Trader Joe's In Fresh Pond

[gansu girl]

Maybe I'm the last to know this, but I asked today when at the FP WFM and the cashier told me that the old Ground Round site is going to house, among other things, a TJ's. Hooray! Slated to be completed end of summer.

[The Chowhound Team]

We split some discussion of specific items available at Trader Joe's to a new thread on our cChains board. You can find that topic here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/708276

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Trader Joe's
1427 Massachusetts Ave, Arlington, MA 02476

[enhF94]

Wow, did they have a lot of staff there today.

[somervilleoldtimer]

I haven't been to the new one, but under my polarfleece I'm wearing the t-shirt (now very moth-eaten and stained) that I received a number of years ago that I received for being one of the first 100 in the Memorial Drive/Cambridge store. At the time, I didn't know what I was getting into, because i only knew of Trader Joe's from my sisten in California.

[lgss]

Went about 8 pm. Walked. Busy but not outrageous. Some parking spaces available. Two uniformed officers directing traffic in the parking lot. Numerous clearly marked crosswalks and "stop for pedestrians in crosswalk" signs within the parking lot. Part of the lot has signage saying reserved for Circle Furniture, DD, and Cheddars.

[katzzz]

Just got back from my first shopping trip to the Fresh Pond TJs. At 9:30 on a very rainy Saturday, parking was not a problem. But you can see it's going to be a nightmare at busy times -- like the Porter Square shopping center lot, only worse. Not enough spots, very narrow spaces, and very tight turns required to get around the lot. Clearly it was designed by someone trying to cram in maximum number of cars without much concern about anything else.
That said, the store itself is the biggest, nicest TJs I've seen. Wide aisles and many cash registers. Posted hours are 9 am - 10 pm.

[nasilemak]

Second your thought on the the Trader Joe's at Fresh Pond being the nicest one yet in the area.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the range of fresh produce and the wide aisles.

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Trader Joe's
1427 Massachusetts Ave, Arlington, MA 02476

[Karl S]

"Worse than the Porter Square parking lot" is an awesome benchmark. Of the things I miss from my 8 years in Cambridge, that (and the diabolically magical way the Star Market management staffed their registers to ensure maximum pain 24/7) is one of the things I so don't miss....

[CambridgeKathy]

I quit Healthworks in Porter because of the nightmare parking situation. The only time to get there was weekdays before 8 AM. My car was dented and hit a total of 3 times in that damn parking lot. Fresh Pond is a close second IMHO. I love the Whole Foods there, but go to River Street which is more civilized.

[voodoocheese]

Just came back from the grand opening, it's so nice! It seems like it's much larger than the Memorial Drive location; but it may only seem that way because there is no wine department. I'm very excited to make that my new go to place for groceries... does anyone know if the Sav-Mor across the way is true to its name?

[somervilleoldtimer]

I have an oenophile friend who buys all his wine there, pretty cheaply, and apparently they mark bins with reviews from some oenophile magazine, which he follows. So yes, certainly worth checking out.

[Illtryanything]

Yes, Save Mor is awesome!!!!!!! I go out of my way to shop there!!!

[lgss]

I'll be sorry I posted this when we try to go....Opens 9 am this Friday for any who don't already know.

[gansu girl]

Oh don't worry, *everybody* knows! It's the talk of the town -seriously! I just made a big run to the Mem. Drive location on Tues. - needed stuff for today and I intend to avoid the new location 'til a little of the bloom's worn off . . . .

GG
http://www.semisweetonline.com

[nickls]

Does anyone else expect the traffic in that little lot in front of TJ's to be a nightmare? I'm thinking it won't have nearly enough spaces and then people will have to go park on the other side, making the lot in front of WF even more jammed at popular times as well. Oh well, nice to have some more food options.

[lgss]

Traffic is likely to be hectic like it currently is at the Arlington Heights location. We'll be walking, as we currently do to WFM Fresh Pond.

