Trader Joe’s purchased 1331 Wilshire Boulevard! Really interested to see what they do with that space. Will they embark on a new development (my hope!) or move into the existing space? Either way, great news!
I was under the impression that they were closing the one on 23rd, maybe due to the lease expiring, and that they were planning to move to a new space.
employee at 23rd TJs, we have been told we arent moving since the rumors started. There can always be a chance that changes but so far, we're here to stay :)
It's right on a 41 as well and I forget the Wilshire line but it's right by that Von's (which I assume was going to close down now that the new store is open in Downtown).
Wilshire is line 2 on the BBB. There also used to be a stop for line 42 across the street - I never understood why they cancelled that one
Vons isn't going anywhere, though. The new downtown store at 710 Broadway is just a replacement of a standalone Vons that had been there for many years, now in a mixed-use building.
That Von's is small. It's never that well stocked. I went last week because I had a big box to ship for the holidays and made the stupid mistake of thinking this location would be less busy than the main station, and afterwards shopped. I used to come to this store 2,3 a month and it was far less busy this trip than say 3, 6 months ago.
Wow, the same parking lot as the Vons and less than 10 blocks from two other TJs? That’s pretty aggressive for TJs. It’s definitely a new era for them.
Edit: it’s crazy to think there are places where people have to drive 30 minutes or more to find one and we can pretty much walk to three different stores. (Plus there’s a fourth right over the border on Olympic.) I think a big part of why it works here is because people really do appreciate walkable/bikeable, and the fact that they’re all the same. The DTSM store is my store and there’s really no reason to go to another one, unless maybe they’re out of something. They very much feel like a neighborhood store.
Honestly, whether it moves or not this is the perfect example of how people can make one, small public transit trip a month or week, which benefits everyone. Also, no TJ’s parking hassle.
Agree! I live near the old Rite Aid on Pico, and it'd be nice to have a TJ there. The Pico TJ is a nicer (= longer) walk but the store is small and often plagued by empty shelves due to having a tiny stockroom.
I live walking distance to the former Rite Aid. They’ve had the parking lot blocked off for a few months and you can see them working on the inside of it. That location is easily twice the square footage of the TJ’s on 23rd with way more convenient parking.
This comment was more along the lines of wishful thinking since Rite Aid, 99 cents, Bed Baths Beyond, and etc. closed up shop along the westside. Lots of vacant spaces… decent opportunities.
Those closures are evidence of how it's economically very challenging for low cost/low margin to thrive in Santa Monica.
Commercial vacant spaces are very different from residential real estate, hence you're going to see them vacant for much longer in a city like hours. (To wit, the hobby store on Ocean Park has been empty for several years.)
99 Cents Only was doing well in the Pico location in WLA. They closed the Venice location, which really was an outlier since people were not going to shop WF or even CVS and then browse 99. The Pico location on (28th) was far too small. It's even too small for the dollar tree that moved in, especially since they haven't properly dealt with their refrigerated food issue, which makes it a pointless location for most of their base.
99 went out of business nationally because the hedge fund owners robbed the assets and dumped liabilities same as with Sears, and many other chains.
The underground TJ's on 5th is hard to park at and strictly for locals. With a mini TARGET directly across the street it somehow stays busy. Perhaps because that TARGET is the most expensive in the area.
I find that one way easier to park at than the one on 23rd. Good size spaces and always available. My phone doesn’t work in the store so can’t check if my wife needs anything extra and somewhat lackluster produce but the parking is fine for me.
Selfishly happy about this because it'll be right around the corner from me. I could still walk to the TJs on 23rd, but it was a 30-40 min round trip so I had to be conservative about how much I could buy/carry back with me lol. At least I was able to consider it my workout for the day
Oh wow, I knew the constant joke I hear about TJs and parking but didn’t know it had truth behind it.
I lease my office and I don’t believe we pay for the size of our lot. The building bought an overflow lot next door. I don’t recall it added into our updated lease last year.
