The Secret Meaning Behind The Bell Ringing At Trader Joe's

Visiting Trader Joe's for the first time in your life is a magical experience. If you follow any fan accounts on social media, you likely saw all the amazing products you can buy, but nothing compares to stepping foot inside a real live store (once you're done navigating the tiny parking lots, anyway). One of the biggest surprises for first-timers, though, is its checkout experience. Trader Joe's will likely never have self-checkouts, and instead rely on ultra-friendly employees, who chit-chat pleasantly — and sometimes very enthusiastically — as they ring you out. Up near the registers, mounted on posts near the cashiers, though, you might notice bells that get rung occasionally. What the heck does that bell-ringing mean?

It all depends on how many times the bell was rung. One ring indicates that it's getting kind of busy at check-out, and someone needs to come up to the registers and open another one to get people moving. Two rings means that the cashier has a question they need an answer to. Three actually signifies the need for a manager (or "captain," as Trader Joe's calls them). And four — oh boy, you'll know it's needed when someone rings their bell four times, because the store will be crazy busy, and the employees will need everyone they can get on registers.

Ever wonder what a Trader Joe is? As it happens, the Joe part comes from the founder of the chain, Joe Colombe, and the "trader" aspect came from his desire to create a theme that was inspired by the high seas; plus, it was a riff off a tiki bar chain called Trader Vic's (a trader, in this context, simply refers to the exchange of goods through maritime means, like boats). With that in mind, employees are referred to as the "crew" and as mentioned above, managers are "captains."

The bells, then, are a throwback for ships' bells, which, according to the United States Navy, were "Used for signaling, keeping time, and sounding alarms." It's become such a part of Trader Joe's' store identity that, even when it could afford to install PA systems, it opted not to, sticking with what it knew worked (and it's just one of the ways the chain keeps prices down, so they can pass savings onto their customers). Plus, that loud clanking really gets your attention, even in the busiest stores, in a way that voice announcements just cannot.