Reason #437,618 why Salem, Oregon's tribute to boring white bread living, sucks big time: Trader Joe's has chosen to open a store in Corvallis rather than here.
"It's really about the income of the community and the education level of the community. Those two points are really important in Trader Joe's world for analyzing a site," said Martin, who specializes in retail properties. Corvallis ranked a bit higher than Salem on both points, she said.
Salem Mayor Janet Tayor has been lobbying hard to get a Trader Joe's in Salem. Great job, Mayor. Somehow her efforts were useless in convincing the company that a city of 155,000 people is a better Trader Joe's site than a town of 55,000.
My wife and I would drown our woes in a gallon of Two Buck Chuck, but we can't buy any — because there's no freaking Trader Joe's near us! Now, it looks like…forever.
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I’m boycotting TJs anyway since they discontinued their Cashew Butter – I’m allergic to peanuts, theirs was only one I’ve found at reasonable price I could eat. This is a stupid company policy! After all Willamette University is in Salem!
Coni, we eat Kettle Food’s Almond Butter, which LifeSource carries. But “reasonable price” may not describe it. Yes, I feel like boycotting Trader Joe’s also. Except Laurel almost always shops there when she goes to Portland, not me.
That’s a problem with the Corvallis store. Though it will be the closest TJ to us, we rarely go to Corvallis. It’s a ways off the freeway — another point that should have argued for Salem getting a store rather than Corvallis.
Corvallis also has the university with an extra 20,000 or so, not to mention Philomath and the country folks who come for shopping. I would guess TJ did some demographic studies more than letting any mayor decide it. I have heard that Corvallis is going for raising its profile for the richer folks which doesn’t make me particularly happy either since it’s where I shop more often.
Since I live 20 miles from any store, if I don’t count Kings Valley which carries only limited products, I don’t mind driving and often make the loop from Salem to Albany and Corvallis as when I make a trip in, I want to hit everything I need. Your boycotting TJs though sounds good to me as it’s likely to be crowded and two less people to wait behind at check-out is okay by me 🙂
While in the Lake Oswego Trader Joe’s, I overheard this conversation:
Shopper [to clerk]: “When are you going to open a Trader Joe’s in Salem?”
Clerk: “Oh, never gonna happen.”
Shopper: “Why?”
Clerk: “Because everyone from Salem drives to Lake Oswego.”
Sooooo, perhaps a better tack is to take TJ’s to task on an eco-unfriendly basis. Are they saying that they would rather have Salemites driving to Lake Oswego, and burning up fossil fuels, than partaking here? I guess so.
Salem sucks.
Here are just two reasons why Salem will never get a Trader Joes.
1. The citizens can drive up to Portland or down to Eugene for Trader Joe’s.
2. Salem is bascially an outside suburb or Portland. The trader joe’s executives just consider salem as part of portland and nothing else. They just assume everyone will drive north for Trader Joes.
Salem totally sucks. You’re not up to a half a million reasons YET?