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This year, Trader Joe’s celebrated new stores in Harlem, a Pronto shop in Union Square and announced a second Staten Island location for 2025.
Still, Long Island and its 2.9 million people remain stuck for years at just seven Trader Joe’s locations, with five in Nassau and two in Suffolk.
For Suffolk, with locations in Commack and Lake Grove, that’s one store per every 765,00 people.
And that’s just not enough.
Folks along Suffolk’s entire South Shore and the East End, especially in Riverhead, have been clamoring for a Trader Joe’s to call their own for years.
So we figured to give Trader Joe’s a push, with five great Long Island locations we found listed for lease to fill the service gap.
Scroll down for our list, all taken from Loopnet.com.
Click here to request a Trader Joe’s in your town.
First, some background
Trader Joe’s, which started in California in 1958, is still family owned, operated and doesn’t offer franchise opportunities. The decision on where to open next lies solely within the company. Much of the process is opaque to the outside world — and well-guarded.
If you’re a loyal listener to the Trader Joe’s podcast, you’ve learned customer feedback and average household income play a part in where a Trader Joe’s will pop up next.
To us, it would appear Suffolk’s South Shore and East End have the people, and the dough.
Here’s some help, Trader Joe’s!
[Click here for Greater Long Island newsletter. We’ll keep you posted.]
For lease on Long Island
According to this report, the average size of a Trader Joe’s grocery store is between 10,000 and 15,000 square feet. But this is just an average. At least one store tops out at 30,000 square feet. And we’ve got plenty of room here still on the Island.
Riverhead
East End Commons (in the works), Route 58. Adjacent to BJ’s Wholesale Club.
There appears to be three spots over 10,000 square feet at East End Commons still up for grabs. Take your pick, Trader Joe!
West Babylon
Former ShopRite at 50-110 Route 109 (14,000 sq. ft.)
At 14,000 square feet, this former supermarket location is centrally located and easily accessible by car. This might be the most perfect spot on our list, size wise, and not too far south of Sunrise Highway. Click here for the full listing.
West Islip
Former Bob’s Stores at 135-187 Sunrise Highway, W. Islip
We’re not trying to dance on the grave of our beloved Bob’s Stores, but the vacated South Bay Common’s spot is up for lease.
Sayville
Former Rite Aid at 101 Main Street.
Sayville is already a great place for shopping. Trader Joe’s would bring even more foot traffic into the heart of the business district. This space, perhaps deceivingly, actually reaches almost 11,500 square feet. We’re just not sure if the company is eyeing any downtowns.
Yaphank
The Shoppes at the Boulevard
The Boulevard is the gleaming-new, 322-acre development at the corner of the Long Island Expressway and William Floyd Parkway. Walmart is its anchor and it just welcomed a Starbucks in August. This spot would be easily accessible for East Enders, too — much more so than Lake Grove, where they’re known to trek. Click here for the full Loopnet listing.
People waiting outside Trader Joe’s to shop for groceries in Pembroke Pines, Fla., on March 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
