Arbitrage

choi

(1) Matthew Bristow and Arnatoly Kurimanaev, Venezuela's Currency Is a Boon to Smugglers. Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Mar 16, 2015
www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... uggling-to-colombia
("Venezuelans sell [domestically] at prices that are very expensive for them but for Colombians are extremely cheap, because of the exchange rate")

My comment:
(a) summary underneath the title in print: Venezuelans sell price-controlled goods for more in Colombia
(b) Just view the graphic and photos, and read the first two paragraphs.

choi

(2) Chester Dawson, This Pirate Sells Treasures From Trader Joe's to Canadians; Retailer drives to US to stock up on grocer's goodies; nuts, coffee, maple syrup. Wall Street Journal, Feb 7, 2015 (front page).
www.wsj.com/articles/pirate-joes ... anadians-1425660654

Quote:

“Pirate Joe’s advertises itself as an unaffiliated and unauthorized reseller of ‘contraband’ merchandise imported from the US. * * * Vancouver-based flight attendant Louise Mayer, 41 years old, recently picked up a 10-ounce container of Trader Joe’s Sea Salt & Turbinado Sugar Dark Chocolate Almonds selling for C$7.99, or about US$6.40, nearly double the US price. ‘I’ve never been to a Trader Joe’s, but for me this is a treat. I come every week,’ she said. Trader Joe’s Co. has no stores in Canada and no public plans to cross the border.

“An enterprising Canadian [Mike Hallatt] opened Pirate Joe’s in 2012 to sell imported Trader Joe’s brand goods with a hefty—but fully disclosed—markup.

“The closest Trader Joe’s store is in Bellingham, Wash, about 55 miles south of Vancouver. More than 40% of the credit-card transactions at that store are with non-US residents. But plenty of Pirate Joe’s customers pay a premium to fix a craving and avoid a cross-border [3-hour drive] trek

“Once a week he [Hallatt] makes a half-day round-trip to haul some US$6,000 of merchandise to Canada packed into a white Dodge van with the words ‘Grocers without Borders’ scrawled across one side.

“Pirate Joe’s offers no bargains. * * * Mr Hallatt isn’t getting rich off the cross-border grocery arbitrage * * * Last year, he says he pocketed about 10% of roughly C$650,000 in sales at Pirate Joe’s. * * * 'On a dollar-per-square-foot basis, we beat Trader Joe’s at its own game,' he said.

“Mr Hallatt surprised many by winning a lawsuit filed by Trader Joe’s that accused his store of trademark infringement and deceptive business practices. A US District Court dismissed the suit in 2013, but Trader Joe’s has appealed and the case is pending. Trader Joe’s, which opened its first grocery store in Pasadena, Calif, in 1967 * * * Pirate Joe’s proprietor is now a persona non grata at Trader Joe’s stores

Note:
(a) In a Vancouver store “the sign outside trumpets the name in familiar red lettering in front of a nautical mural featuring a tin of sardines and a sea turtle. But this is no Trader Joe’s—it is Pirate Joe’s.”

Trader Joe's
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trader_Joe's
(headquartered in Monrovia, California, in Greater Los Angeles; founded by Joe Coulombe [in 1967, who developed ‘Trader Joe South Seas motif’] and has been owned since 1979 by a German family trust established by Aldi Nord's owner Theo Albrecht)
(b) Bellingham, Washington
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellingham,_Washington
(“The name of Bellingham is derived from the bay on which the city is situated. George Vancouver, who visited the area in June 1792, named the bay for Sir William Bellingham, the controller of the storekeeper's account of the Royal Navy”)