TJ Mascots

Rudy the Raccoon presides over Trader Joe's Sherman Oaks (South Side, Riverside Drive) — gray-and-white with the classic raccoon eye mask, sporting his Trader Joe's name tag and a watermelon-print bandana. Caught here perched on the salsa shelf. Just across Riverside Drive sits the *original* Sherman Oaks store — #49 — guarded by Bruce the Shark, who has reportedly never spoken Rudy's name out loud. Rudy responds to the cold war with characteristic raccoon energy: a tip jar at the register labeled *Honorary Donation: Bruce* (always empty), a Halloween costume one year as a great white in a TJ's apron, and a habit of cheerfully waving across the street whenever someone asks if they've ever actually met. They have not.