Trader Joe's arrival a coup for loyalists, East Liberty
Thursday, May 25, 2006
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
So powerful is the allure of Trader Joe's that a group of Friendship residents launched a letter-writing campaign a couple of years ago to try to persuade the grocery chain to open a store in Pittsburgh.
They finally will get their wish.
The California-based grocer, known for reasonably priced gourmet foods and a quirky ambience that includes employees in Hawaiian shirts, has said it will open a store this year at the old Wheeler Paint Company building on Penn Avenue in East Liberty. Alison Mochizuki, a Trader Joe's spokeswoman, would not confirm the location, but sources familiar with the project said it would be at the site.
The decision not only is a coup for local shoppers in search of quality foods at discounted prices, but for resurgent East Liberty, which is also home to the popular Whole Foods Market and a burgeoning retail district.
"We are very excited. This is a total home run for the neighborhood and we think it will be a home run for Trader Joe's as well," said Rob Stephany, director of commercial real estate for East Liberty Development Inc.
The location of the store is almost within shouting distance of Whole Foods, The Home Depot and the Eastside development, which will include a Borders bookstore, a specialty wine store, and a Starbucks coffee shop.
Trader Joe's likely would occupy ground level retail space in the Wheeler Paint building at 6393 Penn Ave., a former post office being converted to shops, offices, and perhaps a restaurant.
Becky Mingo, executive director of Friendship Development Associates, said that East Liberty could become a regional destination with Trader Joe's, drawing people from as far as Central Pennsylvania and Ohio.
It was Ms. Mingo and some of her neighbors, all familiar with the grocer after living in other cities or through visits to relatives, who joined a couple of years ago for the letter-writing campaign.
"I think it started because people really like the kind of products Trader Joe's sells," she said. "It's really good food at a really good price."
Trader Joe's got its start in Southern California in 1958 as a chain of convenience stores known as Pronto Markets.
By 1967, Pronto became Trader Joe's, named after its founder Joe Coulombe, offering specialty cheeses and wines before expanding into a chain of neighborhood grocery stores.
The grocer has gained such a reputation for quality and reasonably priced gourmet and organic foods that it is not uncommon for people to stand in line to await a grand opening in a new city.
Trader Joe's carries its own store brand, known for being as good or better than national brands, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, sweets, frozen foods, and such staples as milk, bread and cheeses, often at steeply discounted prices.
It also carries a selection of quality wines at inexpensive prices, including a Charles Shaw variety known as Two Buck Chuck. It's expected the Pittsburgh store will not sell wine, which also is the case at the five other Pennsylvania stores it already operates.
Burt P. Flickinger III, managing director of the Strategic Resource Group, a New York-based consulting firm, said Trader Joe's has the potential to offer higher savings than Wal-Marts or warehouse clubs while at the same time providing superb products.
"They have very high quality and tend to be a low-price leader. It really can offer a family in any given market a significant savings on food," he said.
Trader Joe's is known for its "great depth and range of natural and organic products,'' Mr. Flickinger said. "But at the same time, they cover key categories that are represented in traditional food stores and supermarkets."
Mr. Flickinger said Pittsburgh tended to be a high priced market for foods and that he would not be surprised if the Pittsburgh store becomes one of Trader Joe's top revenue producers.
"It will be really exciting for Pittsburgh shoppers who haven't had a lot of new and exciting retail news in a long time," he said.
Trader Joe's, he said, also has a "treasure hunt" aspect about it in that the grocer looks for closeouts or other discounted goods for its stores, meaning the bargains could vary from day to day.
"The deep discount you saw on Monday may not be there on Friday," he said.
Trader Joe's currently has more than 254 stores in 20 states, including the five in Eastern Pennsylvania.
It is owned by Karl and Theo Albrecht, brothers who also own the Aldi grocery store chain.
Pittsburgh-area brokers have been trying to land the quirky grocer for several years, in part because it brings such a loyal shopper following and because of the success of Whole Foods. Other chains said to have given the region a fresh look include Greensboro, N.C.-based Fresh Market, which builds small stores modeled on European markets, and Wild Oats Markets, a Boulder, Colo.-based competitor to Whole Foods.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
So powerful is the allure of Trader Joe's that a group of Friendship residents launched a letter-writing campaign a couple of years ago to try to persuade the grocery chain to open a store in Pittsburgh.
