I applied in-person. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Trader Joe's (Fresno, CA) in Jun 2011
Interview
Very laid back, very informal, friendly, situation questions, comfortable. They asked a lot of questions about my retail grocery experience. They wanted to know what I knew about their company (had I done any research?) They were attentive, friendly and really seemed to want to hear what I had to say.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you handle a certain situation, tell me about a customer interaction that went wrong and how did you fix it, several customer service situational questions.
I applied in-person. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at Trader Joe's (Columbia, MD) in Nov 2015
Interview
I first talked to the Mate on duty for a job application and spoke briefly about my past work experience. I filled out the application and turned it in latter that day. The main part of the application was the range of work hours and days you are able to work. The more you are available the better odds you have to get a formal interview. A week latter I got the call to come in for an interview. When I showed up for the interview I met the location's main manager called the Captain. The interview was not very long at all. Only 20 min for me. Asked question about past work experience and why i was applied to work at Trader Joes.