Shoppers swarm Reno Trader Joe’s store to buy viral mini canvas tote bags

Mini. Canvas. Tote. Bags.

Those four little words were apparently enough to send a throng of people to the south Reno Trader Joe’s on Wednesday morning as they eagerly queued up around the building to score one of the retailer’s viral mini tote bags during a rare restock. The last time Trader Joe’s restocked the bags was in September.

So just how popular are Trader Joe’s mini tote bags?

The $2.99 mini tote bags are currently being listed for sale online anywhere from $20 to even $1,000 a bag by some resellers on sites such as eBay.

The high demand for mini tote bags is not lost on Trader Joe’s, which frowns upon people reselling the bags at huge markups. Prior to opening, a Trader Joe’s employee stepped out to remind people the store is limiting sales to four bags per person. 

Even with the limit, the large pile of mini tote bags quickly shrank within minutes as people swarmed them and started grabbing multiple colors. 

Employee Beau Harshman, who was ringing up four of the mini tote bags at the register, noted that the line was even longer today compared to Tuesday morning.

“This is a lot more (people) than yesterday,” said Harshman. “We only had 20 people in line yesterday.”

Also driving demand is the fact that the restock for Tuesday and Wednesday involved four new pastel colors. The pink was especially popular, but customers did not hesitate to also grab the purple, blue and green bags as stock started to run low.

One customer who scored multiple bags is Reno resident Rachel Deweese, who stopped by Trader Joe’s Shayden Summit Reno Mall location for the second day in a row.

“I got four yesterday and then two more today,” Deweese said. “I wanted to make sure I got some for my granddaughters.”

Deweese especially likes how handy and practical the bags are. Her granddaughters, for example, like to use the mini totes as lunch bags. 

As Deweese was leaving the store, other shoppers continued to arrive and make a beeline for the few remaining mini tote bags. For Deweese, though, it’s mission accomplished.

“I’m done,” a triumphant-sounding Deweese said. “I got them all.”