• Trader Joe’s has hundreds of locations all over the US, including 11 in the five boroughs of New York City.
• The chain’s largest store on the East Coast just opened on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
• We visited three Trader Joe’s locations – one in the suburbs of Connecticut and two in New York City – to see where it was better to shop.
• Between your standard suburban location, a standard city location, and a newer city location, the loser was clear.

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With locations all over the US, you might think that shopping at Trader Joe’s would be the same no matter where you go.

And while you’ll find much of the same products and prices at different locations, the shopping experience can vary between urban and suburban locations.

To determine the better shopping experience, we visited two urban locations – one established location in the Murray Hill neighbourhood of New York and one new location on the Lower East Side – and the Trader Joe’s in Stamford, Connecticut, located about an hour outside of Manhattan.

We considered three main criteria when evaluating the stores:

• First, we looked at each store’s layout and the ease at which we were able to move around.
• Next, we judged each store based on how well-stocked it was when we visited on a weekday morning.
• Finally, we considered how each store handled crowds and lines.

After evaluating the three stores, we concluded that it is generally much easier to shop at Trader Joe’s in the suburbs, with the exception of the newly-opened urban store.

Urban stores were harder to navigate and tended to have longer lines, which left us longing for the peaceful shopping experience back in the suburbs.

Keep reading to find out why you may want to upgrade your usual city grocery shopping experience.

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We decided to compare a Trader Joe’s store in the suburbs of Stamford, Connecticut …

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… with city locations on the Lower East Side …

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… and in Murray Hill in Manhattan.

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We had a few criteria in mind that we used to determine whether shopping at Trader Joe’s is better in the suburbs or in the city.

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We considered each store’s layout and the ease at which we could move around …

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… how well-stocked each store was…

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… and how quickly and easily we were able to check-out at each store.

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We visited each store at the same time of day multiple times to ensure we were making fair comparisons.

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Right off the bat, we noticed that the suburban Trader Joe’s felt more spacious than the city locations.

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The Stamford Trader Joe’s is conveniently located right off the Merritt Parkway, making it easy for customers to squeeze grocery shopping into their day.

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Upon entering the Stamford store, we had the option of grabbing a cart outside or picking up a basket in the roomy entryway.

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The area near the entrance was filled with plants and holiday wreaths and trees — more than we saw at the urban Trader Joe’s stores.

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The Lower East Side location, for example, had a smaller, more curated selection of plants.

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This urban Trader Joe’s location is brand new. It comes with its own benefits, although it is not as conveniently located to public transportation as the Murray Hill location.

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The Murray Hill Trader Joe’s is located within close proximity to the 6 train, as well as several city buses in New York City.

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When we entered the Murray Hill location, it was clear that this store is generally more compact.

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There were a few plants for sale on the floor when we walked in, though the store opened up once we took the escalator downstairs.

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We also took an escalator to get to the Lower East Side location, but the shopping cart and basket area was much roomier.

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The Stamford store instantly felt like less of a maze than most urban stores.

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The open floor plan allowed us to move around the store freely.

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At the Murray Hill store, however, it felt like we couldn’t turn back if we had already made our way through a certain section — no time for regrets here.

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Given its large size, the Lower East Side location seems to have solved the problem of shoppers feeling cramped and crowded in city store locations.

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Just look at how wide these aisles are.

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Wide aisles are generally inherent to suburban supermarkets, like this freezer aisle in Stamford.

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The layout of the Murray Hill store, however, can be overwhelming because of its smaller size and congested aisles.

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The produce at the Murray Hill store wasn’t organised in a way we found to be intuitive, either, although we were eventually able to find everything we needed.

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But the Lower East Side store had a well-organised produce section that made everything easy to find, including fresh vegetables …

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… and packaged fruit.

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The suburban Stamford store didn’t have quite as big of a produce section as the Lower East Side store, although it was stocked with all the essentials and easy to navigate.

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In addition to store layout, there was also a noticeable difference in stock between the three stores we visited.

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Given its newness, we weren’t surprised that the Lower East Side Trader Joe’s was incredibly well-stocked. From frozen foods …

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… to household goods …

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… and even holiday and other seasonal items, the Lower East Side location had it all.

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At the other urban store we visited, the options were far more limited. From meat …

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… to the frozen food aisles, stock was far more sparse.

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We found more bare shelves at this store than the others.

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The Stamford store fell in the middle in terms of stock.

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The suburban store had an impressive selection of grab-and-go foods …

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… but it didn’t look like the ice cream had been restocked in a while.

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Compare that to the organised ice cream selection at the Lower East Side store.

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Another important element of our comparison was the check-out process for each store.

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The line we encountered at the Murray Hill location stretched pretty far back into the store.

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In Stamford, there were enough check-out stands that lines were never more than one or two customers long.

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And the Lower East Side location has a handy corral for shoppers to avoid a line that wraps around the entire store.

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After multiple visits to two urban and one suburban Trader Joe’s stores, we found that stores in the suburbs provide a more consistently pleasant shopping experience to the typical city one.

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From the stock of all the usual items to a comfortable store layout and quick moving check-out lines, it was easier to shop in the suburbs than it was in the more congested city location in Murray Hill.

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Grocery shopping in a city typically comes with its challenges …

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… which became apparent while shopping at the busy Trader Joe’s location in Murray Hill.

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But, while Trader Joe’s on the Lower East side is a trek for anyone who doesn’t live in walkable distance …

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… and while the suburban Trader Joe’s comes out on top when it comes to a consistent shopping experience …

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… for city-dwellers, a newer, larger Trader Joe’s location offers the best of both worlds.

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The Trader Joe’s on the Lower East Side is the supermarket chain’s largest location on the East Coast, coming in at a total of 30,000-square feet.

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The store’s size — even bigger than any suburban store — gives customers a near ideal shopping experience.

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Plus, the Lower East Side store wooed us with its unique specialty sections, from “jerkytopia,”…

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… to special holiday candies.

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