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Trader Joe’s will halt O.C. openings
August 19th, 2009, 6:29 am · 79 Comments · posted by Nancy Luna, Staff Writer
After months of delay, Trader Joe’s said it will open its 19th Orange County grocery store on Sept. 8.
The Aliso Viejo store will also be the last Trader Joe’s store planned for Orange County in the immediate future, the chain said.
The chain announced plans last September to open the Aliso Viejo market. But, delays have occurred over the last several months, causing angst among residents eager to see the store open.
In the meantime, over the past year, Trader Joe’s has opened two Huntington Beach stores in relatively short order.
When asked why the Aliso Viejo store took so long to complete, Trader Joe’s spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki declined to comment.
So are any more Trader Joe’s planned in O.C.?
“At this time, there are no other OC locations slated to open within the next 2 years,” Mochizuki said.
The Aliso Viejo store is located at The Commons shopping center: 26521 Aliso Creek Road, Aliso Viejo. The store opens at 9 a.m. Sept. 8 with a traditional Lei cutting ceremony. The store will offer free tastings and balloons for the kids.
Other Trader Joe’s stories:
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If you visit any city’s City-Data forum, the number one thing people want in cities that don’t have a Trader Joes is a Trader Joes.
I know, we want one badly in Apple Valley, but we are still low class according to Trader Joes.
Mike
well there’s some truth to that! Diamond Bar has wanted one for years and it’s always “wrong demographic.” Chino Hills finally got one a year ago. All the hype for what I don’t know!
Let me welcome Aliso Viejo to soup sold in a box.
We still don’t have one in Anaheim
I’m talking about cities all over the US like Colorado Springs and Huntsville, Alabama. Lots of transplants from Southern California and Wash DC (where there exists TJ) in those towns. Other things they want are IKEA, In N Out, Fry’s Electronics, and Wegmans.
Mmmm, In-N-Out
What’s a “Wegmans” ?
Oooh, we want a Wegmans in SoCal too!!
It’s about time!!! I live down the street. This paper lies though, its been a year and a half. Search it on this site you will even see a story on here in June 08 that said it would open around thanksgiving 08. I’m just glad there is a date…
Do we have it easy here in southern California; in the Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia etc they just want something, anything to eat. They worry about their next meal or just getting through the next day, and we whine about whether or not we will have a Trader Joe’s in our community. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining I am just grateful to have the easy life that I do. I really don’t mind driving to RSM to go to Trader Joe’s.
May be it’s because these countries love socialism and communism.
You have it easy, too. You drive. People in those countries have to walk or run. When they get lucky, they catch a bus with people hanging on the windows of the bus like a circus.
You have it easy, too. Those people have to hunt, grow, bargain for their foods. All you do is to drive to TJ and pay for it.
Yeah, those are well-known centers of socialist thought and policy…
Maybe you should clarify that that was sarcasm. It’s probably lost on him.
LOL, finally someone with some intelligence. And icedamericano is right, Goodman probably doesn’t get it.
I was going to say that to there not one in anaheim either is is that we arent good enough either there are none close to us we have to go to the city of orange or huntington beach neither location is very close
You have wonderful ethnic markets in Anaheim…try them instead. The Hispanic and Middle Eastern stores have even better prices than TJ.
yeah? Try shopping the produce section in one of those stores! They have to cut corners somewhere to keep the prices low!
Simple solution to that. Do your produce shopping elsewhere. The variety of goods at Wholesome Choice in Anaheim Hills is worth the trip, even if their produce department leaves something to be desired, (lots of variety, some items are exceptional and hard to find elsewhere - others are substandard in quality.)
Hearken back to the days when shoppers woudl buy their meat from a butcher, their bread from a baker, have dairy products delivered from a dairy, and visit the Grocer for staples/sundries like salt,/flour/sugar, and produce.
If you’re going to expect “one stop shopping”, then you have to expect some aspect of either quality or affordability to suffer. You can’t have everything.
Pick your poison. Higher prices for the “total package”, lower quality on some items for cheaper overall prices, or a bit less convenience when you choose to “pick and choose”.
We’ve become frightfully spoiled.
Finally!!!! I remember reading a story saying that they were gonna open last Thanksgiving. The news on the street is that they had trouble getting liquor licenses etc.
We live within walking distance of one and I’m in heaven.
I heard that the AV one was delayed due to the construction companies going out of business.
omg!!! so like now, you can like, die happy!
