‘What’s going on here?’ Crowds line up for Trader Joe’s Halloween mini tote bags

A security guard slowly drove by the Trader Joe’s at the Shayden Summit mall in Reno just before 8 a.m. on Wednesday, a puzzled look on his face as he eyed the crowd that snaked around the building.

Moments later, the security guard circled around and spotted an employee walking outside.

“What’s going on here?” the security guard asked.

The employee smiles with amusement and answers the guard. It’s the release day for Trader Joe’s mini canvas tote bags, he said.

First released in 2024, the Trader Joe’s $2.99 mini canvas tote bags have turned into a viral sensation, garnering plenty of social media posts and resale prices from $20 up to $1,000 online.

The demand for Trader Joe’s mini canvas tote bags is reflected in long lines nationwide for the latest release, a Halloween-themed “Trick-or-Treat” design with four colors.

Reno is no exception.

Earlier this year, the same Trader Joe’s store at the Summit mall also had long lines outside the building for its Easter-themed pastel mini canvas tote bags.

Just before the south Reno store’s 8 a.m. opening, more than 70 people can be seen queuing outside the store in a line that went around the side of the building. After the doors opened, a person walking up to the front of the line was quickly admonished by someone in line, saying some people had been lining up for an hour.

The line cutter went in anyway.

Inside the Trader Joe’s store, people quickly made a beeline for a stack of canvas mini tote bags and started picking them up. Each person was limited to four bags each, enough to score all of the available Halloween colors — all black, all orange, all purple and a mixed-color version with a black body, green handles and purple bottom.

At a second Reno store on South McCarran Boulevard, people continued to trickle in at 9 a.m., an hour after opening.

Unlike the Trader Joe’s at the Summit mall, this store had two people watching the pile of Halloween canvas mini tote bags. 

“I can help you on this side,” one employee said as a shopper tried to grab a bag.

The employees actually handed out the bags themselves and made sure people observed the four-bag limit. That’s because Trader Joe’s frowns upon reselling its products, especially at high markups.

In fact, one couple that got eight bags at the second store was also at the first Trader Joe’s location earlier to get eight bags there as well.

“To be clear, we neither condone nor support the reselling of our products and do all we can to stop the practice,” Trader Joe’s previously said in a statement.

For its Trick-or-Treat canvas mini tote bags, Trader Joe’s made sure to provide ample supply with each store receiving thousands each. The move worked, at least in Reno. While the bags previously sold out on the same day in the past, some shoppers posted on social media that they were still able to get the mini tote bags the next day.