They finally will get their wish.
The California-based grocer, known for reasonably priced gourmet foods and a quirky ambience that includes employees in Hawaiian shirts, has said it will open a store this year at the old Wheeler Paint Company building on Penn Avenue in East Liberty. Alison Mochizuki, a Trader Joe's spokeswoman, would not confirm the location, but sources familiar with the project said it would be at the site.
The decision not only is a coup for local shoppers in search of quality foods at discounted prices, but for resurgent East Liberty, which is also home to the popular Whole Foods Market and a burgeoning retail district.
"We are very excited. This is a total home run for the neighborhood and we think it will be a home run for Trader Joe's as well," said Rob Stephany, director of commercial real estate for East Liberty Development Inc.
The location of the store is almost within shouting distance of Whole Foods, The Home Depot and the Eastside development, which will include a Borders bookstore, a specialty wine store, and a Starbucks coffee shop.
Trader Joe's likely would occupy ground level retail space in the Wheeler Paint building at 6393 Penn Ave., a former post office being converted to shops, offices, and perhaps a restaurant.
Becky Mingo, executive director of Friendship Development Associates, said that East Liberty could become a regional destination with Trader Joe's, drawing people from as far as Central Pennsylvania and Ohio.
It was Ms. Mingo and some of her neighbors, all familiar with the grocer after living in other cities or through visits to relatives, who joined a couple of years ago for the letter-writing campaign.
"I think it started because people really like the kind of products Trader Joe's sells," she said. "It's really good food at a really good price."
Trader Joe's got its start in Southern California in 1958 as a chain of convenience stores known as Pronto Markets.
By 1967, Pronto became Trader Joe's, named after its founder Joe Coulombe, offering specialty cheeses and wines before expanding into a chain of neighborhood grocery stores.
The grocer has gained such a reputation for quality and reasonably priced gourmet and organic foods that it is not uncommon for people to stand in line to await a grand opening in a new city.
Trader Joe's carries its own store brand, known for being as good or better than national brands, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, sweets, frozen foods, and such staples as milk, bread and cheeses, often at steeply discounted prices.
It also carries a selection of quality wines at inexpensive prices, including a Charles Shaw variety known as Two Buck Chuck. It's expected the Pittsburgh store will not sell wine, which also is the case at the five other Pennsylvania stores it already operates.
Burt P. Flickinger III, managing director of the Strategic Resource Group, a New York-based consulting firm, said Trader Joe's has the potential to offer higher savings than Wal-Marts or warehouse clubs while at the same time providing superb products.
"They have very high quality and tend to be a low-price leader. It really can offer a family in any given market a significant savings on food," he said.
Trader Joe's is known for its "great depth and range of natural and organic products,'' Mr. Flickinger said. "But at the same time, they cover key categories that are represented in traditional food stores and supermarkets."
Mr. Flickinger said Pittsburgh tended to be a high priced market for foods and that he would not be surprised if the Pittsburgh store becomes one of Trader Joe's top revenue producers.
"It will be really exciting for Pittsburgh shoppers who haven't had a lot of new and exciting retail news in a long time," he said.
Trader Joe's, he said, also has a "treasure hunt" aspect about it in that the grocer looks for closeouts or other discounted goods for its stores, meaning the bargains could vary from day to day.
"The deep discount you saw on Monday may not be there on Friday," he said.
Trader Joe's currently has more than 254 stores in 20 states, including the five in Eastern Pennsylvania.
It is owned by Karl and Theo Albrecht, brothers who also own the Aldi grocery store chain.
Pittsburgh-area brokers have been trying to land the quirky grocer for several years, in part because it brings such a loyal shopper following and because of the success of Whole Foods. Other chains said to have given the region a fresh look include Greensboro, N.C.-based Fresh Market, which builds small stores modeled on European markets, and Wild Oats Markets, a Boulder, Colo.-based competitor to Whole Foods.