Trader Joe’s is in expansion mode, adding eight grocery stores to its Southern California roster.
The Monrovia-based grocer has plans to open another dozen stores across the U.S. So far, the company has offered no timeline for the store openings.
Orange County is getting one new store in a former Staples office supply store in Ladera Ranch.
Mission Viejo residents commenting on Facebook seemed particularly happy to hear the popular grocery store was coming to the vacant retail space, part of the Mercantile East shopping center. In addition to losing Staples, the center also saw its Dick’s Sporting Goods store shutter.
Also see: How Trader Joe’s unlikely story of success almost didn’t get told
“That poor shopping center has far too many vacancies and needs some Trader Joe’s magic!” Beth Probeus wrote in the Facebook thread.
The Inland Empire is getting a new store in Murrieta at a former OfficeMax store. Los Angeles County is getting four stores in four cities. A store coming to South Pasadena, the chain’s founding city, is heading into a shuttered Vons. San Diego County is getting two stores.
While the timeline is vague, Trader Joe’s has put “coming soon” next to each store location on its website. Those labels include:
—Mission Viejo: 27542 Antonio Parkway in the Ladera Ranch neighborhood
—Murrieta: 40388 Murrieta Hot Springs Road
—South Pasadena: 1129 Fair Oaks Ave.
—Sherman Oaks (Sunkist): 14130 Riverside Drive
—Northridge: 9224 Reseda Blvd.
—Santa Clarita: 19037 Golden Valley Road
San Diego County:
—Poway: 13644 Poway Road
—Santee: 9680 Mission Gorge Road
Shoppers have been beleaguered by stubbornly high grocery prices since 2020. As inflation soared, “food at home” prices at supermarkets rose nearly 23% across four years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Some price increases were attributed to the avian flu upending the egg and poultry industries. The war in Ukraine also sent grain prices soaring.
Also see: Why Trader Joe’s raised banana prices for the first time in decades
While some grocery prices have decreased, many others have not (eggs, for example, remain volatile), leaving shoppers hunting for deals.
Trader Joe’s and its quirky store brands have offered some price relief for shoppers. The chain, created in 1967 in Pasadena by Joe Coulombe, has a loyal fan across Southern California and beyond. The chain now operates some 571 stores, 145 of them in California, that stock certain items (produce, cereal, oil and nuts) that run cheaper than more traditional grocery stores.
Each year, fan favorites are ranked in a “Customer’s Choice Awards.” The winners range from Mandarin orange chicken, to dark chocolate peanut butter cups, spicy chips and cheddar cheese dip.
Coulombe sold Trader Joe’s in 1979 to the Albrecht family, owners of the Aldi Nord supermarket company. Trader Joe is run separately from the Aldi discount grocery chain.
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