The rumors about Trader Joe’s coming to Greensboro were confirmed by Trader Joe’s National Director of Public Relations Kenya Friend-Daniel according an article in the Triad Business Journal (TBJ).
Friend-Daniel told the TBJ that Trader Joe’s was not ready to make an announcement but it was their intent to open a store at the Brassfield Shopping Center on the corner of Battleground Avenue and New Garden Road.
Trader Joe’s will be moving into a location in the middle of shopping center that was formerly the home of SRI Shoe warehouse according to the TBJ.
Trader Joe’s had originally planned to open a store at the corner of Hobbs Road and Friendly Avenue but neighborhood opposition to retail development at that location soured them on the deal. In 2014, in the midst of that heated rezoning dispute Trader Joe’s announced it would not be coming to Greensboro. Since then Trader Joe’s fans in Greensboro have been driving to Winston-Salem or Chapel Hill to get their Trader Joe’s fix.
A huge advantage to the Brassfield location is that it doesn’t have to be rezoned. The location which according to one commercial realtor was already good for retail development, was made hotter with the outer loop opening just to the north.
The lot at the corner of Hobbs and Friendly, was eventually rezoned but has still not been developed and was purchased in January by Roy Carroll the owner of the Carroll Companies which owns the Rhino Times. Carroll has not announced his plans for that location.
Will be great too have a Traders Joes
Consumers are so easily fooled. Simply go to Aldi for the same products without the premium price Trader Joe’s charges. Less crowds, too.
May 3, 2019: “Trader Joe’s had originally planned to open a store at the corner of Hobbs Road and Friendly Avenue but neighborhood opposition to the retail development at that location soured them on the deal. In 2014 . . . Trader Joe’s announced it would not be coming to Greensboro”. What is the source of your “factual” statement of TJ’s intent? This article, that I just spotted, continues the misinformation TJ’s intended to open at the Hobbs corner. I was on the Executive Committee of the Friendly Coalition opposed to commercial development of the Hobbs corner. The EC contacted TJ’s, which did respond to our inquiry, and confirmed it was not interested in the Hobbs corner. TJ’s is known for renovating existing structures, not “building” new structures. Articles such as yours continues the misinformation TJ’s ever intended the Hobbs corner to be a location.
Another aspect of the Halpern project: A local, commercial developer advised two years after Halpern obtained rezoning and had accomplished nothing towards construction, “Halpern paid so much for the property and limited his commercial footage he could not find tenants willing to pay his lease rentals to turn a profit”.
Carroll said it succinctly when he purchased the corner from Halpern: “The truth is that no one was happy with the current plan”.