urbanMSP

In SLP where I live I have Cub*, Byerly's, two Lund's*, Whole Foods*, Trader Joes*, Aldi, a Ranbow*, and another one or two I may have missed all within 10 miles. The west metro is so stacked with grocery stores that I can not think of anybody who would want to head downtown just to shop at a TJ's. People who would use this store just like the other two grocery stores in downtown are going to be those living in the area, office workers who feel comfortable enough to have an extra stop in DT on the way home, and to a small degree college students. Since a lot of college students have meal plans or just stock up on Ramen noodles.

*on a single seat bus ride from DT

The TJ's in SLP has a free parking garage on the same side of the street less then a half block away. Unless your filling up the cart walking that extra half block to park in the ramp is not that big of a deal with only a bag or two.

I actually think a TJs on the eastern side of downtown would get a pretty large amount of college student business. There's a large segment of the college population (out of the dorms) that doesn't have a car to go to the Quarry or Roseville, and an unfortunately large piece of that segment does all their grocery shopping at the downtown Target because they don't want to go to the "bad parts of town" like Midway or East Lake. That group would probably switch to TJs if it went in, since it would probably be less of a walk from the Green Line than Target is.

Silophant
I might be underestimating just how many college students who live outside of the dorms are in the area. I have no idea how the meal plans at the UoM and other area colleges are priced. Nor do I know if once you move out of the dorms as a student you can continue to buy a meal plan. No doubt college students like options I just do not think cooking one's own meals is high on the to do list unless with a microwave. Has anybody noticed many college students at the new Whole Foods just a block or so off the Blue line or Lund's in DT? I agree that a TJ's in DT east will do very well with the growing pop of residents and office workers in the area. The college student segment I would like to hear more about.

This is a small sample, but as a current U of M student living off-campus, I have several friends who rave about Trader Joe's and drive to either SLP or St. Paul, I think it could honestly do quite well. My roommates and I, as well as everyone else I know who lives off-campus, cook the majority of our own meals in some form or another. Right now, we shop at Aldi, so a DTE TJ would even be a little closer.

People who work downtown and live in uptown, NE, inner burbs, etc. could certainly stop at a downtown Trader Joe's on their way home from work. I know I would.

nBode
Thanks for providing your prospective. It is nice to read that some college students seem to be branching out from T.V dinners to meals that at least involve some amount of cooking know how.

TJ's it seems has a following. However if your coming from uptown (Henn/Lake area) your already passing by a handful of grocery stores. Or coming from DT your passing them on the way home. I really am not doubting the success of a proposed TJ's in DT East.

ECtransplant
nor am I doubting that you would stop here after work on the way home. I perhaps just do not understand the Trader Joe's following and the 2 buck chuck. I feel that the "draw" factor of this proposal seems to be larger then the reality. Why are collage students going to SLP for TJ's when they pass by CO-OP's and other grocery stores on the way? I guess I might have it backwards TJ's is hip. I guess that trumps logic. I think I am going to finish watching the Spurs game now I am getting dizzy trying to figure out how a proposed grocery store in DTE be a huge draw to it seems everyone else.

Trader Joe's has a rabid and loyal following. Shoppers came in from EVERYWHERE EVERY WEEK when they opened their SLP store. It was their highest revenue store in the nation for quite some time. Scores and score of people all over the metro went there. Another large target audience are folks from Europe and other regions where they find products there that you can't buy anywhere else. That population is very big downtown and near the U of M. Take it from me "West Coast Dude"...I grew up with Trader Joe's in California. It's Not just another Lunds, or Cub Foods. They are a specialty grocer and not an everything grocer. Interesting tidbit about their small parking lots. The reason they are smaller is that shoppers on average spend half to 1/3 the time in their stores...for they only stock 5-6 thousand items. Look it up...the time each vehicle spends in their parking lot is significantly less than the big box stores. More turnover per spot. Need small parking lot, and less rent. Now for all the urban planner geniuses on this board I have yet to hear anyone mention that.

Re: Dorms.
The U doesn't have nearly as many students live in dorms as most universities. Most every freshman does, but I'd guess only about 30% of sophomores do, and even fewer upperclassmen. You can get meal plans if you aren't living in campus housing, but since they work out to $8-9 per meal, few do.

I think we under estimating college students here. I've been working in higher ed for years, and buying your own food is consistently cheaper per meal than dorm food/campus food. Access to affordable food is always a real concern. When living on a ramen budget, it always makes sense to cook at home. TJ's also has cheap tasty meals that can be heated in the microwave. Pretty sure I was addicted to that pad thai in a space pouch meal for a while.

I also think that the TJ cult would emerge from the woodwork. Living in the North Loop, I know that I would frequent it. Better prices than WF and Lunds, and a lot closer than the Quarry. I'm sure there are some TJ cult members among my neighbors as well.

If you build it, they will flock. Like rabid animals. Do rabid animals flock?

I think they frenzy...

depending on how close this is to the light rail, when and if, it would be a knock out for U students.

We're also forgetting their cheap booze. U students like that, right?

In my experience, many U students are enthusiastic about cheap booze.

I also think that the TJ cult would emerge from the woodwork. Living in the North Loop, I know that I would frequent it. Better prices than WF and Lunds, and a lot closer than the Quarry. I'm sure there are some TJ cult members among my neighbors as well.

Fellow North Looper. I'm certain folks in the area would use TJ's a lot. My wife commutes to the SW suburbs and will frequently stop off in SLP for certain items (spinach-artichoke dip and baguettes FTW). She'd gladly skip that pit stop for something much closer to home, and I'd guess she's not alone in that regard. It'd be great to have it steps from the door, but I definitely think DTE/Mill District would be a better overall fit for many of the reasons already listed by others.

It would be a win for the city that current Minneapolis residents would not have to drive to SLP, when we can now keep our dollars in Minneapolis. Count me in as TJ shopper who also frequents Lunds and The Wedge, there are many of us.

I went to the SLP store a few days after it opened back in the mid -2000's..shoppers were saying over and over things like "When I moved back to Minnesota after living in LA I couldn't wait for Trader Joes open a store here."

trader joe's would complement whole paycheck nicely. i don't always want to shell out $7.99 for a bag of tortilla chips.

trader joe's would complement whole paycheck nicely. i don't always want to shell out $7.99 for a bag of tortilla chips.

But when I do, I want it to be all organic, artisanal hand mashed, chia infused, and doused with Whole Foods Unicorn Tears™!

It would be a win for the city that current Minneapolis residents would not have to drive to SLP, when we can now keep our dollars in Minneapolis. Count me in as TJ shopper who also frequents Lunds and The Wedge, there are many of us.

I went to the SLP store a few days after it opened back in the mid -2000's..shoppers were saying over and over things like "When I moved back to Minnesota after living in LA I couldn't wait for Trader Joes open a store here."

I live in uptown and drive to the Burnsville Wal-Mart to do most of my grocery shopping.

Aren't there like... a million Wal-Marts between Uptown and Burnsville?

But the burnsville Walmart has the freshest produce, something you wouldn't understand fmp

But yes, looking at google maps there is one in Bloomington directly on the way to Burnsville. The midway one is closest distance wise, but probably not time wise.

Not a fan of Walmart and the Walton family, so my trips there are few and far between. Pay your workers so they still need food stamps, and she can use the millions saved to buy her art for her museum.

To keep this in the right focus, TJ is a niche market for me that I get about a dozen items and that is it. And most of those items have chocolate as one of the main ingredients. Not a fan of their packaged foods. I have on occasion picked up some of their frozen, but that is a rarity.