Trader Joe’s enthusiasts just got a new way to show their love for the grocery store and make shopping trips or quick pickups a little easier.
Striped mini tote bags went on sale on Wednesday, June 17, and come in pastel shades of green, pink, blue and brown at $2.99 a piece. Each bag is 13 inches long, 11 inches tall and six inches wide, made of a heavy-duty blend of cotton and polyester and features a pocket on each side.
Lines of Trader Joe’s customers looking to purchase one of these new bags stretched around the block, with people sitting and lining up well before the stores opened their doors, a common occurrence when the store releases new collectible bags.
While the striped mini canvas totes are the latest in Trader Joe’s line of collectibles, other seasonal releases from the grocery store include the “Trick-or-Treat Mini Canvas Totes,” the “Micro Totes,” and the recent insulated mini tote bags. A lavender version of the $8.99 reusable insulated bag also recently landed in stores, and in March, Trader Joe’s brought back the pastel mini canvas tote bag and launched a new large canvas bag.
The mini totes first went viral in 2024 and have developed a dedicated fanbase that has inspired a whole third-party resale market on sites such as Coupang, Depop, Karrot, eBay and Mercari. Despite Trader Joe’s not having any international locations, the bags are also sought after overseas, often at huge markups in the hundreds and thousands.
The collectible bags have even inspired counterfeit versions circulating online, which Trader Joe’s has acknowledged and sued to stop the sale of imitation mini totes.
On social media, other collectors have posted guidelines on how to spot a dupe, which include comparing the sizes, which are often larger or smaller than the original, having a slightly lighter or darker bag or tag color, and the stitching on the inside is unpolished.