Let's start an E-mail campaign to Trader Joe's to let them know there is a great market for them here in The Villages

I hear they sell a really good TOXIC peanut butter.

We've been doing that off and on for years. At least it got them into Florida - Sarasota, Tarpon Springs, and now Gainesville. Maybe they are looking into The Villages.

We have been emailing and asking Trader Joe's to come to the Villages as well. Our "organic" produce options are slim in this area. We joined a local Organic Wholesale Co-op. Every two weeks, we put our order in online Sunday evening of whatever we like and pickup Tuesday. Its great because there are so many options of organic items, spices, oils, produce, meats, cheese and thousands of other items to choose from besides produce, all at CHEAPER prices than Publix. Its the next best thing from Trader Joe's!

I'm surprised Trader Joe's doesn't have a store near the Villages. We have one up here on Cape Cod and my wife really likes it.
Market Basket is another big favorite. They opened one just as you come on to Cape Cod and it's a big hit!! (might have mentioned this before)

Bob

You beat me to it! It's OK to buy it just don't take it internally! :laugh:

Trader Joe?s Voluntarily Recalls Creamy Salted Valencia Peanut Butter Because of Possible Health Risk

Ght70, could you please share contact information for your organic o-op? That sounds really interesting! Thanks.

sounds great please share

I miss MarketBasket so much, the price of food here is high, and not a lot of good beef!!

Trader Joe's has a lot of organic foods at really reasonable prices. Great wine selection and I love their Spanish olive oil which is cheap and rated as one of the best. I wish their was one closer. I also love Costco.

Trader Joe's has very reasonable prices on organics. I also love their Spanish olive oil which is really inexpensive and got great reviews. They also have a good wine selection. All I need is a Costco and a Trader Joe's and I'm happy.:)

Organic Co-op
 

If you are interested in the organic co-op, you can contact Falon, her email is

giveorganic@yahoo.com and she can send you the info!

Login page - Produce

Give It A Week Or So
 

I was in Gainesville for other reasons this morning and stopped by the Trader Joe's on grand opening day. Whew! After circling the parking lot for 10 minutes looking for a spot, I had to commit grand larceny to get a basket to put stuff in. Then I waited in line about a half hour or so to pay for the fifty bucks worth of stuff that I probably shouldn't have purchased. Give it a week or so to let the "grand opening blues" clear. You'll be happier.

Visited Trader Joe's in Lexington, Ky----asked them about moving to "The Villages"---was told that once they have a shipping route; i.e.; Florida, etc., they will add more locations--- Even though they are part of Aldi's -their distribution is different---hoping now that there are a couple of locations in Florida--they might consider The Villages after all the emails, etc.

Wegman's is the very best grocery store in the US..I'm not the only one that thinks that..

It seems that quite a few of us are excited about TJs opening in Gainesville... I was looking on the TJ web site and got curious about their other relatively close location in Sarasota... It turns out that the Sarasota location is actually 9 miles closer to my house in TV than the one in Gainesville is. Curious: Has anyone gone to the Sarasota store since it opened? Is there something about Gainesville that makes it more attractive? Just asking,

trader joe's is not owned by aldi; the family name is albrecht (german owned) and two different branches of the family own aldi and trader joe's respectfully. they are totally seperate companies and have no interconnection.
and i cannot wait to make the trip to gainesville.

Probably that Gainesvilles seems closer than Sarasota. I love the Bradenton/Sarasota area....my grandparents came down to Bradenton for 40 years.......we used to visit them almost every year....that's what got me hooked on Florida...well that and DISNEY

I think one of us has it wrong. Trader Joe's in Gainesville shows as 59 miles from my house in Hadley and Sarasota shows as 138 miles. Came up with similar numbers when using Mapquest.

This is correct.

Well I am currently in Wilmington NC and will go to a new Trader Joe's that opened here this month. Pretty excited 'cause I've never been in one of these stores. This store is 550 miles from my house in Hadley!

