Trader Joe's In Davis Square

[petitedov.livejournal.com]

Hey everyone!   A friend of mine started a small campaign to get Trader Joe's to put a store in Davis Sq. Consider how great it would be  if a Tader Joe's was right in the Square. Highly convenient, delicious food, fresh produce, and the prices aren't so bad.

Please fill out the request form. It should only take 30 seconds.
 http://www.traderjoes.com/location_requests_form.aspx

Maybe if enough people submit a request they'll actually look into it!

Comments

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

That's nice, but where would they put it? TJ's, at least in this area, seems to like to open stores where there's a good amount of parking. Even the Coolidge Corner store has something of a parking lot out back. And I can't think of any vacant locations in the D^2 area like that.

[ron_newman]

McIntyre & Moore's old space is big enough. I can't think of anything else in Davis that is.

[narya.livejournal.com]

Maybe where the Burlington Coat Factory used to be in Porter? Or is something else already going in there? Being below ground level would be annoying but I'm sure they'd still get plenty of customers.

[syntheticnature.livejournal.com]

Being directly under a competitor might be a bit of an issue too.

[ron_newman]

Shaw's might have veto power over the landlord leasing to any other grocer. Also, I don't see how a basement grocery could possibly work.

[magid.livejournal.com]

The Trader Joe's downtown (Boston) is (a) in a basement and (b) without parking.

[belladonna.livejournal.com]

and (c) awesome. :)

[ron_newman]

btw, Burlington Coat Factory hasn't closed yet. They'll be around until some time in June. Right now they're having a 20%/30%/50%-off sale (discount depends on color of dot on price tag).

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

It's true! I got a fabulous coat there yesterday!

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

This has been brought up before ad nauseum, though perhaps not in the last 12 months. Really, there's no place to put it as the previous commenter said. The one in Arlington is sheer hell to get in and out of, and they HAVE a lot.

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

I thought the whole point of TJ was to have the most insane parking lots ever. In the past, I was nearly hit every time I went to the one by MicroCenter. Where I live now in NM, the TJ parking lot is cramped and laid out so that back into each other constantly. Even the one in Los Angeles, which had enough space to be a decent parking lot, was designed in some freakish way to cause accidents. It's like they want people risking their lives to get in and out of the store.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

It's something they put in the products that makes people crazy.

[evilbunnymayhem.livejournal.com]

I worked for them for years an saw first hand the parking hell day in an day out... sure it'd be great, until it isn't. Davis is already getting more and more congested, the last thing it needs is a chain market to clog it up more. Just outside, like in Ball Sq or something would be cool... or Medford maybe? Another space like what Jonny's foodmaster has would be good, close enough but not too close.
They have a team to look into this stuff and a petition isn't gonna change anything residents change often near colleges.. sorry they have statistics and sales numbers they look at, they'd also be looking at the city of somerville (think IKEA). Good luck, but don't hold yer breath.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Oh god, the idea of replacing the hole that is the Johnny's Foodmaster at 16 & Broadway with a Trader Joe's... Oh god, yes, yes YES!

(Not that it'll happen, but it's a nice idea.)

[rmd.livejournal.com]

the foodmaster location might work (particularly with whole foods opening up further up rt 16, so you've got it being a destination-of-sorts for upscale food). the winter hill star location might work, too -- there are enough big supermarkets around there to keep anything less niche-ish out.

also, instead of putting a hotel in davis sq, the city should tear down the old monarch foods building behind city hall and put up a hotel there, instead.

but i digress.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Isn't that Star either closing or already closed?

[ron_newman]

Yes, Winter Hill Star closed in January.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

yep. that's why it would be awesome to put something else there.

[allli.livejournal.com]

like a roller rink!!!

[shana-lyons.livejournal.com]

Totally agreed. . It's actually the most feasable location for something like Trader Joe's anywhere near Davis. It has parking, space, and probably the right zoning. Thanks for the link to suggest it.

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

Well, there's the old Starmarket on Broadway.

Someone told me Foodmaster started in Ball Square (where the CVS was/now the White Hen, empty space). They were wrong, but it made for a good story.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Yeah, except it doesn't really fit with the low income housing right next door. That parking lot is already a scene to get in and out of on Broadway. Meh. I hate Foodmaster too.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

After reading this, the 27th-or-so post about the difficulty of getting in and out of parking lots in Somerville, I have to ask: are there any parking lots within walking distance of the major population centers that *aren't* a scene to get in and out of? I always just kind of thought of that as one of the many "taxes" on owning/using a car in the city...

