What products keep you from doing 100% of your shopping at TJ's?

[elektra]

For us it's Ragu spaghetti sauce, Coffeemate creamer, and produce. I can actually find most of the produce I need at tj's, but I grew up on that Ragu! I know it has HFCS and other artificial stuff but I just love the taste and it reminds me of my family dinners growing up. Maybe I am missing a great alternative at TJs?
And DH just needs that creamer. That's his thing.

oh and I also get toothpaste, cleaners, etc. at the regulargrocery store.
I do love TJs though and get most of my stuff there.

[Tondi G]

for us it's cleaning products, kraft 2% american cheese singles (I know they are icky but my kids love it for grilled cheese), a particular chinese chicken salad dressing, and ball park fat free turkey hot dogs. coffee mate fat free vanilla creamer is purchased at the grocery store too! I buy a fair amount of produce at Trader Joes but round out my stuff with the farmers market and then the little produce market around the corner from us if I need anything last minute! Oh and Chicken Thighs.... my trader joes doesn't carry chicken thighs (on the bone)... so we grab those from the regular grocery store too sometimes.

[TwinFoxes]

Mostly produce, and some meats/seafood, and DHs stuff. Joe Joes aren't as good as Oreos, says him. He also likes soft sandwich bread. And Snyder's pretzels. And "real" saltines. You get the picture. :)

[SnuggleBuggles]

Produce, meat (I like WF and the farmers' market better), bread (I like TJ's specialty breads but not sandwich bread). Spices- I like to buy these in bulk at another store. There are other things but this is a good basic list.

Beth

[truly scrumptious]

Produce produce produce. I <3 TJs, but their produce is very hit-or-miss. We just went this weekend, and almost none of the fruit is edible.

[AnnieW625]

lets see for us it's usually creamed low sodium soups that I love to make casseroles our some soups with. They also don't have canned Herdes salsa (which I use to make homemade salsa), and green chiles. Both are staples in our home. Plus they no longer keep canned pineapple or peaches, but when they did they were still cheaper at the grocery store or Costco. Also mayonnaise is another big one I prefer Hollywood, Kraft, or Best Foods, and TJ's mayo just doesn't compare. Also DD wants soft sandwich bread because it's just her size too and TJs no longer carries that either.

ETA: Farmer John bacon. My cousin married into to the family who used to own the company before it was sold to Hormel a few years back and even though it's now owned by Hormel we are still loyal to the brand.

[Fairy]

I also cannot go wtihout my Ragu! I actually like TJ's various spaghetti sauces, but not as much as I love Ragu, so we still buy those wherever, often in bulk from Costco. Also,hot dogs, non-food items, some produce here and there, as a PP said, when it's a hit, it's a HIT, but when it's a miss, it's a major MISS. Maple syrup (Mrs. Butterworth or Aunt Jemimah crap is something we all agree we can't handle switching from), b'fast sausage, various TV dinners, hamburger helper, Kraft mac & cheese, whipped cream in a can (I've tried theirs three times, I can't stand it, so Reddi Whip for us).

[arivecchi]

I was bummed that I could not find mixed fruit and mandarin orange snacks (we go through tons of Dole ones) and dipes. I needed dipes and had to make a separate trip for that. Also, I did not see any chai products. Did I miss these items somehow? I also did not like the puny organic cheese singles package. We go through industrial quantities of cheese singles!

[Fairy]

A, I stick with Dole for all that stuff, and I also stick with the Motts for applesauce varieties. I don't care for the TJ's applesauce, and DS doesn't seem to, either.

[arivecchi]

A, I stick with Dole for all that stuff, and I also stick with the Motts for applesauce varieties. I don't care for the TJ's applesauce, and DS doesn't seem to, either. Good to know!

[scrooks]

It's not products for me, it's distance. TJ's is 35-40 minutes away!

[smilequeen]

Produce for sure. I HATE TJ's produce. I also don't care for their meats and cheeses all that much. I prefer fresh sliced deli meats from WF and we eat a lot of chicken and ground Bison from WF. I like a few things at TJ that are unique to them, but it's not worth going there often for me since I like a lot of fresh produce. They are also very small and more limited. WF is a full on grocery store. They have everything I need and the convenience of that is worth the extra cost for me. I am very picky about my organic foods and avoiding HFCS and as much of the bad stuff that I can.

