Would anyone like to see Trader Joe's come to Boise/Eagle? (Meridian: chapel, organic)

[boi2socal]

Originally Posted by abn

For now though it looks like I'll make the trek to Bend, OR every other month to stock up on stuff.

Well, when Whole Foods opens in Boise you can always shop there for about the same price as gas to Bend and back plus the food. lol

[Torrie]

Originally Posted by boi2socal

Well, when Whole Foods opens in Boise you can always shop there for about the same price as gas to Bend and back plus the food. lol

No foolin, huh?! (I agree)

Sounds like their gas is paid for so that's not an issue. Lucky for them!

[abn]

Yes, Boise2SoCal you may to read people's entire postings before commenting. Our fuel is company paid. Otherwise, I would not drive clear to Bend for TJ's.

By the way, since you mentioned Whole Foods...does anyone know if they are even still planning to come to the area or has it been cancelled/pushed back due to the recession/slow down?

[Torrie]

Yes Whole Foods is still coming. They're scaling down the project due to the economy slowdown. I believe it's due to open in 2009. I'll see if I can find the article on it.

[Torrie]

Here's one article:

Whole Foods developers scale back Boise project — Construction Review

[boi2socal]

Originally Posted by abn

Yes, Boise2SoCal you may to read people's entire postings before commenting. Our fuel is company paid. Otherwise, I would not drive clear to Bend for TJ's.

Wow...it was joke. Yikes!

[movingtoID]

Hello everyone,
I live in DC and am possibly going to be moving to Boise in the fall. I was just doing some searches on stores in the area and found this blog. For anyone that thinks Trader's is the place to buy produce, it is not. It definitely won' tput out any local competition in that area. Trader's sells their produce weird. It's all packaged so you have to buy 3 bell peppers or whatever and then they sell their fruits by the piece instead of the pound. The reasons I love Trader's is their cheese selection is very good and very cheap and they have different products that you can't find at a normal market. Lots of marinades and things like that. Their meat is not good either. Its all frozen so you wouldn't go there for that either. But things like chips and snacks, hummus, boxed soups, and international boxed foods are much less there.
A side not on Whole Foods too. Milk and eggs and cereal are much cheaper there than safeway or anywhere around me anyway. I have one across the street from me. Their meat is expensive as is their prepared food bar but both are well worth it! You get what you pay for right?
I hope if I move to Boise that you guys will have a Trader's and a Whole Foods by the time I get there!

[canderson4]

I Absolutely would like to have the benefit of shopping at Trader Joe's. They offer great prices, outstanding quality and variety of food items.

[kimbercutes824]

I would love a Trader Joes and a Whole Foods!!!

[ramenfan]

I did a little followup work to my previous investigation on Page 4 of this thread, and we seem to be in a holding pattern unfortunately. Spokane was supposed to come before us, but it looks like that won't be happening. I found this in The Fresh Sheet blog at Spokane's Spokesman Review from Oct. 2007:

"Jan Lanahan in Coeur d'Alene started numerous petitions in the area a year or two ago to get Trader Joes to build a store out this way. She was able to get thousands of signatures and forwarded them to Trader Joes. She has also been on the phone with them repeatedly and has sent them newspaper articles of the big box stores coming here (Costco, Cabela's, Kohl's). She even gave them advice on where to put their store. Last spring a rep from TJ's came out and looked at property in Spokane, CdA, Boise, Montana, etc. and Jan was told it would be several years before they came out here. It had something to do with having a string of stores to make transporting of goods more profitable. If you want to contact Jan she can be reached at 208-765-1056. (I did get her permission to give out her phone number.)"

The Fresh Sheet: Finally getting Trader Joe's

It probably doesn't help that we're on a bit of an island out here. If they expanded into a place like SLC, I'm sure we'd have a better shot.

Locally speaking there was a commercial broker named Ramona Hildebran of Capital Commercial Properties who confirmed that TJ was looking into property here. Maybe she would have some new info, but I doubt it. It's looking like Bend or bust for a good long while.

I'm personally not all that excited about Whole Foods coming since anything that I ever got at Whole Foods when I lived near them I'm able to get at the Co-Op. But TJ's and Whole Foods/Co-Op are not the same kinds of stores.