Who distributes orchids to Trader Joe's?

[Tschimm]

They would. If it's cheaper. :-(

[nutgirl]

In the past I have purchased a couple of Cattleyas from TJ's.

One was labelled Half Moon Bay Nurseryman's Exchange which I understand is now part of Rocket Farms.


Maureen

[lightseeker01]

Orchid lover and TJ's employee here. Trader Joe's east coast stores do indeed receive Phals from Matsui, which makes sense being that their greenhouses are in South Jersey. I know we receive orchids come from Midwest and West Coast suppliers too. Most boxes of plants arrive at the store level with generic packaging, not stating their company of origin. Yes, we do receive plant material and cut flowers from California. Product can be trucked from California to the Philadelphia region in four days, which just happens to be the lead time for our orchid orders. We do not get credit for any plants that don't sell, unlike a Home Depot. Once a plant is out of bloom, it is discarded unfortunately. We can offer great prices on orchids because we buy "grower mixes" where growers can package for us plants that they have not sold elsewhere. We never know what will arrive in our "assorted 4 inch" case , for example, until it arrives at
the store. Orchids never stay in the store for more than a week and arrive daily if sales dictate. Stores in different regions of the country have different suppliers and variety of orchids available. TJ's is a debt free company and pays vendors cash, therefore helping us, and our customers, get the best plant material possible for a very good value.

[dolfanjack]

Thanks nutgirl, lightseeker01, and everyone else who has replied to this topic. Jack

[astrid]

I am pretty sure Matsui orchids provides a good portion to TJs. They supply the Fred Meyers around me, and even though TJs bags up orchids with their own namesake, I know that the same distributor is getting the orchids out.

So Matsui Orchids is one vendor. There are several more that supply stores near me, but Matsui often provides my favorites.

[dolfanjack]

So does Matsui sell/grow cattleya orchids? Their web sight doesn't show them growing them. Jack

[astrid]

Originally Posted by dolfanjack

So does Matsui sell/grow cattleya orchids? Their web sight doesn't show them growing them. Jack

I haven't seen any cattleyas from Matsui. I did see a mini cattleya for $8 at the Trader Joe's on Burnside in Portland, but it wasn't from Matsui as far as I could tell. There are a few other distributors here.

[Ordphien]

Newman's nursery! I'm pretty sure that's who supplies most of their cattleyas.

[NYCorchidman]

Originally Posted by snowflake311

Yeah you need to check it out or not. Depends on how much space you have for plants. Every time I go I find a few I want I try and keep it to one plant a trip.

Me too!

Sometimes the quality is horrible and other times it is amazing! for the price.

[RandomGemini]

I really need to quit bringing home orchids from TJs. I grabbed another one today. The gal was stocking and they had this great yellow-green Brassia hybrid that just made me go, "Oh! Pretty!" And she needed room for one more plant, so, of course I said, "Give me a second to choose one of these and I'll make a spot for that last plant for you." LOL!!