"West Seattle Needs a Trader Joe's" on FB

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  • #593685

    WSB
    Keymaster

    If you haven’t already seen this and joined – they’re hoping critical mass might carry some weight with the folks at TJ’s, and asked if we’d put out a call for more FBers to join their group.

    http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=273068102808&ref=search&sid=715950012.98302558..1

    #687222

    pigeonmom
    Participant

    ::::Joining now::::

    #687223

    Diane
    Participant

    thanks to whoever started this; even got me to update my facebook page, barely used til now

    ~

    hope more people sign on and send message to TJ’s; we should be able to get at least 1000; looks like 330+ so far in first week

    #687224

    Diane
    Participant

    oops, and thanks to wsblog for posting link

    #687225

    WSB
    Keymaster

    I’ll mention it on the front page tomorrow but I wanted to call TJ’s media first, since I haven’t gotten their official line on WS in a while, so it’s a little bit more of a story than just a reiteration of “here’s the link.” Will be trying first thing in the am.

    #687226

    JayDee
    Participant

    When I last visited the TJs in Burien, I noted that TJ’s map of Washington on the wall (listing cities with TJs) stopped at Vancouver, leaving plenty of room for “West Seattle” at the end. I mentioned this to the checkout guy and he said:

    “Well, the bosses are no longer officially denying it, and they have been looking for a spot.”

    My fingers are crossed.

    #687227

    The market for grocery stores is already saturated. A TJ’s would only force another store (more likely a smaller one) out of business.

    But dang; I love Joes!

    #687228

    JustSarah
    Participant

    INRIWS: I don’t know that I agree with you on that point. The market for mid-range giant chain groceries is saturated: two QFCs and three Safeways is plenty. I don’t really shop at QFC, and I flat-out refuse to shop at Safeway. But we have two higher-end “boutique” groceries (Thriftway and Metropolitan Market) and natural co-op PCC, all of which cater to niche markets. Trader Joe’s fills the cheap specialty-grocery niche. I like TJ’s for several things, but will not buy produce, milk, or most meats there. I’d purchase condiments, snacks, beer, wine, and a few other items there, other dairy and meat at PCC, and special cured meats and specialty cheeses at MM. :-)

    #687229

    Yardvark
    Member

    Not all of West Seattle is saturated with markets.

    Western West Seattle….Two Safeways, a QFC, PCC, Thriftway, Metropolitan Market, Tony’s, Swinery, and a weekly, year round farmer’s market, just to name a few.

    Eastern West Seattle….food desert.

    Delridge has a Super 24 store that began to sell a couple pieces of fruit a while back. It was huge news.

    #687230

    WSB
    Keymaster

    And last night at the Highland Park Action Committee meeting, the one unscheduled moment that didn’t make it into my story, a guy wanted to talk about the fact his mom has lived in HP 60+ years and used to be able to walk to five neighborhood groceries, and now there are none. And yet somehow when they inevitably come here, I would wager you now, it will be the greater Triangle/Junction.

    If you look at the official Trader Joe’s page on FB, by the way, the “fans only” section is nothing but people from all sorts of communities saying “oh please please please come here.” But nonetheless it’s nice to have a place to coalesce, sort of like a virtual petition. But better.

    #687231

    southweller
    Member

    35th and Morgan! Huge empty lot waiting for a Trader Joes.

    #687232

    JoB
    Participant

    if the grocery market for West seattle is so saturated..

    why are so many of us making the trek to Burien or Ballard or Queen Ann or… to shop at Trader Joes?

    i would buy more from them if i didn’t have to organize a major shopping expedition to rationalize driving that far..

    That means that every time i go to Trader Joes, i stop at several other out of area groceries to purchase what is unavailable there.

    if other people are like me…. and a quick look through the forums would indicate we are an ecologically aware area… a trader joes in West Seattle might just increase business at local groceries.

    #687233

    KBear
    Participant

    West Seattle “needs” another grocery store like it needs a big hole in the ground.

    #687234

    WSB
    Keymaster

    Southweller – That site’s development has already started through the Design Review process. At one point, Seattle Housing Authority officials said they were hoping for a grocery store, but could not get one interested and had to block out the retail as smaller spaces.

    #687235

    flowerpetal
    Member

    I don’t understand where the “Huage empty lot” is at 35th and Morgan.

