You heard that right. The Dallas Morning News is announcing that private-label grocer Trader Joe’s plans to open 30 10 stores in Texas and is now actively scouting sites. The California-based chain is reportedly “looking at multiple locations in Dallas, Houston and Austin.” The first store would likely open in Dallas, within the year. [Dallas Morning News]
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51 Comments
2-buck Chuck!!! Well, it’s really $3 now. It’s totally worth it. I hope the Houston location will be near Montrose…although now there are “plenty” of grocery store popping up around there.
Just yesterday I was in a Trader Joe’s in Manhattan (Union Square) and wishing that they would consider Houston for their next expansion. Screw Dallas … bring it here!
I hope Trader Joe’s moves into the Near Northside. I know the perfect building.
Hmmmm…..lots of land in between Washington and the Heights….
If you go to their website there’s a place to recommend towns to expand into. Let’s flood them with Houston requests!
I’m very interested in where they plan to set up. Will they buy the Montrose Walgreens and build it across from Disco Kroger ala the West Alabama HEB? will Montrose be redubbed Grocery Row? Tune in next time for another episode of SATURATED MARKET ADVENTURES!
Best news in forever…
I’m coming to Houston from Detroit. No TJ’s, no Caribou? Why does the D have ‘em and the H don’t? Hurry TJ’s!
Trader Joe’s will do well on a feeder road near Katy.
Here’s the location suggestion form:
http://www.traderjoes.com/about/location-requests-form.asp
Montrose is the perfect location for a Trader Joes. Fits with their whole vibe.
.
I think Trader Joes would do terrible in the ‘burbs.
right, i heard it’s coming soon after the H&M store opening next spring.
i’ll believe it when i see it.
There was a big push to get them here a few years ago and the official response was that we are way off their existing logistics map. Dallas will be more likely.
Of course please remember that TJs is part of a giant international grocery conglomerate and that they have a well earned reputation in the food service industry for driving supplier margins down to horrendously low levels. Remember also that all those fancy own brand TJs products are actually made by the same multi-nationals who make everyone elses products. Almost all of their snacks for example are made by Pepsico-Fritolay. Don’t let the Hawaiian shirts fool you.
Rice Village, please!
Buy the Randall’s at Shepherd and Westheimer. Perfect.
Trader Joe’s is part of the same corporate family as Aldi’s (a German corporation). The Dallas area already has some Aldi locations, so TJ’s will probably go there first.
HEIGHTS PLEASE!!!!!!!
The 040 is devoid of grocery stores, or at least ones that I would patronize. Send TJ’s our way!
This tripe is headed to The Woodlands ans Sugar Land.
PRINT IT
And I’m sticking with Specs for my wine.
I sure hope this is true.
I hope this isn’t true. All that Two Buck Chuck is just going to draw vagrants into the neighborhood looking for cheap alcohol. People who enjoy cheap prices and discount shopping are bad for my local economy. This FOREIGN company is going to drive all the mom & pop shops out of Houston. And I bet they haven’t even considered proper traffic planning at their locations and they’ll probably find a way to steal the city’s tax money while they’re at it. STAY OUT OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD TRADER JOE’S!
Of course it’ll go to Dallas first. HOUSTON SECEDE DOT COM
San Antonio maybe? Yeah right. We’re still waiting for a Weingarten’s to open up here.
A few years ago Dunkin’ Donuts made a similar announcement, and not one new shop has opened here in Houston since then. Like joel indicated, don’t hold your breath.
The mere hope made my day! I would welcome the Heights Walmart, if they put a Trader Joe’s in across the street from it!
Shopping at Trader Joe’s is a status thing. What does TJ’s have that Whole Foods or Central Market doesn’t also offer? I don’t get it.
Lower prices Mel, which it achieves by forcing it’s suppliers into unsustainable supply agreements and by buying product from multi-nationals that their customers would normally turn their noses up at, be-branding it as an own brand product under incredibly tight confidentiality agreements and reselling it to its loyal punters. They also sell “organic” milk and “cage-free” eggs without any sort of third party certification because of the same confidentiality agreements with their suppliers.
Remember, Walmart pulled out of Germany because it couldn’t compete with the cut-throat business practices of TJ’s sister company Aldi.
@bigintexas33:
You made my day.
Hey Mel, trader joes combines great prices with a nice selection of goods, and they provide a nice environment to boot. coffee, nuts, and wine is what i usually went to trader joes for, great prices and selection on those items.
I summered in Orange County (spent my summer visitation with my divorced father) and we would go to TJ’s for cheap wine. The selection is so random, you can’t really do any decent shopping there. I think TJ’s is a status symbol for those “in the know.” Once it comes to Houston, the mystique will fade.
Jimbo, I am with you. I have no affinity for Trader Joe’s. It’s a farce. If it must come, I hope they build it in the Woodland’s. It’s perfect for the Woodlands.
Enjoyed TJ’s while at Berkeley. Good prices on bulk items, sushi, wine, etc
trader joes has great marketing,it is part of the aldi corp. the central market whole food crowd will love love love it. its fab…..
I think it would satisfy me most if Walmart was the one who brought TJ’s to the Yale location spot they are developing. Just hearing the quandary of the Wallyworld-bashers having to eat crow would make my day.
You naysayers don’t know what you’re talking about. In my opinion such backwatd thinking doesn’t deserve Trader Joes. When are you all leaving the union??? Gov. Perry promised….before he started asking for handouts.