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

I hate Foodmaster with a passion but I do worry about all the people in the projects -- if they'd be able to afford TJ's, if it would be as useful for people who need a "regular" grocery in walking distance.

[righteousness-1.livejournal.com]

TJs is cheaper for most things and the quality is far better than Stop'n'Shaws/Store 24/Local Kwiki Mart. Think of the advantage to the kids from the projects: no junk food full of additives. They'd also see there is more to life than aisles of artificially colored and preserved junk water and bizarro chips. It can only be good.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

I agree that TJ's has lots of affordable, healthier food but you can't get everything at TJ's that you can get at a "regular" grocery.

[jadelennox]

God, please NO. It is *awesome* having at least one cheap grocery closer than the mob scene that is Market Basket. Johnny's is much less expensive than Shaw's or any of the whole food stores, the staff are polite, and for the staples I can't buy at the farmer's market or the harvest, is perfect. They sell plenty of good stuff at Foodmaster.

Plus, there's affordable housing surrounding that place on two sides -- three, if you count the nearby Arlington projects. What we need is not yet another expensive grocery store there.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

I do basically all of my grocery shopping either at Johnny's or the Super Stop & Shop by Foss Park, and I have noticed that (on the things I'm buying, anyway) the price break isn't as big as you'd imagine.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

I actually find Johnnie's to be kind of expensive. Also, their sales are a total racket with forcing you to buy a minimum to get the sale prices. I've only found one item that's cheaper at Johnnie's than anywhere else.

[jadelennox]

I guess I just buy different things from other people; there are a fair number of staples on my shopping list which are substantially cheaper at Johnny's than they are at Star or any of the whole foods stores.

[lena-a-mermaid.livejournal.com]

That would be dream come true to me. I do not like that Johnny's.


The Shaws/Star space in Winter Hill on Broadway has space and parking. Although many would prefer a second Market Basket in that location.

[mderidder.livejournal.com]

Ron Newman started a petition to get them to look at the now vacant Star Market on Broadway. That appears to have gone nowhere.

http://community.livejournal.com/somervillemass/120805.html

[ron_newman]

I didn't "start a petition", I just picked up the idea from the Winter Hill blog (mentioned below).

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Because it's important to argue on the internet, I feel the need to point out that mamarat suggested Trader Joe's for the spot in a comment to a LJ post in January.

http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1111628.html

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

If you'd spent a lot of time finding that, perhaps staying up late because someone was wrong on the internet, it would have made my day.

[progressnerd.livejournal.com]

The Winter Hill Reborn (http://wintervillain.blogspot.com/2008/04/trader-joes-in-old-winter-hill-star.html) blog suggested a Trader Joe's in the location of the Star Market in Winter Hill that closed in January (http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/archive/x676141495).

[fappyheet.livejournal.com]

There's at least SOME parking in the Rite Aid location and it's nicely situated for subway and bus access. If R.A. is going to lose out to CVS in the medimarket positioning, Trader Joe's could do worse than be there.

[jadelennox]

Alternately, people could support local businesses and shop at the Co-op in Central, and buy local produce from farmer's markets in season.

[derekp.livejournal.com]

Would love to. Care to point me to a farmers market or two that is open until 9PM?

[m00n.livejournal.com]

I second this complaint WHOLE HEARTEDLY. In fact it'd be nice if the one in Davis were open late enough that I had *any chance* of getting there even if I leave work at my 9 - 5 job an hour early.

[jadelennox]

Obviously the local farmer's markets aren't open until 9 p.m. However, the co-op is, and has a rich selection.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

The problem we as a society must tackle is over-consumption.

Try eating less.

[spatch]

Okay, I did, and now my blood sugar levels are incredibly low and I hate everybody and everything, including you. THANKS FOR THE BRILLIANT SUGGESTION.

[blondeamazon.livejournal.com]

They could put a TJs in the old Lowe's theatre in Assembly Square. Huge empty parking lot there. :)

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

Don't want to blow out McKinnon's and Farmer's Bounty. Like 'em both.