Andrea Felsted, Columnist

This Trader Joe's Tote Is Officially a Status Symbol

November 5, 2025 at 5:00 AM UTC

Andrea Felsted is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering consumer goods and the retail industry. Previously, she was a reporter for the Financial Times.

Move over, Birkin
(Jessica Christian/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

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On an October afternoon, a delivery of new bags arriving at a store in midtown Manhattan was driving fashionistas wild. But it wasn’t fresh supplies of Hermes SCA’s Birkin, Chanel’s 25 or even The Row’s Margaux. The bag in question cost $2.99 and is sold by grocery store Trader Joe’s.

The chain’s mini-totes — available in Halloween colors and restricted to four per customer — take a page from the book of luxury retailers, which have long known that scarcity stokes demand and limited drops create excitement.