Trader Joe's to open in Olympia

Store planned for former site of Good Guys on west side

By Rolf Boone | The Olympian • Published February 18, 2009

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OLYMPIA – Trader Joe's is coming to the city's west side this year, bringing jobs and an injection of business activity into South Sound's slower economy.

Company spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki said Tuesday that the neighborhood grocery store chain will open a 12,500-square-foot store this year at 1530 Black Lake Blvd. She didn't have details about when the store will open.

Once the Olympia Trader Joe's and another new store planned for Ballard are open, the company will have 15 stores in Washington, she said.

Trader Joe's, based in Monrovia, Calif., also has a store in the Tacoma area. Nationwide, the company operates more than 300 stores in 25 states, Mochizuki said.

Staffing needs at the new store were not disclosed, but the company does offer benefits to part-time workers, she said.

'South-end draw'

On average, the company's stores are between 10,000 and 15,000 square feet, Mochizuki said. The company also does not disclose its store-selection process, although the University Place Trader Joe's store has been a popular destination for Thurston County shoppers, store manager Steve Morris said.

"We have a real good south-end draw," he said.

South Sound residents said Tuesday that they welcome the arrival of Trader Joe's. Grocery store operators acknowledged that it will mean more competition.

Downtown business owner Mathias Eichler said that once the store opens, shopping there will become part of his weekly routine, just as it was when he lived in Seattle.

"That was our core grocery store," he said.

Eichler enjoys the store for its affordable prices and its wine, sausage, German beer and cheese selection, he said. He estimates that specialty Brie cheese at Trader Joe's costs $3.99 to $8.99 a pound, while it might cost $10 a pound at another store.

The retail space at 1530 Black Lake Blvd. previously was occupied by The Good Guys, an electronics retailer that closed in August 2005. That location also is across from a newly remodeled Top Food & Drug store, operated by Haggen Inc. of Bellingham.

Competition

Spokeswoman Becky Skaggs acknowledged that any new store in the area means more competition for Top Foods, but the company is used to competing with Trader Joe's stores in other markets.

"Our Olympia (Top Food) store has a great, loyal following and the customers have warmly received the remodeled store," she said.

Olympia Food Co-op board member Harry Levine said that as long as the co-op sticks to its values of being a member-owned nonprofit organization that supports the local economy and local food producers, it will succeed.

"Whatever happens in the marketplace, people will appreciate and respect those values and continue to shop at our stores," he said.

The co-op operates stores on the east and west sides of Olympia and plans a third store for downtown Olympia, he said. Since the early 1990s, annual gross sales have climbed to $13 million from $2.4 million, Levine said.

Rolf Boone covers business for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5403 or rboone@theolympian.com.