trader joe's.

[chrizow]

Hmm  - most of the TJs I have been to where in older, repurposed buildings that were usually some other form of failed business before it was turned into a TJs - in a variety of different sorts of neighborhoods.  I have never seen one that was in a new, posh development or anything close. 

yeah they are sometimes in older buildings, but they are never anywhere with anything close to the demographics (or appearance) of 39th and main.  look at STL - you'd think a Central West End location would be a shoe-in, but they are in Des Peres, Chesterfield, Creve Coeur, and near the Galleria in Brentwood. 

[Midtownkid]

I have never seen one that was in a new, posh development or anything close. 

Humm, all the ones in DC I go to (Bethesda, Rockville, and Silver Spring) are in upscale strip malls.  the Bethesda one is an older 1970s strip mall, but the other two seem to be very new, and probably built for TJ.  It's funny though, they are not upscale themselves.  Oh, the TJ in West Hollywood is pretty urban.  I mean , Beverly Hills is just a mile or so away, but WeHo is pretty urban.

[GRID]

Don’t you guys think putting one of these anywhere in the RCP would pose a serious threat to the Costentinos Downtown Grocery?

I would think the metro could handle 3 of these stores, one in each of the primary suburban areas, JoCo, East Jack and Northland.

[Midtownkid]

Naaa.  It seems like the kind of place you go for certain things, but not all your groceries.  I find myself going to TJ, Whole Foods, and the normal grocery store, Giant.  I guess you could rely on just TJ...but their stores are not that big.

[GRID]

What about places like Nature's Pantry at 470 and 70?  It just seems like KC has similar stores, yet everybody want's this "chain" to come in.

Not sure I get it.

[LenexatoKCMO]

Yeah, as Midtownkid points out there are relatively few folks who use TJ's as a full grocery store replacement.  Its kind of like Costco, you go for certain things that are your favorites and that you know you are getting a better deal on but you are still going to the grocery store for the majority of meal ingredients. 

[LenexatoKCMO]

What about places like Nature's Pantry at 470 and 70?  It just seems like KC has similar stores, yet everybody want's this "chain" to come in.

Not sure I get it.

apples and oranges. 

[MidtownGrrl]

Yeah, as Midtownkid points out there are relatively few folks who use TJ's as a full grocery store replacement.  Its kind of like Costco, you go for certain things that are your favorites and that you know you are getting a better deal on but you are still going to the grocery store for the majority of meal ingredients. 

Exactly my experience.  I go to TJ's by my mom's house in STL.  We usually get: Calmyra figs, cheap stout, dehydrated fruit for the car ride, peanut butter subsistute, ginger cat cookies.  It's been a combination of fun snacks and items we can't find elsewhere.

[voltopt]

I'm disappointed.  I've only been to the Trader Joe's at 21st and Glissan in NW Portland, which as far as demographics go seems like a Hyde Park neighborhood bordering a W 39th street style strip of businesses and restaurants, within close proximity to downtown.  Based on this experience, Westport Road and Main Street seems like a perfect fit.  But it sounds like, based on subsequent posts, that Trader Joe's is more of a suburban yuppie type store, which is fine but probably won't generate much business from myself.  I find it counterintuitive to travel many miles by vehicle to an unsustainable strip mall to buy organic goods.

[voltopt]

Here's the neighborhood that the only Trader Joe's i've been to was located in....

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... iwloc=addr

[splash]

What about the Ward Parkway shopping center?  It's on the Missouri side, located in a suburban area, and is semi close to the "center" of the city.  It's at least more centered that 135th and State Line.

[Stockton]

I'd consider the Ward Parkway shopping center a tie in the tuggle war between Leawood and the Plaza area. But judging by the STL locations they'd probably eventually locate in both areas making that mediation unnecessary unless of course 3 could be supported in that proximity, which would be cool!

Wasn't a "grocery store" mentioned at some point with the West Edge project?

[kard]

i'd see them going for the easy targets...like a strip mall at 135th and state line on the missouri side.  :/

[PumpkinStalker]

i'd see them going for the easy targets...like a strip mall at 135th and state line on the missouri side.  :/

Good to see you!

About that, (and without starting a pissing match) I think it's totally hilarious that the MO side of State Line has exploded so thall the KS residents buy their stuff in MO. 

[voltopt]

Good to see you!

About that, (and without starting a pissing match) I think it's totally hilarious that the MO side of State Line has exploded so thall the KS residents buy their stuff in MO.   :lol:

Consider it similar to the relationship of North Leawood and Ward Parkway Center.  Leawood gets to maintain its pastoral quality and not devalue its property with boom/bust commercial enterprise, while Kansas City has to foot the bill for extended water & sewer lines....

[PumpkinStalker]

True. We have enough vacant lots as it is hooked up to utilities right in the central city.

[ignatius]

I think location depends on how many stores they plan at first, one or several.  If several, I could see JoCo, Ward Parkway (or 51st/Main) and a Northland location.  If just 1 store for a while, freeway access will be important, so I'd think Watt's Mill would be ideal and possibly downtown.

If they don't care about KS liquor laws and have separate entrance for liquor (they do this in WA and NY states), JoCo will definitely get the first store. 

[LenexatoKCMO]

i'd see them going for the easy targets...like a strip mall at 135th and state line on the missouri side.  :/

I don't know how well it fits their M O.  They seem to like leasing up space on the cheap in older shopping centers that have perhaps lost an anchor.  They seem pretty confident in their ability to single handedly turn a place into a destination. 

[AJoD]

The Gateway!

[Midtownkid]

If they don't care about KS liquor laws and have separate entrance for liquor (they do this in WA and NY states), JoCo will definitely get the first store. 

The Maryland stores don't even sell Liquor!