Trader Joe's passing on Greensboro again?

In 2011, we reported that Trader Joe's was interested in Greensboro.  The fact is, they were/are only interested in one site, a currently residential site adjacent to Friendly Shopping Center, which is currently home to both a Whole Foods Market and Harris Teeter.  Today, the low price natural/organic/quirky retailer stated they are "no longer interested" in other sites in Greensboro.  To the dismay of many, this continues the roller coaster that Trader Joe's has put Greensboro through.

Trader Joe's has opened stores in Wilmington, Asheville and nearby Winston-Salem in recent years, so there's no reason that they couldn't open a Greensboro location.  We think this is just a bump in the road to Trader Joe's, and eventually they will come.   More from the Triad Business Journal.  In the meantime, Greensboro residents, keep driving to Winston-Salem and Chapel Hill for your Trader Joe's fix.

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Greensboro's Whole Foods sets opening date; Winston-Salem to get Trader Joe's

Greensboro's long-awaited Whole Foods Market is set to open soon. Finishing touches are being put on the store, which is in part of the Sears building at Friendly Center. The 34,000 square foot store takes up half of the lower-level footprint of Sears' department store. The store will open on April 12th.

Above: Trader Joe's Winston-Salem store rendering

Above: Trader Joe's Greensboro store rendering

On the other end of the Triad, Winston-Salem is gearing up for a Trader Joe's. The store will locate in approximately 13,000 square feet of the former Borders Bookstore at Thruway Center, and is scheduled to open sometime later this year. This will be Trader Joe's first store in the Triad, and perhaps the most sought-after specialty grocery store in the region too. The news of Trader Joe's comes amid opposition regarding a rezoning at a potential Greensboro location.

Trader Joe's Winston-Salem rendering via Triad Business Journal/Thomas H. Hughes architecture
Trader Joe's Greensboro rendering via Greensboro News & Record/Regency Centers

Trader Joe's set for Wilmington

On the heels of the Trader Joe's hoopla in Greensboro, another North Carolina city, Wilmington, is going to see the specialty grocer. Trader Joe's plans call for a store on an empty lot at Oleander and College, one of the city's busiest intersections, and a location that is not too far from the soon-to-come Whole Foods Market. The demand for both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods has been increasing, as both are very popular and have loyal patrons. The new Trader Joe's is set to encompass 13,000 square feet.

Photographed: Trader Joe's in Chapel Hill

Trader Joe's finally coming to the Triad?

When Greensboro's newspaper, The News & Record, polled readers as to which store they would most like to see come to the Triad area - one retailer had an overwhelming majority, Trader Joe's. Since 2007 the specialty grocer has been on a slow but steady expansion throughout the Carolinas, with stores currently in Cary, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Raleigh, Greenville (SC), and Charleston (Mount Pleasant). It has long been rumored that Trader Joe's is looking for a location in the Greensboro or Winston-Salem area, although those only amounted to what they were... rumors (including an unfounded but widely circulated rumor about the store taking space at the Target shopping center on Lawndale).
Now, the newspaper is reporting that Trader Joe's is interested in a site near Friendly Center. The Greensboro site is adjacent to The Shops at Friendly Center, which houses Harris Teeter, and right next to that is the Whole Foods Market that is set to open soon. Trader Joe's site would encompass the northwest corner of Friendly Avenue and Hobbs Road, which is currently six residential lots. Previously, The Triad Business Journal reported that Trader Joe's may have been interested in redeveloping the old City Motors site off of Westover Terrace. Despite an abundance of vacant space across town, the developers' hearts look to be set on Friendly.

March 2012 Update: Trader Joe's has signed a lease for a store in Winston-Salem at Thruway Center in part of the former Borders bookstore space, that location will open later this year. Plans for the Greensboro location are still at a standstill.

Changes Coming to North Raleigh's Grocerying Scene

To begin, above is the rendering for Northern Wake County's new Whole Foods store. This store will be located at the southeast corner of Strickland and Six Forks roads at Collonade Center Drive. The rendering is from the grassroots committee website BringWholeFoods.org and the developer, Regency Centers. According to the website, their aim is to bring a Whole Foods store to North Raleigh that would serve the affluent and expanding population of this area. Perhaps the most alarming news out of this situation, still, is that Whole Foods is planning on bringing a fifth store to the Triangle region, while Charlotte has zero. We will keep all readers updated on the progress of this store, and read more about it at Bring Whole Foods.

