Posted on November 23, 2010 by Leonard Steinberg.

Because I have nothing better to do, the other day I decided to punch in the exact items of my shopping list to the FRESH DIRECT site that I had just purchased at Trader Joe’s on Sixth Avenue: the results were astonishing.

Fresh Direct was about 50% more expensive than Trader Joe’s:  FIFTY PERCENT!!!!! That’s really, really unreal. Especially considering I was buying the exact same brands, both were all organic produce, and the quality from Trader Joe’s was certainly on par with Fresh Direct.

I am not a huge fan of Trader Joe’s store:  I find it bland looking, the lighting is horrible, the displays are not creative, the selection at times can be a bit limited.  But I saved $ 50 on my shopping trip and multiply that by about 70 trips to the grocery store a year, that $ 3,500 saved will allow me to forgive them for their design sins. That’s about $ 300/month or my electrical and cable bill paid for every month, just by switching grocery stores. Or maybe a wonderful weekend escape? Over 10 years thats almost $ 50,000.00 with interest compounded. That’s close to a downpayment for a small apartment.

And I will certainly consider buying Fresh Direct stock because obviously there are many people who are willing to pay a hug premium for convenience in New York….I am not one of those people anymore.