[bear]

Did they add more spaces behind the new building? I sure hope so. Otherwise, it sure will be crazy.

[ChocolateMilkshake]

Every TJ's I've ever been to has nightmare parking... Mem Drive, Arlington, Brookline, W. Newton, Framingham. Is that how they keep their prices down, save money on asphalt and white paint?

[sandiasingh]

I think you're right chocolatemilkshake. Even in Albuquerque there is not enough parking. They just opened a second store here and it has helped a lot. I was at the Santa Fe store on Saturday and it was INSANE. I thought Brookline was bad!

[Gio]

Well then you'll have to come out to the Saugus TJ's cuz parking there is a dream. A Huge parking lot to service all the stores. It almost seems too big for the area. Not complaining, you understand...

[Gabatta]

No two ways about it traffic will be absolutely awful. Parking availability aside, that Fresh Pond area just gets worse and worse, particularly around peak times. The last thing that rotary can handle is another large anchor.

I'm not sure how much it will affect the WF lot though, it is sort of difficult to cross on foot there. However, I am sure some people will try to go back and forth to hit both stores.

[Dea]

True enough - that traffic pattern is a mess. I wonder if you're aware of the back route from the TJ's store location to Whole Foods, though. Walking it would be a losing proposition - it's a LOONG way around - but if you're driving it's much easier than going down around the rotary. Going the other way - well, that wouldn't be easy at all!

[Blumie]

Driving between the two will be easy, even with heavy traffic. The quickest way from TJ to WF will be to exit right onto Fresh Pond Parkway and turn around at the rotary to go the other way to WF. If there is a backup getting out of the TJ lot -- which many of us can foresee -- and when driving from WF to TJ, there's a back road that runs behind TJ and around and underneath Fresh Pond Parkway. Of course that road, little used now, is likely to get a lot busier!

[ChocolateMilkshake]

Blumie, the last time I saw the plans, they had blocked off access to/from that side street. The only access was from FP Parkway. I don't know if that's changed or not.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

That would be unfortunate: that was a handy little shortcut when I used to shop at the Newbury Comics that used to be in that mall.

[Aromatherapy]

The access road's still there. I can't see it going away. The narrow, curbed lanes in the parking lot are a pain. Crossing Alewife on foot is actually quite easy, there's a light with a request button and it's heavily used.

[cpingenot]

It seems like it wouldn't be so hard- you go to the north end of the WF complex parking lot (near the staples) go under the underpass and around and it puts you on FFP going South on the north side of TJ. I don't know how they've reconfigured the parking lots, but it seems like it's not so bad...
What is stupid to me is how hard it is to walk from one to the other. When they rebuilt everything not long ago they did add nice pedestrian activated signaled cross walks, but the long trek from that cross walk across the WF parking lots is not particularly pleasant, dodging the traffic mahem...

[Dea]

I got an emai from my city councilor (Craig Kelly) saying this store will open on Friday November 13.

[ineemeeny]

Thanks for the report, Dea!! That's great news! Looks like they have a busy 11 days ahead of them. Last I saw, things looked pretty stark in there.

[litchick]

The shelves are looking pretty well-stocked as of yesterday or the day before.

[katzzz]

I biked over to the Fresh Pond Trader Joe's yesterday to check out its progress. The shelves seemed stocked and it looks almost ready to rock. When I removed my nose from the front window and turned around what I realized was that directly opposite TJ's on the other side of the parkway is Whole Foods. Looks like these two very different chains will now be going head to head in Cambridge. What I wonder is if there's any chance that the proximity of TJs will inspire WF to lower some of their prices. I appreciate many things about WF, but there is no doubt that they are price gougers. One example: I picked up a bottle of sesame oil at Russo's for $2.29. I happened to be in WF the next day and saw the exact same bottle for $4.99. What a rip off!

