trader joe's.

[chrizow]

interesting discussion in that SF article.  it is interesting that SF commenters are as worried about parking as KC - although in this case it's that the relative lack of parking for TJ's ("only" 39 spaces! on the roof!) will clog traffic in an already highly congested area.  

the worry about TJ's taking away from "local" merchants is kind of weak in this instance as well.  for one, there is a large, suburban-style Safeway two blocks away that appears to have been there for a pretty long time and does not seem to have driven out any independent grocers or bodegas (which are in abundance in that area) any more than the Starbucks right there has driven away the local cafes (also in abundance).  moreover, the one local grocer i have experience with in the Castro area was cartoonishly expensive and the employees were jerks - if i lived in the 'hood i'd WANT it to be driven out of business by TJ's.  there may well be some local casualities from TJ's, or starbucks, or whatever, in SF, but if there are you wouldn't know it by walking around - that place is crammed with all manner of retail, services, and food/drink, chain and local alike.

[trailerkid]

interesting discussion in that SF article.  it is interesting that SF commenters are as worried about parking as KC - although in this case it's that the relative lack of parking for TJ's ("only" 39 spaces! on the roof!) will clog traffic in an already highly congested area.  

the worry about TJ's taking away from "local" merchants is kind of weak in this instance as well.  for one, there is a large, suburban-style Safeway two blocks away that appears to have been there for a pretty long time and does not seem to have driven out any independent grocers or bodegas (which are in abundance in that area) any more than the Starbucks right there has driven away the local cafes (also in abundance).  moreover, the one local grocer i have experience with in the Castro area was cartoonishly expensive and the employees were jerks - if i lived in the 'hood i'd WANT it to be driven out of business by TJ's.  there may well be some local casualities from TJ's, or starbucks, or whatever, in SF, but if there are you wouldn't know it by walking around - that place is crammed with all manner of retail, services, and food/drink, chain and local alike.

I'm not saying TJs is going to force something like Shatto out of business. But I am saying that TJs is not going to be good for their business of any other local foods producer. We should be celebrating our local producers instead of a multi-national company expanding here. KC is lucky to have an interesting array of local food producer and I don't want to see that diminished, although I think I understand some of the TJs appeal. I also believe in paying a fair price. I wonder whom is picking those $1 eggplants at TJs but that's a whole 'nother discussion.

It's hard to measure the impact of TJs on SF local foods as it has operated in California since before you or I were born. It's also important to note that SF is much more protective of purveying local culture and influence that most anywhere in the Midwest. Flippantly accepting that SF maintains a strong food scene in spite of TJs so it'll happen in KC is wishful thinking at best. Most of the Midwest (sans perhaps Chicago and small enclaves of StL, KC, MPLS, etc.) are willing to literally demolish our own built environment and culture in the face of the latest fad. I don't see SF committing the atrocities against its own culture that KC has in the past and continues today. The pro-KC culture contingent is definitely expanding, but let's just keep the "if it works in SF" argument in check. We aren't quite there yet.

[bbqboy]

what if Shatto secures a deal to distribute their products thru TJ's nationwide?
Will you shun them as a pariah?

[FangKC]

Plan to revitalize downtown Fargo, North Dakota includes hope for a Trader Joe's.

http://www.archdaily.com/97012/roots-f9 ... more-97012

[Sportster]

Aldi = Trader Joe's.
Blew me away.

Sportster
...wow! 

[NDTeve]

If TJ's is not listed on "Things White People Like" list...it should be.

[trailerkid]

If TJ's is not listed on "Things White People Like" list...it should be.

i'd say it's at the top of the list.

[kucer]

Do we know when the approx. opening will be for the Ward Pkwy store this year?

[mgsports]

Some time this month.

[bbqboy]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... .DTL&tsp=1
Two years, 60 community meetings and multiple design revisions later, transformation of the old S&C Ford dealership on San Francisco's Market Street into a condo complex and Whole Foods Market has gotten the go-ahead.

With one condition, which, apparently, will serve as a model for similar mixed-use projects in San Francisco in the future: "It shall be the responsibility of the owner/operator of any off-street parking facility, primarily serving a non-residential use, to ensure that recurring vehicle queues do not occur." If they do, says the City Planning Department, said owner, i.e. Whole Foods, must "abate" them.
cont.......

[mlind]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... .DTL&tsp=1
Two years, 60 community meetings and multiple design revisions later, transformation of the old S&C Ford dealership on San Francisco's Market Street into a condo complex and Whole Foods Market has gotten the go-ahead.

With one condition, which, apparently, will serve as a model for similar mixed-use projects in San Francisco in the future: "It shall be the responsibility of the owner/operator of any off-street parking facility, primarily serving a non-residential use, to ensure that recurring vehicle queues do not occur." If they do, says the City Planning Department, said owner, i.e. Whole Foods, must "abate" them.
cont.......

In San Francisco/Oakland/Berkeley it's always about parking and traffic.

[loftguy]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... .DTL&tsp=1
Two years, 60 community meetings and multiple design revisions later, transformation of the old S&C Ford dealership on San Francisco's Market Street into a condo complex and Whole Foods Market has gotten the go-ahead.

With one condition, which, apparently, will serve as a model for similar mixed-use projects in San Francisco in the future: "It shall be the responsibility of the owner/operator of any off-street parking facility, primarily serving a non-residential use, to ensure that recurring vehicle queues do not occur." If they do, says the City Planning Department, said owner, i.e. Whole Foods, must "abate" them.
cont.......

Does "recurring vehicle queues" mean traffic jam?

[mlind]

Does "recurring vehicle queues" mean traffic jam?

I love these terms.  When the BART transit system was proposed, it was described as an 'elevated dual rail system.'  In other words, a train.

[hawkgolfer]

Has anyone heard when this will actually open?

[loftguy]

Has anyone heard when this will actually open?

TD's says June of this year.

[DaveKCMO]

FYI: a bill has been introduced in the kansas legislature to allow real liquor sales in supermarkets and convenience. kansas peeps should call their reps and voice support if you want the joco TJ's to have liquor like us grown-ups in missouri.

[aknowledgeableperson]

I guess because of local liquor laws I have seen stores sell their booze via an attached store.

Yes, it causes a second stop but it is a way around the issue.

[mlind]

More on Trader Joe's fight in SF

http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?se ... ticle=5468

[KCMax]

I guess because of local liquor laws I have seen stores sell their booze via an attached store.

Yes, it causes a second stop but it is a way around the issue.

Doesn't that pretty much highlight the absurdity of the law though?

[aknowledgeableperson]

True, for you and others it may be absurd.  But for the locals it may just be a way to regulate liquor sales just like zoning may regulate what may or may not be built on property or how it is used.

It's quirky but this country is made of up of many types of people and beliefs.