The story behind the map
ABOUT
How it all started: Brian meets the menagerie.
This all started because of a boy named Brian.
Brian loved the quiet wonder of walking into a Trader Joe's. Not just for the snacks — for the menagerie. Every store, it turned out, had its own secret resident: a duck perched above the registers, a little moose tucked behind the flowers, a crab squinting out from the produce cooler. A whole diverse cast of little animals with their own names, their own nametags, and their own stores.
He wanted to share that wonder with everyone else. Because most people don't even know each store has its own mascot — let alone that finding one is a game. Spot the mascot, tell a checkout clerk, win a small prize. Turns out the staff need the help: the mascots wander, and someone has to round them up at the end of the day.
So here's the map. Every Trader Joe's in the U.S., every mascot we know about, every photo someone has shared. If your store's pin has a dashed outline, we know the mascot but don't have a photo yet. If it's a small plain dot, we don't even know who the mascot is. (A small red dotted dot means the store hasn't opened yet.)
Help us fill it in. Next time you're shopping, look up. Look behind the bananas. Check above the wine. When you spot your store's mascot, snap a photo, and submit it here with the store name and location.
Brian will thank you. 🦆