25 Feb Coming Soon to Clifton Park…Trader Joe’s
According to the Albany Business Review, Trader Joe’s is officially coming to Halfmoon in southern Saratoga County, one of the fastest-growing towns in New York.
The town building department received a permit application showing Trader Joe’s as the name of the specialty grocer that will occupy a 12,500-square-foot building across from Home Depot.
The name of the tenant has been under wraps for months though there was speculation it was Trader Joe’s because of the size of the building and comments made at planning board meetings last summer.
A company spokeswoman contacted by the Albany Business Review said the plan is to open the store this year, but no date has been set.
“The town of Halfmoon is very excited about Trader Joe’s coming to our town,” Supervisor Kevin Tollisen said. “The town is very business-oriented and we take pride in the work that we do to bring business to our town. This is terrific.”
The property at 3 Halfmoon Crossing Boulevard is owned by Equinox Cos. of Albany.
Trader Joe’s opened its first store in the Albany region in 2012 on Wolf Road.
Known for its loyal customers, discount prices, and unique, company-branded products, the store is a popular destination.
Trader Joe’s has 515 stores, with plans to open more in Long Island City and Newark, Delaware, according to the company website. New stores recently opened in Ithaca and Fort Myers, Florida.
Clifton Park/Halfmoon already has many options for buying groceries: two Market 32s along with Hannaford, Aldi, Walmart, Target and small specialty stores such as The Green Grocer.
The Aldi store is a two-minute drive from the new Trader’s Joe’s.
They’re both discounters that share a corporate lineage but are radically different.
Trader Joe’s tries to embody its Southern California convenience store roots.
Employees wear Hawaiian shirts because “we’re traders on the culinary seas, searching the world over for cool items to bring home to our customers,” according to the company website.
Aldi is no-frills, low-cost shopping with seasonal products not always found in grocery stores, such as toys, blankets and snow boots.
Trader Joe’s is part of Aldi Nord, which is owned by one arm of a German extended family whose members also own a separate company, Aldi Süd.
Aldi Süd owns Aldi stores in the U.S.
An opinion column published in Bloomberg last summer noted some of Trader Joe’s strengths include a relatively small inventory, low prices and high sales volumes. Sales per square meter are more than double the industry average, according to the column.
However, the column also noted Trader Joe’s doesn’t sell its products online, which could hurt sales in the future as more consumers rely on the internet to make purchases during the pandemic and beyond.
Stay tuned for Opening Day details!!!