[Blumie]

As I read this, I just poured myself a bowl of Kashi Good Friend's cereal that I purchased at Whole Foods in Cambridge. The sticker on the box says $3.59, so I assume that's what I paid for it. I believe that price is as cheap or cheaper than what you would pay at Shaw's or Stop & Shop.

I know Whole Foods has a "price gouger" reputation. I would be interested, however, in a more systematic comparison of Whole Foods' prices to its competitors'.

[gansu girl]

Blumie - I've noticed the price differential to be the greatest between WFM and Shaw's, and more on items like Stoneyfield Farms yogurt and Kashi cereals. I always chalked it up to WFM selling larger volume of "those sorts of foods" and thus having cheaper prices on them.

The things I buy at TJ's and WFM are pretty different, for the most part (Fage yogurt is an exception - TJ's is usually marginally cheaper, IRRC). So while I'm blissed out that they'll be across the way from one another, I'm not counting on a boon for the pocket book.

GG
http://www.semisweetonline.com

[Dea]

TJ's and WF are adjacent to each other over in the Cambridge Riverside / Mem Drive neighborhood, and when I lived down that way, I saw a few ads from WF specifically targeting the price issue - "we're cheaper than TJ's on [item, item, and item]". Personally I find TJ's to have better values than WF, but will go to WF for certain items (mainly cheese - I am a huge cheese addict).

[lgss]

Prices at WFM Fresh Pond has or will probably come down on products that are also available at TJs (OJ, peanut butter, almond mylk) and go up on products which TJs does not carry. There are also some products that each will probably discontinue carrying because the other sells them at a lower price. Area TJs stopped carrying Organic Food Bars around the same time WFM lowered their price to match.

[lgss]

Walked by yesterday evening. Sign is up (but not lit yet) under the CVS sign. Large space with display structures and (ten) checkout counters in place.

[Kat]

I don't understand. There is already a TJs on Memorial Drive and they're opening another one no more than a couple miles away?

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

More like three miles, which is far enough that it would draw a different customer base.

[StriperGuy]

Totally different customer base. The one on Mem. drive is a total pain to get to most of the time due to traffic. The fresh pond one will draw route 2 commuter crowd and surrounding suburbs. I predict it will do VERY well.

[gansu girl]

Yeah, 3 miles = 15 minutes. You have no idea the glee that this opening is generating amongst Belmontians, for instance . . . . TJ's across from WFM is this hausfrau's dream.

GG
www.semisweetonline.com

[Blumie]

Whole Foods has three locations equally as close: Fresh Pond, River Street and Prospect St.

[kobuta]

Strange question for people who know that area well - how far of a walk is the new space from Alewife T station?

[skippy66]

Not far at all…

[PinchOfSalt]

Maybe five minutes or so. You have to cross the overpass that crosses the railroad tracks. (There is a pedestrian walkway, so no problem there.) I don't know if I would want to do that on a blustery January day, but for most of the year it is a perfectly reasonable walk.

[kobuta]

Thanks. Work is potentially moving that way, and so I dread the thought of a place even more of a lunch desert than Kendall (!!). WF and Trader Joe's may offer small glimmers of hope.

[StriperGuy]

Fresh pond basically sucks for food options.

[langley]

If you do end up in Fresh Pond for work -- Cheddars is a good place for lunch. It's often got a long line and you have to follow the rules and move along (think soup nazi on Seinfeld). He makes his own greek dressing and it's great!

Iggy's is down Fawcett St (off Concord right after the rotary toward Belmont) and has great options for lunch--sandwiches and flatbread pizza.

But yeah, that's it.

[StriperGuy]

I do work there and Cheddar's and Iggy's rock, but that really is about it food wise unless you want to drive. Summer Shack too, but I'm so so on that place.

[newhound]

Has the middle east place Basha turned out to be high on anybody's list?

[StriperGuy]

Forgot about that place. Have to give it a whirl.

[kobuta]

I know. I'm trying not to get depressed about it. I hoped Foodler would offer a bit more variety, but sadly even Foodler's partners are letting me down on delivery. Many of the places that will venture into East Cambridge don't deliver to the Fresh Pond area.

