LOS ANGELES — John V. Shields Jr., a former CEO of Trader Joe’s who made the quintessentially California grocery chain a national powerhouse by breaking out of the Golden State and building stores throughout the U.S., has died. He was 82.

Shields, who lived in California, died Oct. 31 after a lengthy illness.

During Shields’ tenure, from 1988 to 2001, sales surged from $132 million annually to more than $2 billion. Despite questions about whether frostbitten customers would cotton to TJ’s laid-back style and genial, aloha shirt-clad “crews,” Shields charted a course relentlessly eastward and expanded the chain from 27 stores to 174.