Trader Joe’s Sets Opening Month

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by ARLnow.com September 15, 2011 at 12:54 pm 11,519 83 Comments

The opening of the new Trader Joe’s in Clarendon is about two months away.

The company announced today that its grocery store at 1109 N. Highland Street will open at some point in November. The store is 12,300 square feet in size and will offer underground parking.

Interior construction started early last month. Freezer cases and other food-related accoutrements are now visible inside the under-construction store.

With the opening forthcoming, Clarendon residents will soon start receiving Trader Joe’s sales flyers.

“Many area residents after the store opens can expect to receive a copy of the Trader Joe’s ‘Fearless Flyer’ in their mailboxes,” the company said. “The Fearless Flyer is a somewhat irreverent description of a timely selection of Trader Joe’s products. It’s been called a cross between Consumer Reports and Mad Magazine.”

There are more than 350 Trader Joe’s stores in 30 states.

Thes

Yay. Took them long enough…
- Arlington Permit Reviewer #5
  
  I may have had something to do with that.
  - AbsurdParkingRegulations#200
    
    me too. me too.
- Spike
  
  Agree!!! It will be a nice blend with Whole Foods’ offerings.
UnlimitedCustoms

Will the inevitable traffic disaster at Clarendon/Garfield Streets be addressed by Arlington County?
- Bluemontsince1961
  
  I doubt it, until some very unfortunate accident happens.
- Traffic!!
  
  Removal of slip lanes, additional speedbumps, extended sidewalks and new lane medians are on tap to combat traffic issues on said streets.
- LP
  
  How could it be addressed? There are buildings everywhere, what are they going to do, tear down a building?
  - SomeGuy
    
    For curiosity’s sake, I’d like to hear some ideas. But it’s not really for us to figure out.
    - JJ
      
      Filmore St, Garfield St become 1 way roads. Intersection at Washington/10th/Filmore is reconfigured for better traffic flow and debate whether 11th st should be closed at the Garfield intersection.
      
      Garfield St between Washington Blvd and Wilson are going to be as close to a warzone as urbanized, white folks can get to.
    - UnlimitedCustoms
      
      Removal of the “nubs’ to allow cars to continue straight while those turning wait for pedestrians. It would only require removing two of the four “nubs” on Garfield (SE and NW corners.)
SomeGuy

Yes. And no less effectively than how the county has addressed the intersection of Edgewood St and Clarendon Blvd, where Market Commons converges with Whole Foods and Starbucks.
- SomeGuy
  
  Damn. That was meant to be in response to UnlimitedCustoms.
  http://www.arlnow.com/2011/09/15/trader-joes-sets-opening-month/comment-page-1/#comment-83940
- DarkHeart
  
  It has truly become a new circle of hell if you don’t live within BFF walking/biking/segway distance.
  - Too bad
    
    …the County could not have put together some Walmarty type law to handle all the excess traffic.
    - Aaron
      
      Maybe, but Trader Joe’s is only for good people.
  - drax
    
    It’s really easy to stop there on your way home from work on Metro too.
    - Aaron
      
      People who bring their groceries onto Metro look poor.
      - drax
        
        People who care what other people think about them bringing groceries on Metro are pathetic losers though, so that evens it out.
      - They don’t have time
        
        ..to think about what others think about them, they are too busy being poor.
      - drax
        
        I meant the ones who aren’t poor, but only look poor with groceries. Poor people who are actually poor are just happy to have food and a way to get home and think we’re all a bunch of idiot losers on this site. Lots of the former are now the latter these days.
- Thes
  
  How many accidents and injuries occur at that intersection? Or is it merely an annoyance?
  - Probably more
    
    ….than in Chain Bridge Forest.
KalashniKEV

Woohoo! I check here every day looking for TJ’s news!

I hope the traffic is bad enough that it makes everyone not in walking distance go to the Alexandria one or the ghetto one.
- My extensions are da bomb
  
  Is the ghetto one at Bailey’s Crossroads?
- Bluemontsince1961
  
  There are two TJ’s that I know of besides the new one in Arlington, one at Bailey’s Crossroads and the other just west of Rt.7 & I-66 between Falls Church and Tysons. Are there others in Northern VA besides those two?
  - ArlingtonNative
    
    Yep – Reston, off Baron Cameron, just below Rt 7100
    (which might actually be Elden Str / Herndon at that point)
    - LP
      
      Old Town also.
  - Skeptical
    
    Springfield, more or less.
  - kc
    
    Not NOVA but also one nearby in DC in Foggy Bottom.
khady

Will they have an inside door so those who live in the bldg won’t have to even go outside to get groceries?
- dirty biker
  
  The secret inside door will scan for brown flip flops…
  
  For the record, I’m psyched because it’s in bike/walk distance for me- parking will be… interesting
- Thes
  
  @khady Actually, there WILL be such a door, from the parking garage.
  - khady
    
    Score! I knew there was a reason I pay an arm and a leg to live there. I’ll save money going to TJ’s and time than the long walk to WFs.
    - John
      