[itaunas]

I'm not in the area anymore, but a few ideas. Is Qingdao doing daytime delivery now? I think the last few times I have had lunch there I have seen deliveries going out and only once was it weekend. Shangri-La its usually the family doing delivery so maybe they would do lunchtime, but wonder if they might have a larger minimum for FreshPond (Striper?). Hana Sushi has a delivery outfit MixMenu which works at lunchtime and they claim to have a huge list of options throughout Cambridge and Somerville for 02140. Bob's will deliver for meeting-size orders, but not otherwise.

Brazilian restaurants will often deliver further afar. Pretty certain Oasis in Medford will deliver to Fresh Pond and Bom de Boca Grill in Somerville is another option which goes way out of its region. You need to ask what the plate of the day is and negotiate what you want on it, then ask the price. Churrasco is available, but stick to things which carry well. For basic orders it'll run about $9.95+tip for a bunch of food.

[kobuta]

Thanks for the tips. I normally avoid MixMenu or DiningIn because they charge huge fees for the delivery. A small fee I don't mind, but I don't know about paying $5 for delivery for a lunch worth 10-15 bucks.

[Aromatherapy]

If you can drive and be somewhat flexible about timing, there's a more interesting selection. But right around there, what everybody says. There's a cafe on Fawcett (not sure what they're calling themselves now) that has decent sandwiches, salads. Pack your own, enjoy Fresh Pond and walk or run it off.

[kobuta]

Timing is flexible but no car. :( So I'm likely to be stuck. *sigh* I do think the company is looking into getting one of those catered cafeteria's but they get old after about a week.

[rlh]

I think you may mean Iggy's on Fawcett - to me it's way beyond decent - perhaps even stellar - their bread (specially the francese, many grain rolls, cranberry pecan rolls, and the french epi), pizza (best about 11:30a still warm), coffee (fresh, stong either Illy or Terroir), and pastries - their salads and sandwiches are a limited range and change with what local goodness they find to make them with - it's a local treasure I find excuses to get to. It's basically a bakery, so everything is takeout - no tables or chairs to be found, but usually some excellent samples sitting out as well (like their sun-dried tomato and feta dip - mmm).

Edit: this reply was supposed to follow aromatherapy above but didn't work that way for some reason...

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Iggy's
130 Fawcett St, Cambridge, MA

[peregrine]

WF has a row of tables indoors along the front of the store, so you can eat there.

TJ will be on the opposite side of the road, set back a bit. There is a crosswalk with a traffic light.

Some chain restaurant - (Quiznos? Qdoba? help me someone) - is going into the street-side building. But that would be, in my book, for emergency use only.

[StriperGuy]

Chipotle already opened.

TJs has a help wanted sign up.

[pasta]

Hi Rise Bakery is a little bit of a drive up Concord Ave but worth it for very good sandwichs, soups, salads. A big downside is trying to find a parking space.
I have never been to Cheddars....what is the menu?

[StriperGuy]

Cheddars does sandwiches and the like but very well. I love their greek eggplant wrap.

Shangri-La does not deliver.

I am not a huge Hi Rise fan, just a tad too precious an attitudey for me.

[pasta]

I agree 100% on the attitude, but the food is very good and since there is not a great deal to choose from in the area , I put up with it !

[Blumie]

Yes, for those with a car or bike, or time to walk or take the bus, Hi-Rise and Formaggio are both within striking distance of Fresh Pond, and are two of the best lunch options in the entire Boston area.

[cpingenot]

The bus would be your friend here- it will take you inbound to Hi-Rise and Formaggio, and if you're a bit creative Village Kitchen on Huron, or outbound to Belmont center. Alternately your office needs to get a community beater bike because you would start to have a lot more options in easy bike distance without being dependent on the bus schedule.

