On Friday, April 11, 2025, I met Julie Averbach at Book Trader to talk about another trader: Joe. Her debut publication, “The Art of Trader Joe’s,” traces the origins of the illustrations that adorn the aisles of the beloved supermarket, from the ancient Roman sculpture on Trader Joe's Caesar Salad to the Art Nouveau icons on the store's wine labels. The book drew from her award-winning senior History of Art thesis on Trader Joe’s as a contemporary cabinet of curiosities, a premise she developed with Professor Edward Cooke, who specializes in the study of decorative arts. With the help of her degree, Averbach fit her thesis into digestible bites, filling 201 pages with blurbs on Baloonomania, Peruvian textiles and unusual stacking arrangements. She designed and published the bound book herself. I transcribed our conversation below.
April 25, 2025