Trader Joe's mystery packs available at Long Island stores, are selling fast

A customer gasped upon entering the Trader Joe's in Commack on Thursday morning — she had spotted someone clutching a brown paper bag with a big question mark across the top.

"Oh my god, they have them," she said.

Trader Joe's has indeed brought back its mystery packs: They contain a selection of three 6-gallon, reusable grocery bags featuring exclusive designs. Customers won't know which ones they've received until they rip into the paper packaging. Each mystery pack is $3.25 with tax.

As of Thursday morning, all eight Trader Joe's locations on Long Island confirmed they have the mystery packs in stock, according to employees who answered the phone at each store.

In an email to Newsday, a Trader Joe's representative said the mystery packs will include "exclusive bag designs that aren't available individually, as well as regional designs celebrating TJ's stores far and wide — no road trip required." This year's offerings will also feature two new designs.

In Commack, at least four shoppers left the store with mystery packs in tow before 9 a.m. One of them was Mary Crisafulli, of Kings Park, who purchased three packs. Two of them will be gifts for her son's girlfriend and a friend who lives in Germany.

"You can't get these in Germany; these are the United States bags," she said.

Crisafulli also cuts up the bags and sews them into small zippered pouches. She had been keeping an eye on when the packs would be released in stores.

"It's a fun thing for Christmas because they open them and it's a big reveal," Crisafulli added.

Liana Yung, of Dix Hills, had never purchased the mystery packs before. She saw them on Instagram so while grocery shopping Thursday, she decided to scoop two of them up. Yung held a bag of groceries and a bouquet of flowers in addition to the surprise packs.

"I honestly don't even know much about it," she said with a laugh.

Trader Joe's has locations in Commack, Lake Grove, Oceanside, Plainview, Merrick, Hewlett, Miller Place and Garden City.

A representative of Trader Joe's told Newsday the mystery packs will be available for a limited time this winter. Anyone interested should act quickly: One employee of the Commack location said the mystery packs are selling fast.

By Rachel Weiss

rachel.weiss@newsday.com@RachMWeiss

Rachel Weiss joined Newsday in 2016. As a real estate/living multimedia reporter, Rachel writes feature stories and contributes to and appears in on-camera video packages. She was the lead reporter on Newsday’s LI Acts of Kindness series.