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When are we getting a Trader Joe's?

drinsema-sybenga

By drinsema-sybenga
in Grand Rapids

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markrumsey Unincorporated Area

markrumsey

Posted
Posted

ugh not another chain please! we need more unique shops, not chain shops.

I am on board with Snoogit - the question is, How do we get a local business start-up? It would be an easy model for Meijer or Spartan to emulate. Anyone have a connection at Meijer? We could introduce the Meijer Urban Markets chain, smaller scale stores in the likeness of trader joe

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bwindi25 Whistle-Stop

bwindi25

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I just ended up spending the week with a friend who is soon to be a TJ store captain in Chicago. He said that TJ uses two criteria to determine where to open a store: Median Household Income and Post-Secondary Education Degrees. They try to cater to wealthy, educated folks that like a bargain. Or as my friend calls it "boergeois food for the masses" for the BoBo's (Bohemian Boergeoisie). I don't know in what concentration/density Income and Education have to be around a store in order for it to be a go. Based on that info: I can see a TJ opening in EGR or Cascade somewhere, but not downtown or in an emerging neighborhood.

Another interesting fact I found out is that the family that owns TJ also owns Aldi Foods. So it's not like they have never heard of GR.

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BostonianinGR Unincorporated Area

BostonianinGR

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Having lived a few blocks from TJ's (when I lived out east), I used to shop there all the time. And I really don't think that TJ's is expensive at all. I shopped there and compared to the local grocery chain Shaws, which is sort of like Spartan foods, TJ was actually on average about the same price. I was able to buy most of my food from TJ even on a meagre graduate student's stipend. They also have cheap wines, beers, cheeses, and a lot of easy to prepare meals which are ideal for young working profressionals.

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LA Dave Hamlet

LA Dave

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Having lived a few blocks from TJ's (when I lived out east), I used to shop there all the time. And I really don't think that TJ's is expensive at all. I shopped there and compared to the local grocery chain Shaws, which is sort of like Spartan foods, TJ was actually on average about the same price. I was able to buy most of my food from TJ even on a meagre graduate student's stipend. They also have cheap wines, beers, cheeses, and a lot of easy to prepare meals which are ideal for young working profressionals.

Absolutely . . . TJs is our family's principal food/wine/party store, and probably accounts for more of our grocery dollars than either Ralph's (like a Kroger's, and in fact owned by that chain) or Gelson's (an upscale chain). Basic staples like soda water, wine (well, it IS a staple), cereal, dairy products and meat are generally cheaper at TJs than at the larger markets.

I think there is a TJs now in Ann Arbor -- I always thought that would be a perfect location, given their stated preferred demographic.

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cityslicker Whistle-Stop

cityslicker

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If they go anywhere in our area it will be 28th street---per their site selection manager. I spoke to him well over a year ago and was trying to plug TJ's in downtown---- Keep your fingers crossed and perhaps sometime soon they will decide to enter this market!!!

JLH

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Looking at Trader Joe's current locations, it's pretty clear it likes to open in 'college' towns (Ann Arbor, Chapel Hill, Madison, Claremont, CA); also, there are several locations that fit a pattern of smaller cities that have attracted affluent, educated refugees from larger metro areas (as is the case with both Bend, OR and Monterey, CA).

Looking at their map of current midwest sites, it makes sense that they'd want to create more economy of scale in their midwest operations, so they can more efficiently supply a growing network of stores along along I-90/I-96/I-94 corridor. Based on that, it follows they'd be looking at Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, and East Lansing to link their Wisconsin/Chicago stores with the six in Metro Detroit.

Grand Haven? Not sure how that fits the pattern, although you could argue it's like Bend, Oregon or Monterey, California, both of which are small towns with premium properties centered around an incredible natural surrounding.

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