In 2012, Michael Hallatt of Vancouver B.C. had a genius idea, and even amidst being sued by a huge company, has never looked back.

Trader Joe’s is an extremely popular store in the United States, selling mainly healthy and organic foods at affordable prices. With health food prices through the roof in Canadian stores such as Whole Foods, it’s no surprise that many Canadians drive across the border on a regular basis to save on groceries.

After visiting Trader Joe’s several times himself, Hallatt had the idea to open up a Trader Joe’s in Canada, in order to accommodate Canadians who love the brand.
This is when Pirate Joe’s was born. Hallatt began to make weekly trips to Bellingham to stock up on Trader Joe’s products, sometimes spending up to $5,000 in one trip[1]. He brought these items back to Vancouver and began selling them at a marked up price.

Upon hearing of Hallatt’s business ventures, Trader Joe’s filed a lawsuit and immediately banned Hallatt from entering their stores. Instead of halting his business, Hallatt simply sent friends down to the states to complete the shopping for him. Just this week, Hallatt came out of this lawsuit on top, and will be allowed to continue to run Pirate Joe’s.

Trader Joe’s argued that this was hurting their brand, however it’s possible that the lawsuit they came up with themselves may have hurt their brand even more. Trader Joe’s was attempting to bring down the ‘little guy’, which from a PR perspective just looks bad. If Canadian customers really are responsible for 40% of Trader Joe’s purchases in Bellingham locations, maybe it actually was time for Trader Joe’s to branch across the border[2]. Instead of creating a lawsuit, they could have welcomed the driven and passionate man behind Pirate Joe’s into their company, and had him be a part of opening their first Canadian location.