Somerville’s first Trader Joe’s to open in 2017

[serious-noir.livejournal.com]

From the Globe:

Come next year, Somerville residents won’t have to go far to pick up a bottle (or two) of their favorite Two Buck Chuck.

Next summer Trader Joe’s plans to open its 19th Massachusetts location at 133 Middlesex Ave. near Assembly Square Marketplace, the grocery chain said Friday.

It’s Trader Joe’s first foray into Somerville, whose next-door neighbor Cambridge currently boasts two branches.

In addition to TJ’s fresh-baked breads, Arabica bean coffees, and its many frozen entrées, Somerville foodies will have another reason to smile: the 12,500 square-foot grocery will also carry beer and wine.

Just five of Trader Joe’s Massachusetts stores sell such libations; three of them—Brookline, Peabody, and the Foxborough Trader Joe’s at Patriot Place—carry liquor in addition to beer and wine.

– http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/05/20/somerville-first-trader-joe-open/rrQ0nXX08TtkyNfoA561WK/story.html

Comments

[ron_newman]

I don't know why it says "near" Assembly Square Marketplace instead of "in". That is the address of the soon-to-close Sports Authority store.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

While I wish they had opened in the grocery spot on Broadway instead, I am glad they are coming to Somerville. Too bad parking at Assembly Square Marketplace is already impossible.

[serious-noir.livejournal.com]

I was curious about distances since I never think of Assembly Sq as convenient to get to (by car) from DS. Maybe just my mental block (or the I-95 mental barrier) or the way I go: Highland or Broadway to McGrath, etc. Not so bad I guess though Alewife is just so easy.

I haven't been to the Cambridge TJ's for a while – aside from the beer & wine, do they have a larger selection since the space is larger than Alewife? I can't recall.

TJ's on Memorial Drive
(http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/serious_noir/21784428/2137/2137_original.png)

TJ's at Alewife
(http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/serious_noir/21784428/2404/2404_original.png)

TJ's at Assembly Square
(http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/serious_noir/21784428/2741/2741_original.png)

[teko.livejournal.com]

While it's currently nearly impossible to find a parking space in the Sports Authority lot (and that's with a Sports Authority there rather than a crazy popular Trader Joes), hopefully the new giant parking structure they're building at Assembly will help alleviate mall parking.

[vonelftinhaus.livejournal.com]

I was going to make this comment also; parking is pretty tough there! With all the stores that are located in the old "assembly" part of the shopping area those spaces get full fast on top of the new stores on the opposite side

[blondeamazon.livejournal.com]

I was thinking the parking was a major issue as well, but didn't realize they were building a garage. That is about the only sensible thing that can be done in that area right now.

[ron_newman]

Aren't there already plenty of garages? Plus an Orange Line station.

[turil.livejournal.com]

Yay!

I mean, if I still lived in Somerville, this would be Yay! for me, personally. But now it's Yay! by proxy!

Though, yeah, it's not at all convenient for Davis Square folks, but for those on the north-east side of town, it's great. And that area could really use some more love, I think.

[craigindaville.livejournal.com]

Before the new development, I used to go to the old mall there all the time. Now, even though the new development has free parking in the garages, it seems everyone parks across at the old place (from the number of people I see walking out of their cars and straight across the street). Maybe they see the meters on the street and assume it's all paid parking? Add in a TJs and it'll be a nightmare. I mean, I could technically walk there in about 15 minutes, but I value my life.

Don't even get me started on the traffic patterns coming from Broadway on McGrath and the underpass there. Yay for busy retail in Somerville (tax moneez) but I don't know many actual locals who go there any more because of how much of a goat rodeo that whole place is now.



(and yes, get off my lawn you darn kids)

[kelkyag]

Crossing under 93 near the S&S or on McGrath is more perilous than I'd like, but crossing at Temple or Mt. Vernon is fairly reasonable. That said, the easier crossings are annoyingly out of the way if you're starting betwen them. Or is there a different life-threatening section you're pondering?

[ron_newman]

Or at Shore Drive, or at Wheatland Street.

[teko.livejournal.com]

There's a large central garage (which is free, and actually really nice, with lovely indicator lights above the spaces, so you can tell with a glance if there's any open spaces in a row), but the future TJ's parking lot is conveniently right between that row of stores and the main 'restaurant row' of Assembly Square, with the movie theater right nearby, and it's the first parking area you see if entering from Rt. 28. So it's nearly always full.

What they likely need is better parking signage, i.e., "400 free parking spaces THIS WAY!" as you enter the area.

[craigindaville.livejournal.com]

I would be crossing at the S&S crossing, which is dicey in the daytime and suicidal after dark. Not to mention the general skeeviness of the underpass area.

[kelkyag]

A couple of lights with pedestrian crossing push-buttons and a serious scrubbing would make that crossing a whole lot nicer. (Bonus points for a mural.) I have to wonder if any improvements there are in the city's plans. Not sure how I'd look that up.

[craigindaville.livejournal.com]

City's aware of it and working on it, but the improvements aren't coming any time soon it would seem:

http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2015/07/06/somerville-assembly-row-development-kensington-underpass-design-proposal/

Kensington Underpass

[kelkyag]

And that's the most recent thing a quick google search is finding for it. Having a name is useful, thank you!

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

Final proof that Somerville is gentrifying!

"Within a 15-minute driving radius of a potential site," one expert told a forlorn Savannah journalist, "there must be at least 36,000 people with four-year college degrees who have a median age of 44 and earn a combined household income of $64K a year." -- "Why Wal-Mart Will Never Pay Like Costco" by Megan McArdle