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Village Kitchen
359 Huron Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138

[Mo D]

Less than five minutes from the station- just over the bridge. Word on the street is they open next week.

[lgss]

My husband walked by the location last night and says there is now a small sign for TJs and work appears to have begun inside, next to CVS.

[CookieLee]

Must be a very small sign. I was at the DD's in that mall, next to Cheddar's and didn't see a thing!

[lgss]

Yes, quite small. The checker I asked at Arlington Heights TJs said he heard they planned to open the Fresh Pond location some time in November.

[headmaster]

Can someone please explain to me why and how TJ's does not have a location in Salem NH, or some other border town, where they can sell booze and avoid sales taxes on their products??? The Tyngsborough store is fifty feet from NH, which suggests that they really have an issue, but I can't fathom it...

Ciao, Chow

[peregrine]

I saw one in Nashua a couple of years ago, on the DW Hi'way. I have no idea whether it's still there.

The NH liquor authority may have something to do with it. Can only the state stores sell wine?

[greygarious]

That one's not in Nashua - as headmaster said, it's spitting distance from the NH line, but it's Tyngsborough. I never before thought about the liquor laws as regards that store...seems as though logically they would have put it in NH had they been able to get a liquor license there.

[pemma]

Trader Joe's doesn't sell big ticket items, so sales tax is really not an issue. Also, most of what they sell is food, which is not taxed in Mass. I'm pretty sure only state liquor stores can sell hard liquor in NH. Not sure about beer and wine.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Bingo. You can sell beer and wine in NH grocery stores, but only the state liquor stores can sell hard liquor.

[dtremit]

Trader Joe's is now officially on the sign in front of the construction site, fwiw.

[lgss]

Thanks for letting us know, any date on the sign or just "coming soon"?

[Aromatherapy]

They've just gutted one of the spaces and Sav-Mor/Kappy's hasn't moved yet. No dates anywhere that I've noticed.

[bear]

Here's a recent-sounding article. Sounds like TJ's is still in the works, at litchick says.

http://rejournal.com/ne/sections/news...

[Gabatta]

Good news on the TJ's, now if they could just solve the traffic problems in the area.

Why in the world would Kappy's change their name to SavMor Spirits? Is it just me?

[litchick]

Word on the street (from the barista dudes at the Starbucks in the Hotel Tria) is that TJ's is aiming for a November opening. They tell me TJ's will go in the old Kappy's and sandwich shop space, and Kappy's will move into the new structure.

[Ralphie_in_Boston]

Glad to hear Kappy's will still be there. It's a very good liquor store.

[itaunas]

Keep in mind that its actually a Sav Mor, with some Kappy's products (spirits) and a lot more French wines than other Sav Mor stores. They offer Sav Mor sales items. I believe the current 3 Kappy's locations in MA are Malden/Saugus/Rt1, Wellington Circle, and Main St in Malden. There is another store with Kappy's in the name on Commercial, I think along the lines of Fresh Pond ... different ownership, but some stock in common. Being a Sav Mor they have a few unusual cachacas, more Marie Brizard mixers (the pricier Cambridge Wine and Spirits has more mixers), some good beer sales. I prefer it being a Sav Mor to a Kappy's, but don't want anyone to be disappointed.

[LStaff]

One of the worst Kappy's locations that I have seen for beer selection. It's almost as if the last 10 years of the craft beer revolution never happened there. Hopefully the move will help shake things up.

[itaunas]

Its not under the same management as Kappy's in Medford/Saugus/Malden, its really a SavMor as it has been for a while. I would agree about the beer selection in that particular store, although they can get anything that the larger McGrath Hwy location carries and that does a good bit better on craft beers (in bottles, not kegs) and some non-belgian european imports (most in green bottles, but not all). Not Julio's in any stretch of the imagination. More info about the store
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/5901...

[Ralphie_in_Boston]

Come to think of it I believe I've only ever bought wine at this place, so point taken.