I can’t ever imagine having angst because a store opening was delayed. Wow.
angst |a ng (k)st; ä ng (k)st|
noun
a feeling of deep anxiety or dread, typically an unfocused one about the human condition or the state of the world in general
What a great response!! I could not agree more, Steve.
Thanks
Well said Steve.. I almost choked on my ice cream.
I am a big fan of TJ’s. I am sorry to hear that they have no future plans to open more TJ’s in Orange County. I reside in Lake Forest, and just north in Foothill Ranch there is an empty building that would work great for a Trader Joes to be housed there. I plan on making that suggestion to their Corporate office, however I am sure they take into account the potential volume that would justify having a retail operation open and running in this particular location.
TJ’s is a wonderful retail store, and whenver I travel I look to see if there are any TJ’s in the city I am traveling to. Hopefully TJ’s will consider opening more stores (including Anahem for those of you above who voiced a desire to have a store in your city). There should be one in one of the largest city’s in Orange County!
Yes! Let’s campaign to get a TJs in Lake Forest. Either the old Vons location on El Toro or somewhere in the Foothill Ranch area - like on Rancho where the Irvine Ranch store recently failed would be great. I think a TJs would do fine in either of those locations because they have something Vons and Irvine Ranch didn’t have - good food at good prices.
19th store in OC? How about one in Boise, Idaho? I heard several years ago that we were on the map for one, but on my last visit to Chico two weeks ago I was told there are no plans for a Boise store. TJ would do very well here: Boise is a college town and everyone here is a health nut. Besides, where else could I get 2BuckChuck for such a great price?
Why does everyone think that TJ’s is a health food store? Read the food labels folks.
“Health nut” is a person that eats fruits, vegetables, organic foods, whole grains or gluten free, lean meats or possibly vegan. TJs does have sections for protein/whey powders, shakes, bars, supplements and vitamins like a traditional health food store. My family was shopping at TJs well over 20 years ago and we purchased mostly the nuts, nut butters, and dried fruits. They do sell ice cream and wine, so that is probably for the non-health nut, but I would think that if eat heathly as a lifestyle you already read lables….calories, fat/types of fat, sodium, and ingredients…and you skip the candy and chips aisle.
gluten-free is not a “health nut” thing. it’s not a trendy diet. it’s for people who have a disease called celiac disease. i have celiac and i would love to eat cakes, cookies, etc. i am not a health nut per se and it’s frustrating to me that people like you think it’s a fad diet. if more people understood what it means then us celiacs wouldn’t have such a problem finding high-quality gluten-free foods.
So does nearly every other grocery store. I don’t have any thing against TJ at all. I just think it’s funny how their marketing works so well on the general population. They have almost everyone convinced that they are a ‘health food’ store and somehow different than the ‘regular’ grocery stores.
gluten-free isn’t a “health nut” thing. it’s not a fad or trendy thing. it’s a special diet for people who have a disease called celiac disease. i would love to eat cakes, cookies, breads, etc. so i am not your typical “health nut”. i find it frustrating that people like you think gluten-free is a trendy diet or something for the birkenstocks crowd.
Are you aware that gluten-free is not a dietary choice? You lumped that in with people who chose to eat more fruits and veggies by choice. Gluten-free is for people with celiac disease and are forced to eat that way for they will cause their body long term, permanent damage since their intestine can’t process the protein in wheat, barley, etc. (gluten).
Um healthy, they have way more than just ice cream and wine for non health nuts.. Look in their to go deli section,frozen section. NOt to mention the cookies,crackers and regular juices they sell. Half of those frozen meals are high fat,sodium and calories! My mom once bought the bbq,gouda chiken rolls in the deli section and the entire package was 32 grams of fat!!! So maybe you should browse TJ today and see for yourself.
Hey, if you’re like me and try to avoid preservatives, high fructose corn syrup and the like, Trader Joe’s is great. Most of their food labels consist of ingredients that you can actually pronounce. Try doing that with the commercial crap that they sell at Vons and the like. Yes, lots of their frozen stuff is high in fat and calories. That’s easy to steer clear of.
Yep, and most of the “regular” grocery stores also sell things without preservatives or HFCS. They usually offer both. There’s nothing wrong with TJ and it’s not a bad store, but it’s also not special or unique which most people seem to think it is based purely on this idea that they are a “health food store” or that they offer healthier food than a regular grocery store.
I also have never understood the argument “most of the ingredients you can pronounce”. The idea here is that if you can pronounce it, it’s good for you. I can pronounce saturated fat. I can also pronounce cyanide. Imagine if pronunciation was the litmus for what is healthy! On the flip side, there’s plenty of things that are very healthy for you that are very hard to pronounce.
