[MSP] - Trader's Joes - Minnetonka

[GeeBeeEmm]

Hub just drove by the old Cost Plus World Market at 394 and Hopkins Crossroad. Sign stating "Trader Joe's Coming Soon." No date or anything. Sounds like they gave up on putting one by the Macy's Mens/Home in the Ridgedale parking lot.

Great location with ample parking!

[Davydd]

I shopped the Minnetonka Trader Joes today. I've been in Trader Joes all over the country from MA, VA, IN to CA. This might be the largest Trader Joes I've been in. The space is so large they probably did not have to sacrifice any shelf items and the aisles are wider than any I have been in. It to me is a welcome relief over the tightly spaced and limited parking St. Louis Park store. Not only that but it is located conveniently closer to me.

Now if Whole Foods Market is looking to expand in the western suburbs KMart just moved out of its 7 Hi site at Highway 7 and 101.

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Whole Foods Market
30 Fairview Ave S, St Paul, MN 55105

[mlle_mustard]

The one in Brooklyn on Atlantic Ave seems bigger due to the architecture, but the lines can be painful. Well, not as bad as the one on 14th.

Yeah, I go to a lot of Trader Joe's. I move a lot. All of you near Minnetonka are lucky with your TJs!

[GeeBeeEmm]

They also are open from 8 am-9 pm 7 days a week. The Maple Grove store is following suit.

[mlle_mustard]

There is a liquor store-- sadly, I was there today (Sunday), so I didn't get to scope it out. No booze on Sunday is cruel!

[miki]

World Markets often have a liquor store already attached, but I had never been in this particular store.

The liquor store issues are a problem for a chain like Trader Joe's. Costco's store in Eden Prairie doesn't have one, and when I worked there, customers frequently commented on it.

[GeeBeeEmm]

Opening November 6, 2009. That was pretty quick. Word is this will be the largest (or one of the largest TJs) in the country.

[mlle_mustard]

Any word on if this TJ's will have a wine/liquor selection? Sorry, I'm not from MN, so I'm not sure if grocery stores can even have this stuff. Sadly, TJs is on my list of places to when I'm in MSP in a couple of weeks.

[The Dairy Queen]

Grocery stores in MN can't really have wine or liquor (they can only have "grocery store" beer, the weak stuff), but Trader Joe's locations in Woodbury and St. Paul, for instance, have adjoining stores that do carry wine/liquor. Of course, those stores have to follow all of the same liquor laws (e.g. closed on Sundays) that other liquor stores do...

Don't know about about the location in Minnetonka, alas.

~TDQ

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Minnetonka
Minnetonka, MN, Minnetonka, MN

Woodbury Cafe
803 Bielenberg Dr, Saint Paul, MN 55125

[getgot211]

I don't think TJ's puts stores w/o adjacent liquor stores. that was the whole deal with the one they wanted to put on Lyndale.

[The Dairy Queen]

You might be right (as far as MN goes--in other places, of course, it's all one store), but I can't visualize the adjacent store to the St. Louis Park location,then. Does that one have a liquor store, too? I just can't see it in my mind...

~TDQ

[getgot211]

yes, as does Maple Grove.

[Davydd]

The Minnetonka Trader Joes will have a beer and wine shop. Like all grocery stores it will be physically separated from the main store but will share a vestibule.

[mlle_mustard]

Yipppee! Sorry, I like the cheap booze selection at TJs, and I currently live someplace without one. I'm looking forward to stocking up on cheap bubbly. I'm really looking forward to my trip to Minneapolis this weekend!