Backwatd thinking is thinking Trader Joe’s has something I can’t find locally.
It’s not the 50s anymore.
Stating the obvious, your name speaks volumes. The same people going banans over the possible addition of TJ’s to the Houston market and begging for a Height’s location (even going so far as to suggest Yale as a location) are actively protesting the non-Heights-Height’s wal-mart. Ironic?
You know, reading these comments, plus the Hanover West Gray apartment comments, and of course, the Walmart/Target/Whole Foods/HEB comments, I am stunned at the level of hyper-consumerism displayed by those who claim to be enlightened and conscientious stewards of our urban landscape. Every post regarding anything in the inner loop unleashes a torrent of demands for more retail…but only the RIGHT kind of retail…and only the RIGHT size and location. There are always several nuanced posts about what type of consumer good is the RIGHT one to buy, what type of purveyor is the RIGHT one to patronize, and what type of building is the RIGHT one to house said consumer goods.
It strikes me that there is precious little attempt at limiting over-consumption, simply demand for the type of consumption that befits one who is attempting to burnish one’s green or socially conscious bonafides. Several years back, as I tired of competing for attention with the products that I purchase or wear, I noticed that once I limited my consumption, the concern over what type and location of the stores around me waned as well. I certainly do not care if the clerk selling me a $3 bottle of wine wears a Hawaiian shirt or a blue one, especially knowing that the company selling the wine engages in the same cutthroat business practices as all of the other retailers selling that cheap wine.
This is why it matters not whether Walmart builds in the neighborhood, or Whole Foods, or Trader Joe’s. I spend so little at any of them that they aren’t moving here for me. Any of those stores (minus Trader Joe’s) would fulfill my weekly shopping needs, and the 1 mile drive once a week that I make isn’t hurting the environment nearly as much as the apparent daily shopping trips to buy the RIGHT products that many of my neighbors apparently make.
Dave,
I completely agree. All hell breaks loose if WallyWorld comes round these parts, but if fancy shmancy TJ shows up, we pop wine bottles.
re: Dave
So in other words, you’re nostalgic for the USA circa 1955?
FINALLY!!! I have been waiting for this day to come!PLEASE PLEASE build it inside the loop! How about Alabama Theater > big space, lots of parking!
Wow, jimbo either missed the point completely or he was being sarcastic and was talking about Wal-Mart.
TJ’s appeal has nothing to do with prices. It’s eclectic and you don’t know what you will find. For a lot of people it’s interesting to find things you wouldn’t find anywhere else.
Actually you should be able to work out what you would find at TJs very quickly considering they typically stock about a quarter of the number of SKUs as a regular grocery store. This is another of the ways in which they reduce costs. If they have persuaded you that they are eclectic, congratulations, you have believed the hype.
It’s true — bigger is better, and don’t let anyone convince you otherwise!
And above all else please don’t let anyone’s opinion of eclecticism persuade you of anything you haven’t already been taught to believe.
As a native Californian, I often struggle to find replacements for the things that I miss from back home, most of those things are fresh produce and products that aren’t over processed, all at a reasonable price, TJ’s was always the place to find these things.
Is it good for super bowl party shopping? No. It isn’t even great for every shopping trip, but it’s easily the place that I would often spend my time and limited grocery money. TJ fans are fans for a reason, prices and the specific type of selection that they carry, and it’s no surprise to discover that those are the things they focus on, as well as being nice to customers.
For the nay-sayers, I urge you to venture into a Trader Joe’s the next time you find yourself in a town lucky enough to have one. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to shop there should one come to Houston. It isn’t for everyone, but it isn’t intended to be for everyone.
Here is some more info about the company’s history that was published in Business Week in Feb 2008: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_09/b4073058455307.htm
Don’t get me wrong I like shopping at TJ’s and probably went every couple of weeks to the original Pasadena store when I lived in CA.
Fortune did a good piece on them last year.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/20/news/companies/inside_trader_joes_full_version.fortune/
I travel to California every 3 months from cypress, texas. My first stop Trader Joes I purchase my non-irradiated condiments, even frozen foods! You cannot beat the prices for flowers and plants! Nay sayers you do not know of what you speak. We all have an opinion, however, leave TRADER JOES OUT OF IT! Bring it on to Cypress, Texas.
We need something like this in the Heights – why do we have to go to Montrose to shop at the new Whole Foods???
I love Trader Joe’s and would shop there in a minute. Great deals on good food. I have even written them asking them to locate in Houston. I know, pitiful. Hey, they have great product and good prices and they force every other store to step up their game. I am so tired of buying spoiled expensive junk at Kroger.
Although I used to live in Houston, I now live on the west coast and can say that life is good with a Trader Joes nearby. No, you can’t buy everything on your shopping list there, but it’s a great place for dairy goods, eggs, good quality frozen foods, and your wine. Prices are very good and service is decent too. You can actually find someone working there who can help you out, as opposed to the Safeways where you wander the aisles but the only employees are found at the cash register.
Competition : it’s what good for ya !!! And knocks the arrogant,crappy customer service stores (Kroger -Montrose,is an example) off their high and mighty perch. I’m so glad HEB is building across the street from the tired Fiesta and Whole Foods opened on Waugh Dr.-scaring the hell out of Kroger-West Gray and Kroger-Montrose !! If y’all DON’T like these stores quit your bitching and shop elsewhere. You critics obviously NEED a glass of WHINE with your cheese!!