PSA: There’s a Hidden Page on the Trader Joe’s Website Where You Can Request a Store in Your Area
If you’re lucky enough to have a Trader Joe’s in your neighborhood, then you already know why it’s a fan favorite. Along with aisles of delectable groceries and irresistible home and beauty supplies, the chain’s unbelievably affordable prices really can’t be beat.
But what to do when you live in a Trader Joe’s desert and you want nothing more than one to open near you? We did some digging and it turns out there’s actually a secret form buried on their website where you can formally request a location!
Yep, you heard us right. If you head over to the “Contact Us” page on the Trader Joe’s website you’ll find a link to “Request a TJ’s in My City” where you can do just that. All you need to submit is a name, email, contact number, and desired location and voila: You’ve done your part to ensure that the company considers your community for their next opening.
On Episode 10 of the Inside Trader Joe’s Podcast, Tracy Anderson, Senior Vice President of Real Estate and Construction at Trader Joe’s says that she gets hundreds of calls and emails everyday about opening prospective locations. And while the company considers every single location request that they receive, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll open a Trader Joe’s there.
“We’ve got a plan and that plan is based on customer feedback,” Anderson says. “We listen to Crew Members at the store, Regional Vice Presidents. We look at current stores, where things are really hot. We look at accessibility, visibility, parking, and square footage.”
Does that store-opening plan also include perusing the “Request a TJ’s in My City” submissions you might ask? “We get requests from around the world and don’t collect data on which location is requested the most,” says Kenya Friend-Daniel, National Director of Public Relations at Trader Joe’s. “Individuals or communities make their requests and we review all of them. We do not open new locations based on requests alone, the location also has to be a good fit, it has to be the right time and we have to have a great team to run the store. These are just a few of the factors we consider.”
So, there you have it folks. The next time you’re feeling helpless about not have a TJ’s in your town, you can fill out a form on the Trader Joe’s website to make your desires known.. And even though submitting a request doesn’t guarantee that a store will open in your ‘hood, it most definitely increases the possibility.
This post originally ran on Apartment Therapy. See it there: There’s a Hidden Page on the Trader Joe’s Website Where You Can Request a Store in Your Area