I wonder if that lends more possibility they bought it since I could see it costing more the bigger the lot.
Yeah I think it just must be part of their business model. They save money on parking in order to offset the thinner margins on their products. So yeah, parking is always annoying at TJ's, but I guess it's part of why their products are so affordable lol.
There was a city council meeting back in May I believe where it was disclosed in order to get the city to remove some red tape while negotiations were occurring between TJ's and the property owner.
Is this for real this time? This was first mentioned earlier in the year citing the fact that receiving deliveries at the current location on 23rd is a hassle and Euclid would fix that plus be a bigger store with more parking but then it was said the deal was dead because the current building doesn’t have the capacity for the refrigeration required for a grocery store and it would cost too much to upgrade. So did they change their mind and decide to invest? Will both locations remain open? I believe there are two TJs directly across the street from each other in the valley so this wouldn’t be a crazy reach to keep both locations open.
It's public knowledge that they have been negotiating for months now with the owners of the building. They disclosed this a while back during a city council meeting in order to help expedite the process due to some red tape.
The refrigeration issue never made sense to me because that Rite Aid location had a full ice cream parlor and a lot of refrigerated and frozen cases for drinks, frozen food and ice cream on one side of the store. So maybe that issue wasn't actually a thing?
Cool. There had been rumors of that here on this sub in recent months. I'm sure it would be easy enough for them to adapt the existing space.
For those taking the bus, this location is closer to a Metro 720 stop than the TJs on 23rd.
Will they keep 23rd?
I was under the impression that they were closing the one on 23rd, maybe due to the lease expiring, and that they were planning to move to a new space.
employee at 23rd TJs, we have been told we arent moving since the rumors started. There can always be a chance that changes but so far, we're here to stay :)
thank god i don’t know what i would do if that tj’s closed down. i hope it doesn’t go for a long time!
It's the only Trader Joe's in the world with enough parking
Corporate will tell employees whatever is best for the bottom line and that’s keeping peace at their existing locations until the last minute.
It's right on a 41 as well and I forget the Wilshire line but it's right by that Von's (which I assume was going to close down now that the new store is open in Downtown).
Wilshire is line 2 on the BBB. There also used to be a stop for line 42 across the street - I never understood why they cancelled that one
Vons isn't going anywhere, though. The new downtown store at 710 Broadway is just a replacement of a standalone Vons that had been there for many years, now in a mixed-use building.
That Von's is small. It's never that well stocked. I went last week because I had a big box to ship for the holidays and made the stupid mistake of thinking this location would be less busy than the main station, and afterwards shopped. I used to come to this store 2,3 a month and it was far less busy this trip than say 3, 6 months ago.
Wow, the same parking lot as the Vons and less than 10 blocks from two other TJs? That’s pretty aggressive for TJs. It’s definitely a new era for them.
I think the one on 23rd is closing.
Edit: it’s crazy to think there are places where people have to drive 30 minutes or more to find one and we can pretty much walk to three different stores. (Plus there’s a fourth right over the border on Olympic.) I think a big part of why it works here is because people really do appreciate walkable/bikeable, and the fact that they’re all the same. The DTSM store is my store and there’s really no reason to go to another one, unless maybe they’re out of something. They very much feel like a neighborhood store.
That would be sad for that community. It seems highly utilized and a lot of people walk there. That’s a nice store.
Honestly, whether it moves or not this is the perfect example of how people can make one, small public transit trip a month or week, which benefits everyone. Also, no TJ’s parking hassle.
Now we just need the TJs on Pico to take over the Rite Aid right up the street!
Agree! I live near the old Rite Aid on Pico, and it'd be nice to have a TJ there. The Pico TJ is a nicer (= longer) walk but the store is small and often plagued by empty shelves due to having a tiny stockroom.
I would have rather have an Aldi's at either location.
A TJ with a sane parking lot layout!
I live walking distance to the former Rite Aid. They’ve had the parking lot blocked off for a few months and you can see them working on the inside of it. That location is easily twice the square footage of the TJ’s on 23rd with way more convenient parking.
