Would anyone like to see Trader Joe's come to Boise/Eagle? (renting, condo)

[happyfoods]

Trader Joes would be great! And it would support a diverse population and allow anyone to eat healthy especially anyone whose income is low. Boise Coop is high end and you have to join a membership fee which mosts people can't afford when unemployed. They do have a plan that you can set to pay as you go but you also have to pay a fee for book keeping. It is sad in supposedly one of the richest country we live in that people can not eat healthy and otherwise be penalized in these food coops. You wonder why people's options are to shop Walmarts and buy processed foods, chips and more. Support people with no jobs.....let them eat healthy.

[ramenfan]

Completely forgot about this tidbit from back in December.

Possible Trader Joe’s in the Boise area | Boise Real Estate Blog

"Nearly every time I go out with clients new to the area they ask me questions about local development, and shopping what stores we have, where and what is planned in the future. I am consistently asked “where is the Trader Joe’s?” and I have to break it to them, we do not have one.

Well this could all change, developers are looking to put one in on Chinden by the Foxtail Golf Course. They need help getting the site approved, there is a lot of opposition from the Foxtail Subdivision. So if you would like to see this go forward you can attend the Eagle City Council Meeting December 15th, if you can not make it to the meeting please send letters and/or emails to the addresses below. Here is your chance Trader Joe’s fans, to finally have a store here in the Boise area."

Since I saw this after the fact, I left either a comment or an email for the realtor but unfortunately never heard back. I will try to email her again. I tried City Council's website to check on hearings for December 15th, but they might have been pushed off the site for being too old.

I also noticed this on Idaho Business Review's website from January 29th when I searched for Trader Joe's on it. The article is in the archives for being too old, and it requires a membership (i.e. $) to access it. But it gives a bit of a teaser.

Idaho Business Review » Blog Archive » Eagle’s annexation dilemma*

"eagle-development-propsal The city of Eagle wants to lay claim to the upcoming Eagle Island Marketplace, with its multi-department Fred Meyer and its hundreds of potential jobs. The development is at the northeast corner of Linder Road and Chinden Boulevard, outside of city limits. Eagle and the developer, Phoenix-based Eisenberg Co., have signed a pre-annexation agreement, but there’s ..."

So there's two tidbits of info mentioning the same planned area of a store. I should also say that on my flight home from L.A. after Christmas, I ended up sitting next to a guy who was working for Trader Joe's out of Eagle. So they have (or had) offices in Eagle. Unfortunately my time with him was very brief, as before takeoff a couple asked if I could swap seats so they could be next to each other on the aisle. I did it, but I was quite pissed that I couldn't talk to the guy after that (and ended up sitting next to a parent with a crying baby ).

[WestwardNate]

You Boiseans may be in luck. Trader Joe's just annouced new locations in Omaha and West Des Moines. Maybe a store in Boise will be announced as well! Give the Co-Op some competition. We are definitely Boise bound in the future, but the lack of Chipotle and Trader Joe's will be tough on us.

[Syringaloid]

This will be interesting to follow. Trader Joe's would be foolish to not open a store in Boise, this area is full of health nuts, a store here would be a big hit from day one, as would Whole Foods when they decide to move forward with their new store downtown. I do not really see Trader Joe's competing too much with the Co-op, mainly because the Co-op has a loyal following and offers goods found no where else in the valley. Eagle is a ways from downtown so there will be a good balance with the Co-op downtown Boise and Traders in Eagleland.

[boisefan88]

TJ would fit in well in Eagle and Meridian.

They could also put an In N Out and then everyone would feel right at home!

[ramenfan]

Originally Posted by WestwardNate

You Boiseans may be in luck. Trader Joe's just annouced new locations in Omaha and West Des Moines. Maybe a store in Boise will be announced as well! Give the Co-Op some competition. We are definitely Boise bound in the future, but the lack of Chipotle and Trader Joe's will be tough on us.

That's too far away to have any real impact around here. For years now Spokane has been rumored to get one. I think Spokane and Salt Lake City are the cities to focus on. I've also heard that one of the main reasons Boise hasn't had a TJ's yet is that we need a closer distribution center since the closest one to us is still too far away. I can see one being put in around SLC and having that one service a Boise store.

And I agree with Syringaloid that TJ's and the Co-Op aren't similar competitors. Whole Foods would be a competitor for the Co-Op as it's pretty much the same kind of store. But I don't even know if WF is coming here now. Boise isn't listed as a store in development anymore on their website. I think the plans to come here were outright cancelled. I'll shoot an email their way and see if they say anything. And FYI that realtor didn't respond to my email, which didn't surprise me given she didn't respond to my prior communication.

Originally Posted by boisefan88

TJ would fit in well in Eagle and Meridian.

They could also put an In N Out and then everyone would feel right at home!

I'm pretty certain TJ's will make it here, but I have no faith in an In-N-Out making it here. The nearest processing plant is in Vegas, which is too far to truck supplies in while keeping everything fresh. They've made their way into SLC already, so I think we'd have to hope that they expand into Portland and build a plant somewhere around there. That place Chadders on Milwaukee is a complete ripoff of In-N-Out if a fix is needed, but based on experience it's a fairly inferior ripoff.

[Idaho Transplant]

I went to CA. to visit parents at Xmas. --Brought home $200.00 in non-perishable items from Trader Joes! That's the only thing I miss from CA.!

[ramenfan]

I actually got a response from that realtor who owns the blog (it was in my spam folder). She doesn't know what happened at the Eagle city council meeting and has been trying to find out. She also mentioned that the Weekly has been trying as well. Weird that there's this shroud of mystery over something that should be on public record at the office or should've been on record online closer to the date of the meeting. I wonder if it's occurred to the Weekly that maybe they should physically send someone over to City Hall to look through the records and get some answers? Their budget cuts must be worse than we thought.

Also Whole Foods's website doesn't make it the easiest of situations to ask through proper channels if plans to build a Boise store were delayed or cancelled. To actually physically ask a question, I had to choose their "company policy" topic while selecting my "local store" from a dropdown list (whaddya think, Bend?). So we'll see if I get lost in the jumble.

[silverfox]

Ramenfan,

On Whole Foods ...Is it possible to just call them for some answers ???
I would be happy to do that....Got a Phone number ???

[silverfox]

I just took a closer look at Whole foods website.
For those interested, there is a place to register for a Store Location Request as a Vote to consider Boise for a new store.

I find it Incredibly Inconsiderate and Stupid the way some Large Corporations isolate themselves from the things that can make them more successful.

Why dont they have a Customer Service toll free phone number ??????
That tells me they do not want to be bothered.