A well-developed sense of retailing trade winds.

A well-developed sense of retailing trade winds

John Shields' favorite blue blazer - the one he wears to cocktail parties and the Pasadena Playhouse - has a crest on the breast pocket. The Latin script on it says: "Don't let the bastards get to you."

If fits Shields to a "T," say his friends and business associates.

The chief executive officer and president of South Pasadena-based Trader Joe's Co., Shields is known for the wrinkles in his otherwise calm, cool and conservative delivery.

"Wry humor is one of John's trademarks" says "Trader Joe" Coulombe, founder of the gourmet and discount retail chain. "He has a real talent for the understatement."

Coulombe handpicked Shields two years ago to take charge of the operation, which Coulombe built from a small set of Pronto Markets beginning in the 1950s into the stylized Trader Joe's market chain that exist today.

"I was approaching coronary age and I wanted to retire," explains Coulombe of his entrepreneurial exit and Shields' ascent. "But I wanted to leave the company in good hands. With John, I was certain of Trader Joe's leadership when I stepped down."

Certainly Coulombe was certain of Shields. He's known the man for 40 years. Coulombe and Shields were Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity brothers at Stanford University beginning in 1950. And Coulombe has always been amazed by Shields' retail sense.

"John Shields has a nose for retailing," proclaims Coulombe. "He's one of the few intuitive retailers who I have ever known. As opposed to a purely formal or intellectual grasp for retailing, John can smell it."

What Shields' olfactory nerves sniff these days are the Piper-Heidsieck Brut, Zeller Schwarze Katz, Glenfiddich Scotch, Madrigal French cheese and other gourmet foods that punctuate Trader Joe's merchandising palette. Targeted toward upscale, health-conscious consumers, Trader Joe's operates 31 stores in Southern California and the Bay Area. With sales above $200 million in 1989, averaging a healthy $830 a square foot, Trader Joe's is Los Angeles County's 63rd largest private company.

"It was a remarkably simple transition," remembers Shields. "Taking over for someone as distinctive as Joe, and a close friend, should have been more difficult. But it wasn't. The big difference is that I probably give people more latitude than Joe did. While I'm not necessarily for participative management, I certainly want people to come up with their own ideas."