      Long walk? It’s about 2 blocks!
      - khady
        
        Yeah, EXACTLY!
Veeta

Well it is going to be mighty tricky traffic wise . This is my bike route, and N Highland is already problematic, especially when the idiotic Lyon Hall valet is in service. Who thought it was a good idea to have cars stopping in the middle of the road at that intersection?
JimPB

Think urban environment, e.g., New York City. The Big Apple’s downtown streets are clogged and the sidewalks are thronged with people, but in numerous visits I have yet to observe or hear or see any indications of an accident there (muggins, yes, several decades ago). What do New Yorkers do to achieve such apparent safety that we should emulate? I don’t recall seeing anything there that has been suggested above other than median strips.
- DarkHeart
  
  Stiletto Heels > BFFs
- JamesE
  
  A subway without 45 minute wait times at night.
  - UnlimitedCustoms
    
    Zing!
- Hattie McDaniel
  
  NYC has mostly ninety-degree street corners. Too much of Arlington does not. That is why people jaywalk, because sometimes to go to the corner to cross is not the least bit convienient.
- charlie
  
  density. we don’t have enough of it. more man more.
- R.Griffon
  
  That’s what I don’t get. People say “It’ll be total gridlock! There will be heaps of deadly accidents!”. Ummm … OK – so which is it, b/c you can’t have both.
- Maria
  
  In my experience walking in NYC, it’s because all the people there – drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists – look out for themselves and don’t rely on just what the law says people should and shouldn’t do. Also, as weird as it may seem if you just look at it on the surface because it’s kind of chaotic, people usually make smart decisions about how to drive/walk/bike in a way that keeps everyone moving.
  
  I’m not sure if I can explain this right, but for example, when a car in NYC is making a turn at a green light while pedestrians are crossing, the car will GO if they can make it before the pedestrian reaches them. Here in Arlington, I’ve seen a lot of cars on the opposite side of the intersection wait until I’ve crossed the entire street before turning right. It may be the “correct” thing to do since I’m in the intersection, but if they have a solid 8 seconds before I get anywhere near them, they should just go ahead and make the turn.
  
  Oh, and the fact that traffic in NYC moves at a slow crawl in the most dense areas helps too…
- YTK
  
  ATTITOOD, ATTITOOD, ATTITTOOD. That’s what New Yorkers have, use and show. In other words “Geddouddamyway!” And they are NOT PRISSSY, or Self Conscious, or Boringly Egocentric, like summa these heah Arling-toe-neeeans
Worst is Yet to Come

Even worse, Garfield, which is primarily a residential street now rather than a thoroughfare, has been selected as the detour route when construction begins at Route 50 and 10th Street. Even though Highland is a larger commercial street and already handles more traffic, Garfield will get the Trader Joe’s traffic and the detour traffic at the same time, on top of the cars already clogging the street to drop off and pick up people from the residential buildings there. Both the County and the State signed off on the Garfield detour plan. Hopefully, they will at least paint crosswalks at 11th and Garfield, because the stop sign there is often obstructed by buses at the bus stop.
- Bluemontsince1961
  
  I don’t get over to Clarendon too often and all this sounds like even more reasons for me to avoid it. Sounds like it will be one hot mess except maybe for persons that can walk it – except they’ll have to be especially vigilant for the crazy drivers, who’ll probably be even more frustrated with this mess.
- Clarendon Resident
  
  Grrreat. Can you tell me where I can read more about this development?
Alexandrian

Makes no difference for me… TJ has limited selections. It wouldn’t make any sense getting half my shopping done at TJ, then go back to Fresh Fields to get remaining items needed.

Thanks, but I’ll be sticking with WFM all the way.
- drax
  
  TJ is good for getting occasional, quick items or items you can’t get elsewhere, like some of their gourmet frozen stuff and cereal and juice. It’s a supplement to your regular store.
  - Alexandrian
    
    I guess I’m alone where I want to hit one store, get everything I need for the whole week, and get out…
    - drax
      
      Everyone wants to do that, but sometimes you, like, run out of something.
      - Thes
        
        I don’t want to do that at all. I want to decide what I want for dinner each night, and pick it up fresh on the way home. Sometimes I don’t even know what I want for dinner so I go to the store and see what looks good to me that night. It’s awesome.
        
        If you don’t need to use a car to get home from the store, this method much lower stress and you’re almost never out of anything. It’s also how many people in cities around the world live.
        
        Fortunately for Trader Joes Clarendon, there are about 6000 people who live within walking distance. I don’t mind that people can drive there, too. But it’s not something that I, personally, want to do, and I don’t want to be run over by any of them when I’m carrying my food home, either. If drivers are so inconvenienced by pedestrians on that block that they’d rather go to Baileys or Tysons, so be it. There are no good sidewalks there, anyway. To each his own. Enjoy it your way.
      - bemused bystander
        
        In short, you want what you want when you want it. How fortunate to be able to have it all, to afford living in the heart of the civilized city, to be healthy enough to walk home with your dinner and wine, and savvy enough to stake out your turf even before the store opens, so lord help any mere non-pedestrian who gets in your way. Cheers.
      - Thes
        
        It IS wonderful. I DO feel fortunate. I hope more people get to enjoy my way of life over time.
        
