Is another Trader Joe’s coming to Philly?
The future store that was advertised by MSC Retail would be the grocery chain’s third outpost in the city. But a Trader Joe’s spokesperson said the location has not been confirmed.
Trader Joe’s may soon open another grocery store in Philadelphia.
The California-based chain is set to move into a yet-to-be-built shopping center on the 1500 block of South Columbus Boulevard near Pennsport, according to MSC Retail marketing materials, including an email announcement sent Monday afternoon and a brochure posted on its website.
On Tuesday afternoon, the materials on MSC’s site were edited to remove several references to Trader Joe’s.
The earlier version of the MSC brochure — which had encouraged potential tenants to “join Trader Joe’s” — indicated a 12,000-square-foot grocery store could open as early as next year on the corner of Columbus Boulevard and Dickinson Street. The property is across the street from a Giant supermarket and within half a mile of an Acme, a Target, and a Walmart.
A Trader Joe’s spokesperson said the company did “not yet have anything to share about the specific location” or any others in the area.
“We are actively looking at hundreds of neighborhoods across the country as we hope to open more new neighborhood stores each year,” spokesperson Nakia Rohde said in a statement. “At this time, we do not yet have a location confirmed in South Philly.”
The real estate firm’s advertisement came four months after Trader Joe’s expanded in Chester County, opening new stores in Berwyn and Exton. It has been more than six years since the company last opened a location in the city.
In October 2019, Trader Joe’s unveiled a 16,000-square-foot store on the 1300 block of Arch Street, across from the Convention Center. Before that, the company had only one often-packed Philly location at 22nd and Market Streets in the western end of Center City.
Founded nearly 60 years ago, Trader Joe’s has become known for its unique selection of private-label products that can be less expensive than some competitors’ offerings. (Prices on certain items are comparable to discount and bulk grocers like Aldi and Costco.)
Its fresh pastas, unique dips, frozen meals, and reusable tote bags have garnered a following of fans, including social-media influencers who run Instagram accounts dedicated to Trader Joe’s finds and product reviews.
As a private company, Trader Joe’s does not have to disclose its finances.
By some other measures, the company appears to be doing well: It has expanded its store count, announcing dozens of openings in recent years. The chain currently operates about 630 locations in 42 states and Washington, D.C., according to the data company ScrapeHero.
Customers nationwide also seem increasingly loyal to Trader Joe’s, visiting more often in 2024 and 2025 than they did in 2023, according to Placer.ai, which uses cell phone data to analyze foot traffic. In the Philly area, the stores are often crowded.
Trader Joe’s continued growth comes amid a turbulent time for the grocery industry, as steady inflation, tariff-induced price hikes, and uncertainty around federal nutrition benefits cause some consumers to cut back.
» READ MORE: Grocery Outlet is closing stores in South Jersey, Philadelphia, and Kennett Square
These factors have led some supermarket chains to close underperforming stores.
Last week, Grocery Outlet announced it would be shuttering eight Philly-area stores in South Jersey, Philadelphia, and Kennett Square. Amazon recently closed all of its brick-and-mortar Amazon Fresh locations, including six in the region.
Trader Joe’s may be insulated from some external pressures because its customer base is relatively affluent, with a median household income of $110,000 in 2024, according to Placer.ai data. That’s considerably higher than the overall U.S. median household income of around $84,000, per census data.
In the Philadelphia suburbs, Trader Joe’s locations include Ardmore, Cherry Hill, Jenkintown, King of Prussia, Marlton, Media, North Wales, and Wayne.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story attributed the Trader Joe’s news to marketing materials sent by MSC. After the story published, references to Trader Joe’s were removed from the marketing materials.