After months of speculation on social media, the eclectic grocery chain Trader Joe’s officially confirmed that it will be opening a store at 11479 State St., Draper.
“Today is the day! I can confirm the rumor is true. We are opening a new store in Draper in 2023,” Trader Joe’s publicist Nakia Rohde wrote in an email Friday. She added that she did not have any more information to share at this time.
Linda Peterson, communications director for the city of Draper, confirmed that “Trader Joe’s is coming to Draper in early 2023.”
In September, rumors began circulating on social media about two new Trader Joe’s coming to Utah: one in Salt Lake City’s Brickyard Plaza, in a storefront now occupied by OfficeMax, and the other in the former Whole Foods Market space in Draper.
One poster said that cashiers at Zurcher’s party supply store claimed TJ’s would be moving into Whole Foods’ old space on State Street. Another claimed they’d had this story substantiated by a TJs worker in Cottonwood Heights. Yet another said that the store was scheduled to open this fall, but had been pushed forward to next year. All of the above seems to be confirmed with today’s announcement.
There’s still no word on if or when a Brickyard Plaza store is opening. Earlier this month, when asked for a comment about this store, Rohde replied, “I had not yet heard that rumor. Unfortunately, that is all it is at this point.” An inquiry to OfficeMax revealed that the chain would be moving out of its Brickyard location by Nov. 12, and had already started its closing sale, but offered no comment about whether Trader Joe’s would be the replacement tenant.
The Draper Trader Joe’s will be the fourth in the chain to open in Utah. The others are at 634 E. 400 South in Salt Lake City, 6989 S. 1300 East in Cottonwood Heights, and 440 E. Park Ave. in Orem.
Due to Utah’s liquor laws, none of Trader Joe’s Utah locations carry one of the store’s most popular products: Charles Shaw wine, aka “Two-Buck Chuck,” so named because it once sold for $1.99 a bottle (it’s now between $2.99 and $3.99, in the places one can buy it). Utahns will have to content themselves with other cult Trader Joe’s products like Everything But the Bagel seasoning, cookie butter and peppermint Jo-Jo’s (TJ’s version of Oreos).