TRADER Joe’s has confirmed that a viral item is “officially done for the season”.
Just last month, the chain imposed a limited policy on the popular item.
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It came after customers lined up at 5am in the morning, desperate to clear the shelves.
The item may only cost $2.99, but the street value of it has skyrocketed to $70 after selling out in 15 minutes in numerous stores.
Trader Joe’s put a limit on how many of its signature tote bags you could buy, even though they aren’t even big enough to carry groceries.
For the second year in a row, Trader Joe’s 11 x 13 inch canvas bags were causing people to wrestle for them.
Read more on Trader Joe’s
The totes are a smaller version of their already available reusable canvas bags that had been sold for years with the store logo on the front.
Despite their size, some people use them as lunch bags and quickly they became a viral trend.
But now, a Trader Joe’s employee has confirmed that the totes will only be on shelves for a very limited time.
A Trader Joe’s employee from a store in Indiana told The US Sun that the viral item is “officially done for the season”.
Not only this, but the employee acknowledged that the product “cleared shelves in less than an hour”.
It comes after just weeks ago, Kevin Burgoon, an employee at a Trader Joe’s in Sacramento, saw the first person waiting outside the store at 5am waiting to nab the tote bag.
By the time the store was open, he estimated that more than 150 people were waiting, as he said: “I just thought it was crazy.”
The bags, which were offered in four pastel color schemes, sold out within 15 minutes.
Not only this, but certain stores required extra security for the new launch, including in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Some stores had to put the totes behind the registers and every Trader Joe’s restricted shoppers to a certain number of bags.
I got the bags, all four!
Trader Joe’s shopper
This number depended on the location.
Plenty of shoppers were just as excited to get their hands on a tote again.
One shopper beamed: “They’re just really bright…and honestly, in today’s day and age, we need bright colors.”
Whilst another shopper could be heard shouting as she left the store: “I got the bags, all four!”
Last year, the bags became so highly sought after that they were found on eBay for $70 each, which is a mark-up of 2240%.