Senior Marius Jackson had his after-school routine all figured out. Before going to debate practice, he would walk to the Midtown Trader Joe’s and buy a bottle of water and a navel orange. On his way out, he would grab a sample from the demo booth, a table in the store where employees prepare products for customers to taste. But then, in early December, everything changed.
“The lady was like, ‘No! Are you a student at Grady High School?’” Jackson said.
Jackson said the Trader Joe’s employee working at the demo booth refused to give him a sample because he attends Grady, despite the fact that he is 18 and thus not a minor.
Liana Sisco, the employee who shooed Jackson from the demo table, began strictly enforcing the company’s free sample policy after the volume of Grady students seeking samples became overwhelming. She said it stipulates that children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent to receive a free sample.
Before Thanksgiving, the Midtown Trader Joe’s often offered samples of three or four different products at a time. Sisco said Grady students took advantage of the abundance of samples, taking up to seven on a single visit to the demo table.
Jackson said Sisco told him the managers at Trader Joe’s instructed her to turn away Grady students from the demo table. Joshua Abbate, an assistant manager at Trader Joe’s, however, said managers did not dictate demo policy but instead left it to the discretion of employees assigned to the demo table.
“Everybody’s entitled to one free sample,” Abbate said.
Last semester, junior Jenny Moody frequently went to Trader Joe’s after school. She said that while Sisco consistently said Grady students weren’t allowed to have samples, other Trader Joe’s employees on demo duty allowed Moody and her friends to try the samples like other customers.
Danny, a Trader Joe’s employee who preferred to be identified only by his first name, said each employee who works at the demo table can distribute samples as they see fit.
“I don’t have a problem with giving them to high school students,” Danny said.
Inconsistent policies have irritated students who frequently visit Trader Joe’s and have grown accustomed to daily samples. Senior Cheyn Shah said that, when the store first opened a few years ago, young customers were offered copious samples.
“[The woman at the table] would be like, ‘Take 12 free samples! You look like you need it!’” Shah said.
Senior Holden Choi said the restrictive policy is ill-conceived because the demos sometimes spurred him to purchase the product. Jackson and Moody agreed.
“One time they were demoing some raspberry lemonade, and me and my friends bought it for our picnic,” Jackson said.
Sisco said the change in policy was not meant to deprive students of demos but to ensure that all customers receive a sample. To combat the perception that the policy is anti-student, she said she began giving Grady students a separate sample. She said students cannot have the regular demo but instead can have a cookie or similar treat.
Jackson said it is embarrassing to be singled out in this manner..
“OK, I don’t want a ginger cookie, I want a ham and cheese sandwich,” Jackson said.
Despite recent controversy over the demos, Sisco and Abbate said Trader Joe’s welcomes Grady students. Communications and journalism academy leader Carrie MacBrien said the store frequently donates food for events held by Grady teams and clubs, including recent awards ceremonies. Sisco said since she began offering alternative samples to Grady students, her interactions with them have taken on a more positive tone.
“We can be more like friends than the lady that enforces the ‘you can’t come to the demo table’ rule,” Sisco said.
