Kansas City Food Blog

This is my vote. I WANT A TRADER JOE'S!

I lived in Portland and visited TJs every week. Great store with great food at great prices.

Sign me up for the petition and bring Trader Joes to Kansas City!

Alex

If petitions do not play a part in their decisions why do they even bother putting a location request on their website? I'm guessing that most of the people who signed the petition also requested Kansas City as a location on the site. So, that doesn't really make any sense at all.

But... Did you follow up with, "Will Trader Joe's come to Overland Park, KS?" Being from California myself, I can tell you that people are VERY ignorant about the actual locations of KCMO and the greater metro area (especially in regard to the MO/KS proximity).

The key to Trader Joe's is they would need to come to the KCMO side, and not Overland Park, because of the wine and beer stuff that is integral to their charm. Like, the Two Buck Chuck wine. On the Kansas side, they would have to have a separate store for the spirits, which is more expensive to do. This is probably why they aren't interested right now - the reality is the retail space on the KCMO side is either too expensive (plaza, brookside) or too remote and not in their target demo.

Well poo.

STFU and buy from a local retailer.

Actually, Trader Joe's uses separate liquor stores in quite a few of its markets. I don't think KS liquor laws would be an impediment to their expansion at all. Understand that as much as we'd love to have TJ here, most retailers with once-lofty expansion plans are justifiably gun-shy at the moment.

I am so bummed!! I totally fell in love with Trader Joes in Cali! People don't know what they're missing. TJ doesn't know what they're missing either. The market is huge out here and Whole Foods gets most of it since they bought out one of our first local Natural food stores, Wild Oats. Grrrrrrrrr....

It seems KC is always on the back end of St. Louis. I remember seeing Whole Foods there several years before they they started showing up here. I think that the Plaza/Brookside neighborhood would be the ideal target area. There's only the smallish Whole Foods on Main in that part of town. I see a lot of Missouri license plates (including my own!) at the Whole Foods on 91st & Metcalf.

Why put one here when they have a ton of Aldi's in the neighborhood? There's not too much extra incentive- the plaza and Overland Park is about it...

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_17/b3880016.htm

I work for a development company and I've asked and have been told it is in the early negotiations and they are lookin on the MO side only. I've asked for more details and I haven't been told anything. It is more hush-hush than other deals I've caught wind of.

What TJ's does not understand is how big a consumer market KC is. Should they open here, say in downtown or midtown, the store would be swamped with customers as long as it stayed open.

What I think might be holding up the decision is perhaps a union problem. The KC area has always been an open shop. That's why chains like National, Schnucks and Safeway have come and gone. If TJ's is a union shop, they will find it hard to compete in the KC market.

Just moved to KC from Portland, OR. Because of the liquor laws, TJ's will have to be on the MO. side. Even in Portland, I had to travel to go to TJ's. It's not a typical chainstore to be located on every corner -- and to be honest, it's not one-stop shopping. But it really does bring a dimension that none of the other stores here do (and I commend KC for not having any national chain grocery stores outside of the super Wal-Marts).

In Portland, I hit TJs every few weeks or so for stuff I couldn't find anywhere else.

What TJ's offers that I value: Great frozen entrees made from real meat and fish. Great frozen ethnic entrees. Great ethnic influenced foods in general. Great refrigerated side dishes like seasoned lentils, etc, that you can use to make a quick meal, a quick soup, a quick side dish. Great selection of nuts, trail mixes, dried fruits. Great wines and beers. Great sauces (just as good as homemade). Great seasonal items, such as cider, Christmas candies, pumpkin butter, etc.; TJ's brand of much more expensive items, such as their version of SmartWater, which is plain old water with electrolytes add in. Their produce is great during the winter months where not much fresh is available here.

My personal all-time faves: their kettle-brewed black unsweetened tea in big jugs for summer. Their Pita crackers. Their Christmas-time only dark chocolate and caramel candy with salt-crystals.

In short, TJ's, wherever it lands in the KC metro area will be worth the trip.