[Tondi G]

. Maple syrup (Mrs. Butterworth or Aunt Jemimah crap is something we all agree we can't handle switching from), b'fast sausage,

Have you tried their maple agave syrup blend? I switched to that from aunt jemimah and like it alot. Now of course I read that Agave syrup isn't all that much better than HFCS so maybe it's not worth it. If you are in a pinch try the blend... I think it's pretty yummy and not so strong a flavor as regular maple syrup!

For breakfast sausage we like TJ's chicken breakfast sausage..... it's not a pork sausage but they are yummy.

[alexsmommy]

French bread (I like TJ's but is too "hard" for the kids to like and we do a lot of homemade garlic bread), "Smart Taste" pasta, Dole single serve mandarin oranges, Classico "Sweet Basil" (read high HFCS) pasta sauce for the kids (though we're getting there, they will do the TJ's if I add a lot of parmesan), turkey hot dogs (used to LOVE the Best in Show hot dogs but alas they are gone, can't find any we like at TJ's), brand name breakfast cereals that DH insists on, certain ethinic ingredients, Jiffy cornbread mix, about 2/3 of our produce...
I'm sure there are a few more, I notice it when I go to make certain dishes. I am trying to get away from using Campbells Condensed Mushroom Soup in casseroles, but I do have some on hand for "emergency" dinner situations.
The main issue for me is we are walking distance from a regular grocery store and I will inevitably forget certain things, or change meal plans due to unexpected time contraints. So last night I sent DSD over to grab two lemons and to get more deli turkey breast for lunch. Earlier in the week the kids asked for turkey white bean chili and I was out of white kidney beans so I ran to the close store and of course dropped $50 as I ran up and down the aisles remembering things we were low on.
TJ's is reasonably close, but a drive, so not a good emergency trip place.
When I am REALLY on my organization game, I can do 90% of my shopping at TJ's and only hit the regular store 1-2 times a month for 3-4 items outside of the regular things I get there.

[essnce629]

I go to Whole Foods for more of the dairy-free specialty stuff we need-- coconut milk yogurt, soy sour cream, soy cream cheese, and oat milk. I buy some produce at TJ's but they don't have everything I need there. This week I had to go to WF's for kale, beets, and acorn squash. I buy my spices, some meat, soynut butter, and a few other things elsewhere as well. I also like fresh sliced deli meats from WF's as well. I buy salami at WF's too since the pre-packaged ones at TJ's have milk in them.

[infomama]

Produce and meat. We buy our coffee by the pound at Caribou and that's not going to change anytime soon.

[JustMe]

Oh, wow. I love TJs but can't imagine being able to do all my shopping there. Lets see, produce is probably the biggest thing but we eat a lot of that around here. We're vegetarians. I also eat a lot of veggie burgers and their selection is not what I want...wow, I guess I never realized I probabably could get away with buying most else there...but like I said, produce is big for us.

[kali]

Diet Coke
cranberry juice
fresh lemonade (only avail at TJ's in the summer months but we drink it year-round)
paper products
sandwich bread, hot dog/hamburger buns
veggie hot dogs/burgers (we don't like the ones TJs carries)
fresh fish

Our TJ's has a pretty big produce section, so I can usually get by.

[citymama]

--Produce (get ours at the farmer's market or food co-op)
--Bread (I get mine at an amazing bakery a block away from home!)
--Ethnic foods (fortunately we have Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and Korean grocery stores in our 'hood!)
--Home cleaning/care products (less expensive TP/paper towels, less rough tissues, good quality shampoo/moisturizer)
--Kid care products (California baby, dipes and wipes when we diped)

[egoldber]

Our staples that we need (vs want, like soda) that we can't get there are:

soynut butter (it was a sad, bitter day for me when they discontinued it)
whole wheat flour
applesauce cups for lunches (like a PP my older DD does not like their applesauce cups)
deli meat (again, see picky DD's preferences)
Rice Chex (they don't have a TJ brand equivalent and my kids love this)
lowfat turney sausage (again DD prefers the Jones Natural brand)
hot dogs (kids prefer Hebrew National)

There are some cleaning products we don't get there, but that's about it. Other than that we do the bulk of our shopping there. But it is also VERY conveniently located for us, right down the street from younger DD's daycare.