Stopped at Trader Joe's in Gainesville this afternoon on our way back from Shands. We braved the crowds and probably spent about 20 minutes in the store and it took less than 10 minutes to check out. So busy they have police on duty in the parking lot.

The store is about 1/2 mile from the highway located on the north side of Archer Road next to the Best Buy.

Thanks. We're going saturday.

So......how was it???? Did it live up to the hype?

I am going Saturday morning

Can't really answer about living up to the hype because we have been "fans" of Trader Joe's for some time. Used to make a monthly trip to the one near us back when we lived in CT. But yes we still like the store and the unique selection of items they have. Picked up a few of the store brand items such as: eggplant parm, spinach dip, potato pancakes, couple of specialty pastas and some deserts. Not to be forgotten we got a case of "two buck Chuck" wine to let friends here try. I would also add that as much as we like Trader Joe's we would not make a special trip of over an hour one way to go there. But since we are in Gainesville once every three months then we most certainly would stop there. Would love to see one closer to TV.

Trader Joe's
 

I wonder if we all wrote to Trader Joe's, Requesting that they open a store here, telling them how well we would support it. it might work and while we are at it write to Costco also. I would love, love to see them here.:pepper2::pepper2:

Saw tee shirts in Morro Bay, CA (Morro Bay, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) that said

Friends don't let friends drink two buck chuck.


.

Trader Joe's is opening a warehouse in Orlando. Just a matter of time before we get a Trader Joe's.

I am planning to drive up to TJ's this afternoon. I have a loaner car, from the dealership, with a full tank of gas....so why not?? :)

I have been making a list from some of the suggestions on the various threads. Anyone have any other "must get" items to suggest?

Your cat looks exactly like our son's cat, Torrie....

and I would let my friends drink two buck chuck...they wouldn't know the difference.....sorry friends, but it's true!:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

I am bumping this just because the last post turned over a new page, and I don't want my inquiry to get lost. Thanks....

Bought a case of "Three Buck Chuck." Place was packed. Made me nervous being amongst the crowd inside and out. Too used to the Villages, I guess!

I didn't see how you can order online. I did request, on the site, for them to locate one in the Villages. BTW, there was an article in the SUN about TJ's yesterday.

Trader Joes
 

If everyone sent them a e-mail requesting that they open here, it may help, traderjoes.com about us, cust. feedback fill out form.:MOJE_whot:

Took about 1.5 hours to get there. The shopping center was swamped....of course, Christmas shopping. Trader Joe's was quite busy, but not unmanageable. The staff were very pleasant and helped me find a few things.

I bought EVOO, vinegar, spag. sauce, canned soup (delicious....had it for dinner), coffee, tea, 4 cans of beans, 2 stuffed flounder, a large chicken pot pie, applesauce, large olives, kale chips, nut mix, non-cured ham (sandwich slice), granola, organic xl eggs, brie cheese, pita chips, cocktail sauce, fresh salsa, 2 bottles sparkling water. My total was $81.13.

Looking at my list, that seems high, but truly, I was pleased with the prices. Much of what I bought was organic and/or large size, etc.

As I was looking at the 2 buck chuck, a lady made a face, shook her head, and said it was really bad. I usuall would have bought at least one bottle to decide for myself, but I just tossed a partial bottle of more expensive wine and didn't feel like wasting more. I'll get around to it one of these days. Will be going back every other month, or so.....maybe....Not a bad day trip, if you work in lunch or some other entertainment.

I've been to the Sarasota store 4x since they opened. Very nice, crowded but doable. Store about the same size as the one in Maine, good variety.

Next exit North is Gainesville Mall. I spent part of the day there and stopped at Trader Joe's on the way back.

Wife and I just got back from Trader Joes. Long ride, fun store, good pricing, can't beat two buck Chuck ( now three buck Chuck) BUT I don't think it is worth driving for an hour to get there. Time will tell.

Good idea! I just filled out my form! Thanks for the suggestion!:bigbow: