After opening 34 new stores in 2024 alone, America’s trendiest grocer isn’t slowing down. This year is set to see at least a dozen new Trader Joe’s store openings, with highly anticipated locations in states such as Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Alabama. But there’s one state that’s getting multiple new stores — and it just so happens to be the state with the single most Trader Joe’s locations in the country: California. With upcoming openings in Northridge, Sherman Oaks, Tracy, Tarzana, and Yucaipa, California is getting a grand total of five new Trader Joe’s locations. That brings its overall total to over 200 stores. Meanwhile, there are still states in the U.S. without a single Trader Joe’s store. We guess it’s safe to assume that the chain didn’t get the memo about opening TJ’s stores in different communities.
While it might be happy news for Trader Joe’s California-based fans — which now have a Trader Joe’s store for, roughly, every 190,000 people — there are still people in parts of the country who have to drive hours to get their fix of frozen Mandarin Orange Chicken and Chili and Lime Flavored Rolled Corn Tortilla Chips. Seeing as Trader Joe’s almost solely opens locations in the most expensive neighborhoods, those people are also the part of the population that benefits the most from its friendly prices. Sadly, seeing as none of the upcoming locations are in areas that don’t already have at least one Trader Joe’s location, 2025 won’t be the year that these less affluent areas get one.
How does Trader Joe’s choose new locations?
Being the home of the original Trader Joe’s location, it makes sense that California is the state with the most of them. What doesn’t make quite as much sense, however, is why the chain continues to build more locations there while other states don’t have enough — let alone one. Eight U.S. states still don’t have a TJ’s, and none of these states are currently on the list to get one in 2025.
Of course, there are instances where communities have protested new store openings for fear of gentrification — the case of the historic African American neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, being one of the most prominent examples. But many others have been asking for one for a while. From Wilmington, Delaware, to Povo City, Utah, and South Bend, Indiana, to Germantown, Tennessee, people in cities across the country have made their longings for TJ’s known. Out of these, only South Bend and Germantown have been successful so far. Still, one has to wonder why certain locations continue to be surpassed. A 2025 episode of the “Inside Trader Joe’s” podcast offers some insight on the matter.
While the hosts certainly appreciate the demand for its stores, TJ’s vice president of marketing, Tara Miller, says, “Our decisions, they’re business decisions. We’re excited when people are excited about us, but that’s really not what’s driving the decisions about what brings a Trader Joe’s.” It seems that the primary thing that Trader Joe’s considers when deciding on a new location is people — or, more specifically, how many people are in any given area. Indeed, California has the largest population of all the U.S. states. But, seeing as it isn’t anywhere close to those on the list of the most densely populated states, that still leaves some questions to be asked.
