Dan Bane

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"We focus on doing it better than the day, month and year before." So state Dan Bane to explain how Trader Joe's works as a team.

Dan Bane is the Chairman and CEO of Trader Joe's. Bane graduated in 1969 from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. After graduation he went into the accounting business working for various southern California firms. While out in the accounting field, Bane had the opportunity to work directly with two different types of businesses: retail and law firms. He likes working with people rather than numbers, and decided it was time for a change.^[1]

Bane started at Trader Joe's in 2001 as the president of Trader Joe's West. Later in the year he was promoted to CEO of Trader Joe's. In 2002 he made a key decision to bring Charles Shaw wine to Trader Joe's. Today Trader Joe's sells 13 million cases of Charles Shaw wine per year. ^[2]

Bane said that one vision is what keeps the Trader Joe's team together. The vision is the importance of integrity, the company’s emphasis on its unique products, and the need to create an experience for its customers that brings them back.^[3]

Bane shared his and the company’s philosophy on how to work as a team. "We focus on doing it better than the day, month and year before." Every employee of the company is held to a certain set of values, which they base their decisions upon. It is his job to see that those values are held to a high standard. It’s about keeping people on track.

Keeping people on track means there is a lot of personal attention given to Bane’s associates, both at the corporate and store level. Dan spends two to three days a week physically in the stores. He takes on such tasks as bagging groceries, greeting customers, or talking to them about what they like or not like.

Creating an even more personal environment within the company, Dan and his associates do not have secretaries. When he is not visiting the stores, he is in the office taking care of emails, meetings, phone calls and letters. ^[1]

Dan Bane considers his time at Trader Joe’s "the best job in America".