TRADER JOE'S What a hit it would be!!!

Honest question, what is the big appeal of Trader Joe's? I haven't been to one yet but I always hear people raving about them.

Trader Joe's sounds good. I haven't been to one either but heard good reviews.

Replace it with a Trader Joe's. That would be awesome. Or you could put a Whole Foods Market there! The problem with the Sweet Bay there was that it wasn't being competitive with its pricing. It had a Publix across the street which now runs a lot of buy one, get one free specials. Also, has a Target across the street that has some grocery items as well though not a Super Target. I'm sorry that any business fails, but they were just not competitive enough.

Jason, Trader Joe's has some unique items and is actally owned by the brother who founded Aldi's. Aldi's is a discount store as you might know. They have inexpensive wines at Trader Joe's and a lot of their own brands that are good and also inexpensive. They have organic items as well. It's just a unique kind of place. They have one in Sarasota and you should check it out.

Thanks Rita - I've been meaning to get to the Sarasota location and check them out!

Best Buy.

Jason, if you go there, bring an ice chest or a large cooler as you might want to bring some of their frozen food back. They have good stuff! I haven't had the time to go or wanted to use the gas up at this point.

Trader Joes or Whole Foods, either one would be a great addition to the neighboehood.

Hey, I just wrote to the corporate office at Trader Joe's suggesting they look into our location as a possibility. You folks should do the same to either Trader Joe's or Whole Foods or whatever you would like to come in there. At least we have our Five Guys now!

I would definitely like to see Trader Joe's nearby, but I also suspect that they will want to locate their first Tampa Bay store in either Clearwater or in Tampa near the airport, so that they could draw from St Pete as well as northern Pinellas.

Trader Joe's, which we have missed terribly since moving here a year ago, has some high quality products with low to moderate prices; the downside is that the range of products is rather narrow, but the price-to-value ratio is so good that it is a no-brainer to shop there.

For example, excellent cheeses are priced at about 70-80% of Publix prices (which also doesn't have the quality of Trader Joe's cheeses), and about 50-70% (bigger range) of the prices at Whole Foods.

Trader Joe's also stands behind their products, and if you try something and don't like it, they will gladly take it back and refund your money; no hassle, no snide remarks.

Also, the staff of Trader Joe's are treated well by their employer, and there is a fun atmosphere in the store.

So, you combine good quality, and great value, and no hassle, and a cheerful shopping experience, and you see why people that used to shop there regularly, before they moved to Tampa Bay, miss therm terribly.

I've been writing whole foods about that location for years it would be amazing to have one right here. Either store would hurt Palm Harbor Health Foods business though.

There is a Fresh Market store on Hwy 19 Clearwater not that far away with many of the specialty items you may like. Retailers like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods will consider almost any metro area if they think their upscale products will be supported. Sweetbay got caught just like Winn Dixie once did in expanding fast with not very competitive pricing. Publix does need some competititon here in the Clearwater-Tampa region but they are making an effort now to do better with Buy One Get One specials,etc. Sweetbay also suffers from not only bad tv spots but the Belgium ownership which allowed some not so bright folks in Salisbury,NC HQ for Food Lion to make bad decisions even when Sweetbay has a local Tampa office.