    I really am indifferent to TJ’s coming to West Seattle. I shop at the one in Burien maybe once or twice a year. But I see no harm in one arriving… so I won’t start a “Keep TJ’s outta West Seattle” facebook page.

    #687236

    JoB
    Participant

    flowerpetal..

    you would shop there more often if you discovered their pet dept…

    the organic dogfood is an incredibly healthy choice for my dogs while easy on my pocketbook.

    the treats i buy aren’t quite so easy on the pocketbook..

    but my dogs will do anything for them…

    and they don’t get sick after.

    well worth the trip to Trader Jose

    i just wish they carried more local dairy choices

    sorry about so many edits.. fuzzy brain today:(

    #687237

    flowerpetal
    Member

    JoB, you know me well :)

    I would trek to TJ’s for my pup if it were the only place to find food that she could digest. Fortunately she loves; and it loves her; Natural Balance, and we can walk to Westwood together to purchase it.

    I will admit that this is a rash generalization; but I often think of TJs as the store for people who either don’t like to cook or don’t know how.

    #687238

    JustSarah
    Participant

    flowerpetal: I agree with your rash generalization, but I do like certain things from TJ’s. Unfortunately, the things most people gush about are things I could make better and cheaper from scratch: their hummus is a prime example. I know so many people who just looooove TJ’s hummus, and it’s “so cheap!” I have to bite my tongue to stop from saying that it’s even cheaper and tastier to make at home, and incredibly easy, too!

    My TJ’s staples are organic unsalted butter, beer, wine, tortilla chips, water crackers, smoked oysters in olive oil, baking chocolate bars, dried cranberries, and jarred salsa.

    #687239

    charlabob
    Participant

    I just got home from a “quick” trip to TJ’s on the dread east side — and I have to admit that I fit happily into half of flowerpetal’s generalization, I don’t mind leaving our happy island to find a TJ’s and I suspect TJ has done enough research to know where to locate their next store. :-)

    Jo, otoh, doesn’t fit either half of the stereotype — go figure.

    Random recs from my last TJ run:

    If you haven’t tried three-buck-chuck’s aussie chardonnay, do so immediately! Can’t claim to be knowledgeable about wine, but it’s damned good!

    They also have lunch sized packages of low fat chocolate chip cookies (impulse items at the checkout that are absolutely amazing.

    In both cases, we went from saying “not bad for <low fat> or <cheap wine>” to saying “hmmmm…this stuff is genuinely good:. :-)

    #687240

    star 55
    Participant

    I joined FB and would love Trader Joe’s in WS, I hate the drive there. Come on Trader Joe’s…..

    #687241

    WSB
    Keymaster

    Flowerpetal, the counter-page idea made me laugh.

    We are longtime TJ’s fans dating back to living in Las Vegas in the ’80s and making a point of going there every time we drove to Los Angeles for REAL civilization (which was frequently).

    But I chuckle more because of the nature of Facebook, where we see people creating fan pages for “Getting up on the wrong side of the bed with a blue washcloth on the nightstand next to a glass of water that stopped being cold overnight and I’m really sad about it but my husband brought me a new glass of water and I’m thankful for him and so let’s have 1,000 people sign up to say THANK YOU, HUSBAND” /satire

    Better to create a group for a clear goal. TJ’s by the way has hidden their media contacts so well I’m about to have to wade through a really serious phone tree at their HQ because there is no direct department to be found online anywhere.

    #687242

    JustSarah
    Participant

    Ooh, also, I want to know about this huge, empty lot at 35th & Morgan. Maybe 35th and Raymond is what was being referred to?

    #687243

    flowerpetal
    Member

    Is 35th and Raymond where the food truck is parked in the summer? When I think huge empty lot, I can’t think of anything on 35th except that space next to Redline… which is not huge.

    #687244

    on board
    Participant

    Really looking forward to hearing WSB if they can get a hold of a human at TJs that can explain why they are not building one in WS. They have found a way to build one in Ballard, U District, capitol hill, queen anne, etc. It is long overdue for them to build one here. This might convince me to join Facebook even!

    #687245

    KatherineL
    Participant

    Years ago, TJ planned a store somewhere around Morgan…and 35th, I think. The neighborhood got up a petition against it. They didn’t want the traffic. TJ may be reluctant to come back after that.

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