The latest New York City location of fan-favorite grocery store chain Trader Joe’s is facing some harsh online criticism because of its decor.
On July 25, Trader Joe’s opened on 125th Street in Manhattan’s historically Black neighborhood of Harlem — it’s located in the same building that’s slated to house the new headquarters for the National Urban League.
Tracy-Ann Reeves is store manager for the new spot, and says she wanted the store’s interior to reflect the neighborhood it’s joining.
“The signs and murals in the store are something that we really do pride ourselves on, to make sure that it is connecting with the community,” Reeves tells TODAY.com. “We spent a lot of time in Harlem just touring, looking at pieces at parks and wherever in the neighborhood.”
For nearly a month, gobs of customers have filed in and out of the building seeing decor created specifically for the new location, but it’s one pair of signs placed near the entrance that have attracted significant — and negative — online attention.
“You can open a store in Harlem but no need to do all that,” wrote Harley Geffner (@gnarlyheffner) on X shortly after the opening.
The post shows the two signs: one overhead welcoming visitors to Trader Joe’s and one printed diagonally along the escalator that reads “Uptown Love.” The signs utilize a graffiti-style typeface — a nod to the art form that has both positive and negative connotations within the Black community.
More than 3.2 million views later, hundreds of people shared their thoughts.
“I think this is dope af,” wrote one X user. “Kinda racist, but it’s a nice touch lol.”
Another compared the signs to the controversial Paris Olympics performance of Australia’s Raygun and the conversation on cultural appropriation that followed: “if that australian breakdancing lady was a grocery store.”
“Gentrifying your neighborhood in style,” wrote someone else.
The pictures were also posted on Reddit, where they garnered similar critique.
One Redditor asked: “why do advertisers believe that blk ppl need to have elements of hip hop in everything they consume? I bet they would appreciate the mom and pop shop aesthetic of a regular trader joes just as much as everyone else.”
Someone else wrote, “it’s The Fresh Prince of Bel Air graffiti font,” comparing the sign to the title card of the ‘90s sitcom. Others said it reminded them of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or the Subway Surfers online game, both of which use urban graffiti imagery.
Another Redditor called it, “Trader Jamal’s.”
Trader Joe’s has previously been criticized for perceived racial insensitivity. In 2020, a Change.org petition viewed by NBC News urged the company to rename its product lines with culturally specific labels like Trader José’s (Mexican food) and Trader Ming’s (Asian cuisine), gathering thousands of signatures in the process, according to the outlet.
In response, people who wanted the labels to remain started multiple counter petitions, although they have far fewer signatures. At the time, Trader Joe’s said in a statement it was reconsidering the labels, but then changed course and said they would remain, citing customer approval as reasoning.
Much like those labels, there are some who have defended the Harlem signs.
“Is it bad that I kinda like it?” one X user asked.
“I think it looks good and especially great if they hired a black artist to do this,” wrote another.
“They hire local artists for each and every store to manage their artwork and store signs. So based on this being in Harlem, I’m not surprised. My Boston one has MBTA trains on the wall,” wrote an X user. “Never been in a Trader Joe’s before?”
A representative for the grocery chain tells TODAY.com that every neighborhood store chooses its own artwork and that nearly all of the art in-store was created by crew members.
“We are excited to have a store in this neighborhood,” the representative writes.
Reeves says she avoids social media, so she was not aware of the online discussion bubbling up.
“I’ve worked every day since we’ve opened, and I haven’t heard one customer come up and say to us that they are perturbed by those signs,” Reeves, who says she’s been with the company for decades, continues.
She says the Harlem store is her third opening and first as leader. “I migrated from Jamaica, over 30 years, and have been living in New York the whole time,” she adds.
Reeves says that Trader Joe’s employees created most of the other in-store signs and product labels. In addition, the company also hired Creative Art Works, a public art youth employment program aimed at teens and young adults, to create a pair of murals for the store featured behind its checkout stands.
The kids completed their work in 2023, making two colorful murals, one of which also included a graffiti motif.
“These are all New York City kids growing up here who are participating in the summer program,” Karen Jolicoeur, executive director of Creative Art Works, tells TODAY.com over the phone.
She adds that Trader Joe’s asked the children to help paint a mural that would be representative of Harlem and the culture that it inhabits.
“They were very generous with the kids and very enthusiastic about the whole process,” Jolicoeur says.
“You know, I focus on the positive, because while it’s not everyone’s taste, that’s what art is,” Reeves adds of the now-viral signage. “We stand behind it.”
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