Poway shoppers will soon be able to stuff jars of cookie butter and containers of Everything but the Bagel in their Trader Joe's recyclable bags without leaving town.
A new TJ's will be "opening soon" at 13644 Poway Road in the Poway City Centre shopping plaza in the old Stein Mart location, sandwiched between a Ross Dress for Less and a Home Goods, according to the chain's website.
The old Stein Mart location in the Poway City Centre shopping plaza. Photo by Google Street
Until the Poway Road store opens, locals will have to keep on schlepping to the Carmel Mountain Ranch site or the one over in Scripps Ranch on Hibert Street, — or any of the other 500-plus locations around the country.
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NBC 7 asked a Trader Joe's spokesperson for an exact date of the opening of the Poway location but has not yet heard back.
The company keeps a list of "coming soon" stores on its website. The Poway location has been posted. You can keep an eye on the site here for the latest updates.
Trader Joe's grocery store chain has an almost cult-like following among young adult shoppers, likely due to its unique and easy offerings. Not long ago, a frozen version of a Korean dish called kimbap sold out across the country after going viral on TikTok, where some Korean creators were impressed with the dish's authenticity.
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Its international offerings, though, have also come under scrutiny, and not because all of TJ's stores are in the U.S. In 2020, the grocery chain was accused of racism for products using the labels "Trader Jose's" or "Trader Ming's" to represent international cuisine. The company chose to relabel those items.