Moving on, the Raleigh News & Observer is reporting that the Trader Joe's slated for North Raleigh has been delayed but is still set to open in 2009, just not the spring. This Trader Joe's location was announced in November 2007, and is slated to open a store in the Holly Park Shopping Center, located at Wake Forest Road and I-440. Holly Park is owned by Charlotte developer Lat Purser and Associates, and they also own 2 other shopping centers with Trader Joe's in North Carolina-- The Shops at Piper Glen and The Arbors on Mallard Creek. The new Trader Joe's in Raleigh will encompass 13,000 square feet (typical size for a Trader Joe's) and it will be the first store in Raleigh city limits. There are two other Trader Joe's in the Triangle already, one in Cary and one in Chapel Hill. Holly Park is one of the oldest shopping centers in Raleigh, and its redevelopment and recasting is a welcome sight to area residents, many of whom are elated that a Trader Joe's will anchor.

Finally, many residents of the North Hills area of Raleigh are excited as a two-story grocery store will open at the North Hills East redevelopment called St. Albans. It will be a relocation of the current Harris Teeter at Lassiter Mill, and the new store will encompass 48,200 square feet. The Triangle Business Jounral reported this story last year, and the store is set to open in late 2009. The developer, Kane Realty Corporation, has provided a site plan here.

In a tough economy, growth and expansion is a welcomed sight and it would be a delight to see all of these projects pull through and reach their full potential, but it is not a big surprise to see this development in the fastest growing metro area in the country. Know of any other changes to North Raleigh's grocerying scene? Leave us comments and lets us know!

Trader Joe's at The Arbors

Trader Joe's quick expansion into the Carolinas is evident: they now have 3 stores in the Charlotte region, including the one pictured above at Mallard Creek Church's Arbors in the University City section of Charlotte. Their other two locations in the Queen City include Rea Road in the Ballantyne & Piper Glen area of Southern Mecklenburg County, and one just outside Charlotte's uptown region in Midtown (pictured below). Additionally, they have stores in Cary serving the Raleigh area, and a store in Chapel Hill serving Orange and Durham counties and the surrounding areas, as TJ's is popular with the college students as well. Now, Trader Joe's has announced its first South Carolina location will be going in Greenville, bringing TJ's to the Upstate. We wonder who could be next... The Triad & Greensboro perhaps? Hopefully... stay tuned!

New Trader Joe's - Midtown, Charlotte

Opening Soon!

Trader Joe's officially slated for Midtown Charlotte

Speaking of Trader Joe's, bring on the 3rd location! It was officially announced today that Midtown will indeed be the chain's third Charlotte location!

Above is a picture of the recently-opened Target at Midtown, and the Home Depot Design Center.

Trader Joe's - The Shops at Piper Glen, Charlotte

Finally, Charlotte's first Trader Joe's store opened in August. This one is in the Piper Glen area of Charlotte, just north of Ballantyne and south of SouthPark. There are 2 more stores set to open in the area, one in University City and potentially one in Midtown. This store is in a former Harris Teeter that has been subdivided. Read more about Trader Joe's in the previous TJ's post.

Trader Joe's - Cary

Trader Joe's first North Carolina store came to this former Winn-Dixie in Cary last year. The other half of it became a Staples store.

Wikipedia:

Trader Joe's describes itself as "your unique grocery store". Products sold at "TJ's" include gourmet foods, organic foods, vegetarian food, unusual frozen foods, imported foods, domestic and imported wine, "alternative" food items, and basics like bread, cereal, eggs, and produce. Some non-food items, including personal hygiene products, household cleaners, vitamins, pet food, and plants and flowers, are also available. Many of the company's products are considered environmentally friendly.^[9]

Trader Joe's sells many items from any of several of its own private labels. Such labels are quirkily named by the ethnicity of the food in question, such as Trader Jose's (Mexican food), Trader Ming's (Chinese food), Baker Josef's (bagels), Trader Giotto's (Italian food), Trader Joe-San (Japanese food), Trader Johann's (lip balm), and Trader Darwin's (vitamins).

Trader Joe's is also known as the exclusive retailer of Charles Shaw wine, popularly known as Two Buck Chuck^[9] because of its $1.99 a bottle price in California (although in some locales it sells for over $3 a bottle, due to varying state liquor taxes and transportation costs).