELLY: Why? Why is it so hot everywhere?
SCHILLING: Well, I think one of the main reasons things like this become popular abroad is that people still love America. There is still something seductive about American culture. You know, McDonald’s and Budweiser are always things that fascinate people in other countries because it’s not theirs. You know, the movies, the TV shows, the music – it’s still America, even though there’s a growing antipathy toward our foreign policy.
KELLY: This is so interesting. You talked about the antipathy that many people may feel, and that’s true. We’re describing a bag from an American grocery chain and how cool it is in all these corners of the world at a time when America is not considered cool in many corners of the world right now.
SCHILLING: Yeah. Well, Trader Joe’s, at the very least, has a side of kitsch, doesn’t it? The employees wear Hawaiian shirts and when a sale is announced, they ring the bell, and all the cashiers are very laid back and chatty. It’s one of those places that’s so typically American.
KELLY: Yeah. So what does carrying a Trader Joe’s bag convey? For example, what image are people trying to project if you wear one on the streets of an international capital?
SCHILLING: I’m a world traveler. I went to America. I know it exists. And I’m so casual that I seem above everything. It’s almost the distance that comes from not caring. If you really wanted to show off and you wanted to wear a Birkin, then that’s one thing, but if you’re wearing a Trader Joe’s tote bag, that means you’re a little less precious in your appearance and you have that cosmopolitan air. Like, oh, I got this by chance when I was in America. Like that – I think that kind of rejected nature attracts people.
KELLY: I mean, we’re kind of circling around the idea of tote bags as soft power.
SCHILLING: Yes. I think Trader Joe’s bags work that way, or other symbols of American popular culture, have always been tools to get people on our side, to make people love this country. And this is just an extension of that.
KELLY: Dave Schilling, do you own one of these tote bags?
SCHILLING: Yes. In fact, I’m watching it right now.
KELLY: (Laughs).
SCHILLING: It’s on my coat rack, and it was given to me by a friend, and I never use it.
KELLY: Never? Really?
SCHILLING: No. I have 400 other tote bags. Some of these are from NPR.
KELLY: I was going to say. At NPR, we can relate.
SCHILLING: Yeah, exactly. So I… I don’t think about it. And that’s what makes it so fascinating that it’s become a status symbol – it’s because it’s something I never, ever think about.
KELLY: Dave Schilling is a writer and comedian based in Los Angeles. Thank you so much.
SCHILLING: Thank you.
KELLY: Happy tote bags.
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