Steve: “I can also pronounce cyanide”
Ever had a peach? What about an apple? I tend to think of them as healthy. . . .
I agree that the pronunciation saying makes little sense, but pick a better example than cyanide.
Everyone in Boise is a health nut? Not the last time I was there. There were lots of overweight redneck hunter types in their pick up trucks.
TJ’s credo used to be to locate where folks are ‘over-educated and underpaid.’ When they went public after the original Pasadena store on Arroyo Parkway (with Ron’s Meat Counter no less!!), they focused on college towns. I think the neighborhoods they pick still follow along that description….
Hmm, interesting. I’m not sure I agree with the current assessment though. How is Orange County a college town? Irvine? No, there’s over 200,000 people there. Yes there’s a college there, but It’s not really a college town in the traditional sense. Fullerton, maybe. The rest of Orange County, no. Also, if anything, they are putting their stores in neighborhoods where people are under-educated and over-paid (Foothill Ranch, etc).
The median income is high in Aliso Viejo at $110,622: http://apps.money.cnn.com/bestplaces_2009/compare_tool_2009.jsp?id=PL0600947
The population is also well-educated as at least 82.1% have completed some college:
http://apps.money.cnn.com/bestplaces_2009/compare_tool_2009.jsp?id=PL0600947,&view=g
Soka University is located within this city of approximately 41,000.
“Some college” is the key indicator here. If you haven’t finished a master’s program, professional degree (phd, md, law) and you make $110,000 you are under-educated and over-paid. I don’t mean to say that if you don’t have one of these degrees you are automatically under-educated. Not at all. But if you’re making that much money and you don’t have an advanced degree you are most likely under-educated for that much salary. There’s nothing wrong with making that much money at whatever education level you have. But my point was that if TJ’s manifesto is to open stores in towns where the population is over-educated and under-paid, then “some college” and $110,000 per year is directly opposite of that claim.
“But if you’re making that much money and you don’t have an advanced degree you are most likely under-educated for that much salary.”
Truthfully, I am having trouble following your argument. These stats do not indicate what portion of the Aliso Viejo population possesses an advanced degree. Additionally, I do not feel that those who do not have a doctorate or masters should necessarily earn little.
There are a number of entrepreneurs in Aliso Viejo who earn six figure incomes and have “only” completed “some college.” I would not refer to these individuals as being “undereducated,” a term, per Merriam-Webster, that is commonly used synonymously with “poorly educated.”
I stated in my post that I think you should be able to make as much money as you can and it shouldn’t matter what your education level is. This is America and have it, make as much money as you can.
Having said that, what I was saying is that if TJ is claiming that they put stores in areas where people are OVEReducated and UNDERpaid, then that doesn’t jive with their current business plan. Especially when you can see that AV has a median income of $110,000. If you have only attended some college and don’t have a degree or advanced degree and you make $110,000 then you are UNDEReducated and OVERpaid.
Again, there’s nothing wrong with that. Entrepreneurship drives this country. My only point is that TJs doesn’t seem to be following the model of overeducated and underpaid anymore. If so they would open in towns that had a high preponderance of people with advanced degrees making less than six figures.
These days everyone fits that description. TJs is better known now - they’ been around probably 30+ years and people grew up with them. So they’re demographic is probably expanded. Also the markets are worse than they used to be both in terms of quality and price.
I’m kind of the odd man out about TJ around here. I have nothing against them, but I don’t see what all the hype is about. They have almost entirely their own branded food which is more often that not a copy or knock off of some other international brand. Take their sparkling lemonade for example. They have knocked-off a French brand. The French brand tastes better and has less sugar. Marketing is really the only reason why this store is so popular in my opinion. And I’m not just talking about their image, radio ads, and mailers. They have built a phenomenal word-of-mouth network which I think was more guerilla marketing than actual love of their products. Just my two cents.
Foothill Ranch has lots of empty building available!!!
Michael92610 & Foothill folks:: There is a TJs on Sand Cyn & Irvine Blvd in Irvine if that helps for now.
Angst over it opening a little later than planned? Because the one a FEW MINUTES away in Laguna Hills is such a hardship to get too!!!
Have you ever tried shopping at the Laguna Hills store at lunch? Between the very, very, very slow drivers who can’t figure out how or where they want to park, they are very, very very slow to navigate the store. The retirees have all day to shop yet they shop at lunch very very very slowly.
