Trader Joe’s is always busy on weeknights. Especially so on Thursday in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley neighborhood, when a mob of twentysomethings, all holding roses in their hands, flooded one store’s produce section. While some slung red baskets over their arms, they weren’t shopping for Scandinavian Swimmers. They were looking for love.
That crowd gathered for an unofficial Trader Joe’s singles mixer. More than 500 people RSVPed to a public event listing on Partiful. After grabbing name tags and roses at a check-in table outside the store, they flirted the old-fashioned way, over piles of potatoes and stacks of frozen pizzas. Ordinary shoppers circumnavigated the crowd, headphones over their ears, either oblivious or bewildered.
«Note: This event is not associated with or endorsed by Trader Joe’s, so please be respectful of the TJs crew… and be chill about it,» the event listing warned.
A line formed down the block at the Trader Joe’s in Hayes Valley, San Francisco, on Thursday night as people waited to sign in and get their name tags for a matchmaking event. (Jess Lynn Goss/For SFGATE)
A line formed down the block at the Trader Joe’s in Hayes Valley, San Francisco, on Thursday night as people waited to sign in and get their name tags for a matchmaking event. (Jess Lynn Goss/For SFGATE)
Friends Casey and Franny share their roses’ prompts with each other before the start of the matchmaking event at Trader Joe’s. (Jess Lynn Goss/For SFGATE)
Friends Casey and Franny share their roses’ prompts with each other before the start of the matchmaking event at Trader Joe’s. (Jess Lynn Goss/For SFGATE)
Participants sign up for a matchmaking event outside of the Trader Joe’s in Hayes Valley, San Francisco, on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (Jess Lynn Goss/For SFGATE)
Participants sign up for a matchmaking event outside of the Trader Joe’s in Hayes Valley, San Francisco, on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (Jess Lynn Goss/For SFGATE)
Rishu Prasad, 23, who came from the East Bay to attend the event, said he was «potentially» looking for a date. «Trader Joe’s is the best canvas for anything like this,» Prasad told SFGATE. «Everyone loves Trader Joe’s, at least in SF.»
Unlike last year’s Costco singles night, which turned out to be an AI company’s publicity stunt, Thursday’s Trader Joe’s meetup appeared to be organic. Maggie Carroll, the organizer, has a day job as an auditor. The gathering was free, but Carroll accepted optional donations for the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank.
«Trader Joe’s is kind of a flirty grocery store,» Carroll, 26, told SFGATE, in a brief interview by the check-in table. As she spoke, her friends handed out name tags to a line of participants.