Suburban Shoppers Love Queens, However…
1.
After reading the Real Deal’s article about how suburban shoppers flock to Queens for ethnic eats - to the communities of Downtown Flushing, Richmond Hill, and Astoria - I though “Ha ha, you suburbanites can’t resist us!”. When I got over myself, I realized that we city dwellers can’t resist some of that suburban pie, either. Enter Trader Joe’s.
Born in the suburban belly of CA that is Pasadena, this retailer has for the most part continued to open stores in the suburbs… and we finally have one in Queens! Trader Joe’s is a suburban element that I must admit that I love. From various reports, it sounds like it’s been quite successful in our fair borough, too. And I’m sure it will continue to be. Even though it’s more challenging to get to it via public transportation compared to the Manhattan location. But this keeps with Trader Joe’ suburban ethic - to be car friendly. Still, I wish, wish, wish it was closer to a subway line.
I understand the Queens location is super crowded right now, too. Suburban Trader Joes are usually much easier to navigate (well, except at the holidays, but all grocery stores are nuts then). Also, as I’ve said elsewhere, we’ll need many more TJs in the five boroughs before the Manhattan and Queens locations become more like their suburban siblings with regard to crowds.
2.
Back to suburban shoppers coming to Queens: Flushing’s shopping growth climbed the fastest of the shopping areas most attractive to suburbanites, with the numbers of businesses increasing by 54.6 percent. More:
The Flushing Business Improvement District’s executive director estimated that as many as half of the weekend customers at downtown Flushing’s retail strips are from outside the neighborhood, and come from as far as Connecticut, New Jersey and even Massachusetts.
When I lived on Long Island a couple of years ago, most of my Asian friends would go to Flushing on the weekends to hang out, shop and eat. Many consider Flushing’s Chinatown to be far superior to Manhattan’s. All I know is that I’ve had the best Chinese food in my life, in Flushing.
3. In conclusion, Queens totally rules when it comes to interesting and delicious foodstuffs, plus we now have Trader Joe’s (and before Brooklyn got one, too!).
Related:
Suburban shoppers flock to ethnic enclaves [The Real Deal]
Are Ethnic Shopping Strips Luring Suburban Customers? [City Room]
November 14th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Anyone want to explain the appeal of Trader Joe’s to me? I don’t get it.
November 14th, 2007 at 10:26 am
For me, Trader Joe’s offers a lot of interesting foods at a great price. Originally, they were a liquor store, way back when. Of course, here in NY, that’s not so much of an issue. In CA you can get some pretty good wine in the $6-10 range, stuff you might pay $12-18 for normally.
They were one of the first to offer things like almond butter. Their almond butter is the best price around, too. They have a lot of organic products (I was told once that they are one of the top organic product sellers in NY).
TJs is a great resource for party foods, too. They have a great juice selection, lots of coffee, Plugra butter, pastas, cheeses, chocolates, and salsas. They also sell baking products, other dairy, great frozen vegetables, a selection or rice, and more. They provide good quality, convenient stuff. Do not go there for produce, though. And the organic stuff is always well-priced.
I like the Hawaiian shirts and the people that work there are always friendly and helpful. They often have free samples available throughout the store. Every time I go there they have new offerings, which is fun. I also like their selection of energy bars and vitamins. I can also find a lot of things that are not fortified with high fructose corn syrup.
There are a lot of reasons why I love Trader Joe’s! But it basically boils down to great products at a good price. I’ve been shopping at Trader Joe’s for 25 years now, yow.
November 14th, 2007 at 11:49 am
25 years! Did you start shopping there when you were 2?
November 14th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Meg, you’re too nice to Kyle. Did you know he turns 21 this Friday?
November 14th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Awww, but I’m a nice person, that’s all.
kyle, actually I started shopping at Trader Joe’s in utero.
November 19th, 2007 at 1:34 am
That report from the Center for an Urban Future is interesting, but they’re totally wrong on the parking issue. I don’t want lots of people driving to or through my neighborhood to get to the restaurants. I don’t want huge, ugly, dangerous parking garages. I don’t want to live in an Urban Future that bends over backwards to accommodate suburbanites who can’t take the train.
There are a lot of parts of, say, Huntington or Eastchester that I can’t get to easily by train and I don’t see them doing anything to make it easier for me to go out there and shop. If they wanted to shop in Flushing easily, maybe they shouldn’t have moved out to the suburbs in the first place.
June 10th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
If you have to do it, you might as well do it right