
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
He’s putting the line online!
A Cobble Hill man has begun
updating neighbors about
the line outside Trader Joe’s
Court Street outpost using the
Twitter handle @TraderJoes-
Line, allowing would-be shoppers
to assess the wait time before
heading to their beloved
emporium of discounted groceries
and Hawaiian shirt-clad
employees.
“It was really just boredom,
looking out the window every
day,” said Jacob Shwirtz, who
lives across the street from the
Atlantic Avenue food seller.
“At one point I fi gured, why not
make it a useful service for my
neighbors.”
With 30 minutes to go before
opening, we have over 50
people stretching all the way to
Clinton. It’s going to be a busy
day! Tweet us any time for an
update. pic.twitter.com/ASCbjcKDMI
— Trader Joes Line Alert
(@TraderJoesLine) April 14,
2020
Shwirtz, who is unaffi liated
with the California-based grocery
COURIER L 14 IFE, APRIL 17-23, 2020
chain, posts updates on request
— color-coded in green,
yellow, or red to signal on the
amount of shoppers waiting to
get in the store, which has been
overrun amid the outbreak of
COVID-19.
“Even before the pandemic,
it would be a super popular
Trader Joe’s, but over the past
few weeks there’s always been
a line,” he said.
Trader Joe’s, where employees
are known to deftly
organize lines, has limited the
amount of customers permitted
inside their outposts in an
effort to keep people a safe distance
from one another to help
stem the spread of the highlycontagious
virus.
Those measures have
caused the line outside to
stretch several dozen people
long, sometimes snaking all
around the block, according to
Shwirtz.
“Last Saturday, there were
well over 100 people wrapping
around the entire block, that
was insane,” he said.
The line guru recommends
dropping by early on rainy
days, such as April 13, when he
counted a mere eight patrons
waiting in the wet weather.
One Twitter user applauded
Shwirtz’s updates, saying she
would like to see someone emulate
the idea for other gourmet
grocers.
“This is so brilliant. Now if
I could fi nd one keeping watch
at Gowanus Whole Foods,”
tweeted Kelly Gordon.
Another Twitter user
echoed Gordon’s praise, lauding
the innovative and “important”
use of social media.
“I knew at some point in my
life my most important twitter
follow would be a trader
joe’s line tracker,” wrote Max
Bohm. “I just didnt sic expect
it to happen so soon…”
Shwirtz has ventured on
the line only twice in the past
few weeks, saying he prefers to
get his groceries at smaller local
businesses, because being a
parent juggling his job and his
kids adapting to remote schooling
doesn’t allow him to wait
for hours on end in the street.
“I just don’t want to stand
in that line,” he said. “And it’s
also good to support smaller local
businesses.”
Shwirtz seen watching the line
from his apartment window.
Jacob Shwirtz
The line outside Trader Joe’s on Court Street in mid-March, prior to strict
social distancing guidelines. Photo by Kevin Duggan
Line man for Kings County
Cobble Hill man tracks Trader Joe’s line on Twitter