        In fact, the more people who live like me, the more private and public sector services I’m likely to see emerging for us urbanites. That’s one reason I support my tax dollars going to support preservation of affordable housing in Arlington.
        
        I do think that there are places (like interstate highways) where pedestrians should be inconvenienced for the sake of vehicle users. And I think there are other places (like urban grocery stores) where vehicle users should be inconvenienced for the sake of pedestrians.
      - R.Griffon
        
        It’s pretty great. Although I probably wouldn’t describe it as “fortunate.”. Discovering oil on your land is fortunate. Living in “urban village” bliss is usually a conscious choice. One that most people pay a high premium for.
        
        And FWIW, I’m very much a fan of the recent and widely successful trend of actively making areas car un-friendly in order to improve urban spaces (see NYC and many cities in western Europe). In each case I’ve seen, business and property values go up while accidents and pollution go down. Maybe 11th and Garfield should be closed to traffic completely, and be made into bike and pedestrian thoroughfares. That’d be AWESOME.
      - Suburban Not Urban
        
        What you need is a life – so you have something other than going to the grocery store to do at night.
      - R.Griffon
        
        I’ve heard of these. Do you know where I can get one?
      - charlie
        
        you are fortunate to live and work in a metro environment.
        not everyone has the good fortune. while my office is served by a bus, it takes forever.
        and if i want to go to TJ’s on my way home, it will be easier to drive. Mainly because bus service in Clarendon sucks. As does Metro.
        if you work downtown, great. if you work in the suburbs, you MUST drive.
- John Mackey
  
  “Fresh Fields”. LOL You are showing your age, it hasn’t been called that for many, many years.
  - Aaron
    
    I still call it that from time to time, usually after getting my coffee from Xandos. Kids today don’t know what they missed.
  - not really
    
    I always shop at Bread and Circus
    - older still
      
      I get my gas at Esso with my Mastercharge, sonny.
    - Clarendude
      
      Here’s a picture from when it was B&C
      
      http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3265/2742171169_d51e964aca_o.jpg
      - Josh S
        
        That’s wild. How long did it have that name? It couldn’t have even been one year, was it? I swear I lived in Arlington since before it was built, but I have no recollection of it having been named Bread and Circus.
      - Clarendude
        
        It was more than 1 year but maybe not that long. I remember they had the poll to determine what name all the stores should have after the merger and I voted for Bread & Circus. My memory might be faulty though because I kept calling Bread&Circus well after it changed.
        
        The local TV network used to do a “Singles Night” at B&C (perhaps on Wednesday ?) with some crazy girl with a microphone and camera running around introducing singles to each other and stuff.
- Slow on the up take
  
  Ok… I realize I’m super slow… but I remembe Fresh Fields and I had NO idea that whole foods and fresh fields were the same company. Clearly I don’t shop there often (can’t really afford “whole paycheck” though I know they have stuff I like), but still learned something new today. Wow.
  - John Mackey
    
    Whole Foods bought out Fresh Fields.
    - drax
      
      He’s even slower than he realized.
Christine

As I recall, before it was called Fresh Fields….it was called Bread and Circus…I think that name lasted about a year.
- NorthArlingTim
  
  … and before that, it was part of Sears. 🙂
  - Chief Powhatan
    
    And before that, it was my village. Stupid white people.
- Novanglus
  
  Yeah, it was built as a Bread & Circus — a Boston-based chain which Whole Foods bought before the store even opened. WF also bought DC-based Fresh Fields a year later and merged the DC-area B&C’s into it. Later they renamed everything to WF.
Lou

Sears Garden Center, where Santa Claus came every Christmas season.
Shirleyyoujest

Thank God…now all those freakin’ people can stay out of mine at Bailey’s.
nota gain

Great, now I can walk to TJ’s and forget the Bailey’s store with its terrible traffic flow.
Yeah, Hi

I just moved here and guess what? Your grocery chains are criminally awful.

List of infractions include malnourished produce, repugnant store branded foodstuffs, incongruous availability of goods and glacial-pace workers. This has been a most traumatic discovery.

Even your Whole Foods’ suck, and I’m from Austin. Now, I face harder times, thinking a TJ’s will be my salvation.

I would kill for a Peach Sweet Leaf right now. Or a bulk isle. Or conveyor belt longer than 2 feet.

That is all.
- Alex
  
  Check out MOM’s in Alexandria. It’s the best grocer around here.
- speonjosh
  
  See? The sense of entitlement isn’t just a NOVA thing…..
- Grocer
  
  Sounds like ‘Yeah, Hi’ has been shopping at the Rosslyn Safeway.
YTK

OK BRONX PIZZA — RU letting Trader Joe’s show you down???? when the HECK are YOU gonna open????
F Whole Foods

Hopefully this will put Whole Foods (whole pay check) out of business. Finally an affordable grocery store in Clarendon. I know people are going to hate, but just compare the frozen food sections of the WFs and TJs. Huge difference.

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