Shoppers were on the move today after Trader Joe’s re-released their famous $3 mini tote bags.
The small bags that gained instant fame on TikTok became available to purchase at Trader Joe’s for just the second time this year.
Mayhem has since occurred at more than one Trader Joe’s store, and a TikTok user named Emily even captured a video of customers wrapped around one of the grocery store’s New York locations on Wednesday.
Due to popular demand, these mini totes will likely sell out quickly, and the bags have possibly already sold out at several Trader Joe’s stores.
Store customers who didn’t snag a bag this time can purchase them on retail sites reselling the highly sought items, but they may need to spend up to $500 per tote.
Shoppers were on the move today after Trader Joe’s re-released their famous $3 mini tote bags
The grocery store chain announced the return of its colorful mini totes earlier this month.
Like February and March, the bags are available in four colors: red, yellow, navy blue, yellow and forest green.
According to Trader Joe’s website, the mini totes are about 13 inches long, by 11 inches tall, by six inches wide.
The company noted that it’s also ‘ideal for smaller shopping trips’ and claimed that it could fit 12 Trader Joe’s apples.
All Trader Joe’s locations released the totes today, and the sale is allegedly a big deal in the US and Japan.
Reddit users also claimed that there were lines at three California Trader Joe’s locations.
The Trader Joe’s mini totes are available in four colors: red, yellow, navy blue, yellow and forest green
Trader Joe’s first released its famous mini tote bags in February.
The simplistic-designed bags went viral by March on social media, and videos of long lines swept the internet.
The grocery store chain had expected good sales before it released the bag, but the company did not expect how much demand would explode.
‘We had actually hundreds of thousands of bags come in and go out within a week,’ Insider Trader Joe’s podcast host Matt Sloan said in an episode earlier this year.
‘We had no inkling that they would be this exciting, this quickly, for so many customers.’
Nakia Rohde, a spokesperson for Trader Joe’s, confirmed in a statement that the tote bags sold out quicker than anticipated.
She also noted that the sell-out occurred before the company ‘had the opportunity to promote them in any way’.
Once sellers began offering the totes for high-end prices on eBay and Facebook Marketplace, Trader Joe’s spoke up about their disapproval.
‘This is done without our approval or authorization and outside the controls of our quality-minded supply chain,’ they said in a statement.
‘To be clear, we neither condone nor support the reselling of our products and do all we can to stop the practice.’
Trader Joe’s released the mini tote bags in February this year, which sold out and went viral one month later
Various social media users on TikTok and Reddit were stunned about the lines and sell outs, and more than one person believed the hype was ‘insane’.
‘I live in this area and go here every week, and this never happens,’ a TikToker wrote.
‘The tote bags release today it’s not a normal shopping day lmao,’ another TikTok user commented.
‘I feel like this is something I would’ve begged my parents to do when I was 12. I can’t imagine being an adult and standing in line for a cheap tote,’ one Reddit user wrote.
Another Redditor said: ‘Because social media has everyone thinking they all have to have these little tote bags/coolers/water bottles and then you have a bunch of people going to get a bunch to resell. It’s absurd.’
