When Publix Just Ain't Enough
Decatur Metro | May 29, 2008 | 4:27 pmI love fueling Trader Joe’s rumors. It’s kinda become an unofficial past-time of mine.
Keeping all of that in mind, here’s an email thread (after the jump) that was passed along to me by Stuart, which claims that Trader Joe’s is looking around Decatur for its next Atlanta opening and expresses Avondale residents’ desire to get a Trader Joe’s somewhere in the “Avondale Estates/Decatur” area.
The Avondale email proposes use of the current Salvation Army store on E. College (who’s lease is up next year) for the next Trader Joe’s site.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that the area 1. hasn’t turned around enough and 2. is too close to the unknown-entity that is the unbuilt Publix store a few blocks down for Trader Joe’s to consider. Just look at its other locations!
But regardless of the validity of these emails, its interesting to see so many residents in the area passionate for a Trader Joe’s. Maybe at some point the great amount of interest by local residents will eventually win out over their continuing hesitancy. In the meantime, I’ll just have to schedule afternoons off from work to get my Mandarin Chicken from the Midtown store.
The California based, upscale neighborhood grocery store, Trader Joe’s is considering the Decatur area for their next store. I think most people know about Trader Joe’s grocery stores, they are a small funky grocery store that can be between 8,000 and 15,000 square feet (the small Kroger in Decatur is about 18,000 square feet). They carry no national brands and kind of fill a unique niche. They are famous for their inexpensive Charles Shaw Wine also known as “Two Buck Chuck.” For more information go to “www.traderjoes.com”.
Current Atlanta Locations
Atlanta – Midtown
Norcross – The Forum
Marietta
Roswell
Sandy Springs
Atlanta – Buckhead – opening soon
Decatur – they are looking
Unfortunately (or fortunately) they have not yet found the right location.
I have spoken to Michael Plasters, one of the principals of M&P Shopping Centers, owners of the Twin Oaks Shopping Center about the possibility of Trader Joe’s being in the Salvation Army Space. The Salvation Army’s lease is up next year and they occupy 9,100 square feet with another approximately 1,200 vacant s.f. next door. The old Salvation Army Store was originally a “Big Apple” Grocery Store. M&P Shopping Centers is excited about looking at Trader Joe’s as a possible tenant. I have heard M&P Shopping Centers is considering upgrading Twin Oaks Shopping Center.
This where you can help! Trader Joe’s is very good about looking at feedback where customers would like to see their new stores built.
If you go to their website “www.traderjoes.com/location_requests_form.aspx” and fill out the brief form:
City – Avondale Estates/Decatur
State – Georgia
Additional Comments (you may copy the text below or write your own)
We would like to see a Trader Joe’s in the Avondale Estates/Decatur Georgia area which is a suburb of Atlanta. We understand that you are already looking at this area. The Avondale Estates City Commission, Avondale Downtown Development Authority and the Avondale Chamber Commerce would all enjoy an opportunity to work with you in finding a suitable location.
Related Posts:
-
April 17, 2015 Hop-N-Shop Owner Considering Redeveloping Site, Adding 2nd Story (24)
-
April 19, 2015 City Commission To Decide on Drive-Thru Juice Bar After Planning Commission Recommends Denial (21)
-
April 27, 2015 Check Out the Latest Avondale MARTA Station Development Site Plan (1)
It seems like along Scott blvd might be a better location for them, because it would attract traffic from not just Decatur and Avondale, but Druid Hills, Emory, Toco Hill, Stone Mountain, and all the commuters that travel through there. Considering all the closed car dealerships, and Pep Boys that’s been empty for 4 years, there is a lot of space available. And this is a major and highly visible travel corridor that happens to connect a lot of neighborhoods. As much as I’d like to see Trader Joes walking distance in the city of Decatur or close by in Avondale, wouldn’t the potential customer base be a lot larger along Scott?
Seems like the Monroe Dr location is bigger than the 8 to 15 K square feet cited. It used to be a regular Winn-Dixie.
I like Ryan’s idea. The old Pep Boys location seems like a perfect Whole Foods/Trader Joes location.
No to Whole Foods.
Yea to Trader Joes.
Not sure where that 8-15K sf figure came from, but both the Midtown and Forum stores are larger than the small Kroger on Commerce.
As for locations, Twin Oaks doesn’t have the parking, unless they will take up the entire center. And from a visibility stand point, why lock themselves into Twin Oaks (poor ingress & egress) when they can go to one of the more visible and more traffic friendly locations mentioned by others (former Pet Boys, former Lou Sobh, etc).
I would welcome a Whole Foods in a heart beat. You can never have enough fresh options.
I would also welcome a BBQ restaurant, but that’s another discussion.
Pep Boys or the car place both are also more accessible to the Emory area.
We’ve got an empty grocery just sitting here in Oakhurst, waiting to be used…
Not sure if the store owner would ever allow for it, plus it fails the ‘fully turned around neighborhood’ and ‘high auto traffic’ tests, but it’s nice to dream…
I am pretty optimistic that the area in the Scott Blvd/Church Street/N. Decatur Road is on the verge of a commercial comeback. I agree that a Trader Joe’s in the old Pep Boys is just what that shopping center needs at this point. Isn’t Lowe’s looking at the Ford dealership that recently closed? I would imagine that Medlock between Scott and Church will continue to see more residential development as well.