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The smallest market with a TJs is State College (Penn) and Iowa City/Coralville (Iowa)
Bellingham, WA is one of the smallest as well, at 90k. But like Burlington, it's a university town and close to the Canadian border, which when open contributes to the store being one of the busiest TJ's in the country.
The correct answer to this thread question is Carson City, NV! Carson City is literally the smallest MSA in the United States, with just 55,916 people as of July 1, 2019. It has a Trader Joe's store located at 3790 Us Hwy 395 S.
Santa Fe is a good guess, it has 150,358 people in its MSA and is smaller than any of the other suggestions in this thread. Napa, CA has 137,744 people in its MSA and also has a Trader Joe's. Apart from Carson City, I can't see any smaller MSAs with a Trader Joe's.
Santa Fe also once had two Whole Foods stores for many years!
Santa Fe is a good guess, it has 150,358 people in its MSA and is smaller than any of the other suggestions in this thread. Napa, CA has 137,744 people in its MSA and also has a Trader Joe's. Apart from Carson City, I can't see any smaller MSAs with a Trader Joe's.
Santa Fe also once had two Whole Foods stores for many years!
Interesting thread: A lot of the top contenders listed are close and seem have similar criteria: many are affluent or have colleges, universities, or big tourist attractions, or are close to a larger city nearby. No real anomalies, though, IMHO- most all of the smallest stores seem to have good reasons and sources of traffic.
Whole Foods is another story though, and I'd love to see the info for them. There are some very small markets with stores- for example, I used to live in Western CO, and there are several locations in the mountains that are remarkably small- one in Frisco (population 3,000+ but in Summit County, home to many ski resorts and Denver day trippers/vacationers) and perhaps more remarkably, the store we used to visit in Basalt, CO. Basalt has a population of just over 4,000 and primarily serves a market of just over 30,000 people. In fact, it's a long distance from any city over 10,000, but the inclusion of Aspen/Snowmass visitors and residents keeps it busy. I wonder if there are any other examples on that scale?
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