Darn, I was hoping for something like Aldi.
I think we've made it economically unviable for something like an Aldi to operate in Santa Monica.
This comment was more along the lines of wishful thinking since Rite Aid, 99 cents, Bed Baths Beyond, and etc. closed up shop along the westside. Lots of vacant spaces… decent opportunities.
Those closures are evidence of how it's economically very challenging for low cost/low margin to thrive in Santa Monica.
Commercial vacant spaces are very different from residential real estate, hence you're going to see them vacant for much longer in a city like hours. (To wit, the hobby store on Ocean Park has been empty for several years.)
99 Cents Only was doing well in the Pico location in WLA. They closed the Venice location, which really was an outlier since people were not going to shop WF or even CVS and then browse 99. The Pico location on (28th) was far too small. It's even too small for the dollar tree that moved in, especially since they haven't properly dealt with their refrigerated food issue, which makes it a pointless location for most of their base.
99 went out of business nationally because the hedge fund owners robbed the assets and dumped liabilities same as with Sears, and many other chains.
Would kill for an Aldi
Nice!
The underground TJ's on 5th is hard to park at and strictly for locals. With a mini TARGET directly across the street it somehow stays busy. Perhaps because that TARGET is the most expensive in the area.
I find that one way easier to park at than the one on 23rd. Good size spaces and always available. My phone doesn’t work in the store so can’t check if my wife needs anything extra and somewhat lackluster produce but the parking is fine for me.
There are tons of residential buildings around there, and the other TJ's aren't necessarily a doable walk or bus trip for everyone.
Plus every time I'm in there I see a lot of curious tourists, and that's understandable given the location.
Where’d you get your info?
Finally, more parking
Wishing it was an Aldi though - to be honest
Selfishly happy about this because it'll be right around the corner from me. I could still walk to the TJs on 23rd, but it was a 30-40 min round trip so I had to be conservative about how much I could buy/carry back with me lol. At least I was able to consider it my workout for the day
Trader Joe's! Trader Joe's!
Um….did they lease the space? Rare that a retailer would purchase real estate.
Yeah I know the owner was open to selling but I'm not sure Trader Joe's would prefer to buy instead of lease.
I know Trader Joe's doesn't want a parking lot that big.
That second part made me LOL. Thanks!
It's actually true. That was one of the points they were negotiating over.
Oh wow, I knew the constant joke I hear about TJs and parking but didn’t know it had truth behind it.
I lease my office and I don’t believe we pay for the size of our lot. The building bought an overflow lot next door. I don’t recall it added into our updated lease last year.
I wonder if that lends more possibility they bought it since I could see it costing more the bigger the lot.
Yeah I think it just must be part of their business model. They save money on parking in order to offset the thinner margins on their products. So yeah, parking is always annoying at TJ's, but I guess it's part of why their products are so affordable lol.
Did they purchase it or lease it?
Where did you find out about this? Haven’t seen anything about it
There was a city council meeting back in May I believe where it was disclosed in order to get the city to remove some red tape while negotiations were occurring between TJ's and the property owner.
Closing 23rd and moving there
Is this for real this time? This was first mentioned earlier in the year citing the fact that receiving deliveries at the current location on 23rd is a hassle and Euclid would fix that plus be a bigger store with more parking but then it was said the deal was dead because the current building doesn’t have the capacity for the refrigeration required for a grocery store and it would cost too much to upgrade. So did they change their mind and decide to invest? Will both locations remain open? I believe there are two TJs directly across the street from each other in the valley so this wouldn’t be a crazy reach to keep both locations open.
It's public knowledge that they have been negotiating for months now with the owners of the building. They disclosed this a while back during a city council meeting in order to help expedite the process due to some red tape.
The refrigeration issue never made sense to me because that Rite Aid location had a full ice cream parlor and a lot of refrigerated and frozen cases for drinks, frozen food and ice cream on one side of the store. So maybe that issue wasn't actually a thing?
Wanted an Aldi