[tdaaa]

Better now, but they don't seem to carry any beer that is not available across the street at Mall discount liquors (which has a great beer selection, BTW)

[PinchOfSalt]

Eeek, does this signal the demise of Cheddar's? That was a major go-to place for a good sandwich at a reasonable price during my years working near Fresh Pond. Or will they be relocating too?

[Aromatherapy]

That building's not in the redevelopment. Kappy's has signs up about moving, no dates.

[lgss]

Signs are starting to go up but I haven't seen one for TJ's yet. I drive by on Fresh Pond a couple times a week. There's signage for T-Mobile, Chipotles, and Ground Round sign is still there. I haven't had a chance to wander along the parking lot side to see if there's signage on that side. There is still a "space for lease" sign on the fence.

[hiddenboston]

Was there also a Kelly's sign up there? We thought we saw that last night, but perhaps it said something else. I did see the signs for T-Mobile and Chipotle.

[lgss]

Didn't see it but wasn't looking, there are signs for the fence co., etc. What's Kelly's?

[somervilleoldtimer]

Yay! THat's great news! I was a the first Boston-area TJ's (Memorial Drive) the day it opened, lo these many years ago, and I got a TJ T-shirt! Still one of my favorites.

[Patricia]

I was in the TJ's on Memorial Drive Saturday and asked if they were going to expand to Boston. There's a great site on Morrissey Blvd. where the National Wholesale Liquidators is now. Guy at service desk said they were going to Fresh Pond. He didn't mention the 3 store rule re liquor but did say how much he wished they could sell real liquor like they do in CA. I agreed.

Call your reps!

[another_adam]

Yeah, I really miss the Trader Joe's "Vodka of the gods" !!! :) (not to mention being able to buy things like $10 slivovitz and $12 akvavit...) People in CA can't believe we don't have these things here :(

[greygarious]

I'd have sworn there was already a TJ's there, a few doors down from WFM. Was there ever?

[gansu girl]

Nope. There was a rumor that one was coming (in the Modell's/PetSmart space), but there is an exclusivity clause for WFM in that center.

[pemma]

Forgot about that 3 liquor store limit in Mass. Too bad, I was hoping they would have wine,too. Will have to keep on schleping over to Memorial Drive, too.

[kewpie]

wasnt this reported a few months ago? as pemma stated above- they cant get a wine/beer license-[ will they give up Brookline?.um.no!] but now we can all get out Fage closer.. can we please just wait and see? the Newbury Comics employees are getting upset!

[Parsnipity]

This is great news! I hope they will have a wine/beer section. Arlington is probably my closest option now, but it's just not the same without the liquor.

[LeoLioness]

Joe's sells alcohol at three of its stores already, which is the maximum number allowed by a supermarket chain in MA.

[Parsnipity]

Oh, yeah- I forgot about that. I always in my mind thought it had something to do with Arlington being a dry town. My bad. I guess I'll have to keep trekking to Mem Drive for my cooking wine.

[foodperv]

the dry town thing in arlington may also have indirectly been involved with the choice as to which tj gets to sell booze growing up there as a kid we always used to say all the town's alkies had to go to lex , camb ,med, or som. to get it

[Karl S]

And they certainly wouldn't have two of them in Cambridge!

The new location, of course, means its pretty much off limits during much of each workweek afternoon and evening, due to the Sisyphean traffic on the parkways there.

[Alcachofa]

What I'm hoping is that they transfer the wine/beer from Memorial Drive to the new location, since it appears the new store will be much bigger than the Memorial Dr location.

[pemma]

That would be more convenient for me, but I doubt it. The Memorial Drive location is always packed (on the weekends anyway) and it appears that amazing amounts of wine fly out of there.

[StriperGuy]

That is awesome!

[tdaaa]

Great, yet another TJs with inadequate parking.

[Newburyport John]

The developer's plans actually call for it to go where Kappy's and D'Angelos are now.

[galleygirl]

But that Kappy's is pretty durned good for wine!