Thank you for finally opening the store at Aliso - I can get in TJ and a sandwich at Panera in a lunch hour. I could spend the whole hour trying to get in the Laguna Hills store. Thanks but no thanks.
Geez, you all have it really good — I have a friend in Champaign, Illinois, who will drive two hours to go to a TJ’s in Chicago. Now that’s dedication!
May be it’s because these countries love socialism and communism.
You have it easy, too. You drive. People in those countries have to walk or run. When they get lucky, they catch a bus with people hanging on the windows of the bus like a circus.
You have it easy, too. Those people have to hunt, grow, bargain for their foods. All you do is to drive to TJ and pay for it.
Not sure what all the whoo-hoo is about. Trader Joe’s is basically overpriced generically packaged foodstore that has managed to fool people into thinking it’s exotic because they put pretty pictures on package and churn out a newsletter. Read the lables, you’ll see that much of their inventory is packaged at the same mid-western plants as any other generic food store brand in any chain store. This doesn’t make it bad by any means, but it also doesn’t make it special, unique, or worth the additional price in many cases.
They do have a good booze selection though.
If you compare any non-house brand TJs carries to the same brand elsewhere, TJs is cheaper. Where do you get overpriced from? Examples - the Buddy Biscuits dog biscuits are 2.99 at TJs, usally 4.99 everywhere else. The Terra Chips - are like $6+ in the markets. The Ezekial breads are cheaper. Vegetables are cheaper usually. You can certainly find cheaper meat elsewhere but not cheaper same-quality meat.
Yep. Dr. Bonner’s Peppermint soap is something like $2.50 at TJ’s and at Henry’s or Whole Foods it’s anywhere from 3.99 to 4.50. Same with Tom’s of Maine deodorant.
Toms of Maine deo is 4.50 @ Walmart! Mothers,Henrys,Sprouts and I’m pretty sure TJ sells it for more than that!
No, Tom’s of Maine is cheaper at TJs.
Tom’s of Maine is cheaper at TJ? Do they have all the scents,how much if you don’t mind?
Anyone who thinks that Trader Joe’s is over priced, hasn’t shopped there. Sure, you can find some stuff at other stores cheaper, but overall, the quality and prices are awesome! I love their nut selection. Try finding nuts cheaper at a grocery store. And the variety is outstanding!
Henry’s Market has a larger selection of nuts and Tom’s IS NOT cheaper at TJ’s.
and all the pseudo health nuts rejoice!
I pass by the site of the new Trader Joe’s everyday; and it is ideally located in Aliso Viejo’s bustling Town Center. I am sure it will be a success and I eagerly await its opening.
Can’t wait until the Trader Joe’s in Aliso opens. This will be a magnet for Cougars and MILFs and single Moms!!
omg,lol!
What’s ‘MILF’?
Mother I like to FU**
thanks, I knew it had to be something along those lines.
they have low quality food, i found COCKROACHES in my pasta. I’ll never go back that place is skanky.
They just took a dump on Garden Grove, too. If they didn’t have the best d–n peanut butter in the world, I’d say “sic the pirates on ‘em and hoist ‘em from the yards!!”
Parker ha ha,
Aliso IS the home of the cougar and milf!!!!! They are gonna be on the prowl at TJs. Prime viewing area is also at the soccer fields.
we have one here in Yorba Linda and everyone loves it…….I never/rarely shop there. I know it’s great for the community and it’s employees but I still prefer my vons and pavilions.
You obviously prefer getting ripped off left and right too! Seriously even TJs is cheaper than those two.
The headline of this story is very poorly written and misleading. It gives the impression that Trader Joe’s has given up on OC and will never again open another store here. If you read what the spokeswoman said it sounds as if, for the time being, TJs have a sufficient number of stores in the area and may build again when market conditions require it. Major difference in meaning between the quote and the headline.
Garden Grove needs one.
Trader Joe’s is not a good store–I won’t spend another dollar there. See:
http://www.traitorjoe.com/
Hey Mike,
Thanks for the heads up on the soccer fields. Hmm…never thought of that!! lol.. Going to give up Opah’s and hang out on the fields instead for the cougs and milfs.
They’re probably abandoning O.C. for now because it’s next to impossible to get a permit and/or inspection passed. But that’s why we all live here, right? We like the sterility of the place, and the feeling that we’re something we’re not. We barely make our mortgage or rent payments, but we spend-spend-spend on hot cars, fingernails, our hair, big TVs, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods… quite a plastic existence, isn’t it?